Offer puts Florida in Top 5 for Bailey

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Four-star receiver Alvin Bailey has been on the most-wanted list of many Florida fans this year.

But for months, the ESPN150 member went through his recruiting process without an offer from the Gators and didn’t list them in his Top 8 on July 20.

Now, they’re the favorite to land his commitment.

Bailey is ranked No. 6 at his position and No. 69 overall in the ESPN150. (Photo by Tampa Bay Online)

Bailey made an unofficial visit to Gainesville on Aug. 15 and was offered by UF coach Will Muschamp during the trip.

“It was great to get an offer from a team I’ve been waiting on for a long time,” Bailey said. “It changes things drastically and I’m happy. Coach Muschamp was telling me that they want me up there. I’m not a fall-back option. They were glad that I came up there to talk to them.”

With a Florida offer now in hand, the Seffner Armwood athlete admits it will be hard to turn down the Gators. Bailey’s former teammate, running back Matt Jones, is a true freshman at UF and two more of his close friends from Tampa, cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III and defensive end Jordan Sherit, are committed to Florida’s 2013 class.

“They affect me greatly,” Bailey said. “I grew up a Gator fan and my boy Matt Jones is up there. That’s been my big brother for almost eight years. Then having Vernon and Jordan up there too gives me a lot of reasons that I should go.”

Bailey plans to make his decision before Sept. 1 and named a Top 5 (in no specific order) of Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Notre Dame and UCF.

The 5-foot-11, 175-pounder listed five factors he’s looking for in a school.

“Great offensive system, great education, proximity to home because I want to stay close to my mom, playing time and coaching stability,” Bailey said.

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42 COMMENTS

  6. thats his top 5 but florida and ucf is his top two and thats who he’s really going to decide between. id be very disappointed if we lost a top 75 prospect to ucf, but i dont see that happening. i got a very good feeling on this on. ive been right on every recruit so far except demarcus robinson and probably tunsil so im hoping my gut feeling continues to be right

  9. And then another OL ‘bailed out’ on being a Gator. I will say it again: A couple of years ago UF was among the top programs in the country!! With the departure of UM, we, Gator fans, deserved The Best as a replacement. We were the Best. We desired the Best. Is that really what we have? And, be my guest. Bitch and carry on all you want at me. I could care less!! I WILL NOT PUT ON BLINDERS and mindlessly yell ‘Go Gators’, not in this situation!!

  13. Travis: No, WM is probably # 2 and UF actually dropped Outlaw because Tunsil decided not to go to Georgia and not to go to Alabama and is coming coming to gainesville. That’s really great!! Go Gators!! Gators should content for national champs in 2012.

  14. That’s right. The sky is falling.
    Will Muschamp, who has coordinated defenses and recruiting areas for Nick Saban and Mack Brown can neither coach, nor recruit.
    Who knew? Goodness!
    These 17-year-old children, some of whom have never been away from home, are a far better indicator of Coach Muschamp’s bona fides than the opinion of some old-guy champion football coaches.
    Gosh! Who would have thought such a thing?
    All of these years I’ve been waiting for the actual Gator games to form an opinion about our team and/or our coach but, now, I’ll just text a few high school juniors and beg them to tell me what I should think about my alma mater.
    Whew! That’s a relief.
    Maybe they can get me a date to the prom, too!
    Wait. Perhaps I’m overreacting. Should I be mature and patient, and see what actually happens?
    Nah…Why grow up? I’ll just throw a tantrum and behave like an entitled, self-righteous sidewalk alumni who has never even sniffed the inside of a UF classroom and insult all things Gator.
    Sigh. Life should be much easier now…
    Mommy, will you make me a sandwich…?

  16. No, no Travis. He’s coming; he’s coming. You have to believe me. If you don’t belienve me you must be a troll or all those other things that the Real Gator Posters say to anyone who disagrees with them. Please believe me. Tunsil is replacing Outlaw. Also, Diggs is transferring from Maryland. He’s joining too. Isn’t this great!!

  17. @realitybites- The reason the offer came late for Bailey, is because WM told he had to come to camp and/or workout for the coaching staff, he refused to do neither. This has been a requirement for commits and WM has been very clear about that. Whether you agree or not with Muschamp’s recruiting philosophy – you can’t say he wasn’t honest with the kid.

  19. Alright Zach…. draw us up another OL possibles list since the last two defections. Crowder doesn’t have us on his list anymore. Bodkin seems headed to USF. I don’t think we’ve extended a scholly to Seymour. Only leaves us Lacy. We gotta have replacements. What lineman are we “in line” with to get their services?

  20. Zino- still need a slot receiver. But whatever………….. It really doesn’t matter. WR are a dime a dozen. There are only so many SEC caliber OLinemen available, though, and about 90% have already committed elsewhere. Champ needs to get moving on this, because if we come away from NSD with similar numbers of OL that we did this year – we’re in huge trouble. This is why our offense has resembled a pile dog crap the last two years. Get it together, Will.

  21. This is the kind of kid Florida needs. He’s the Chris Doering type, grew up loving the team and will put his heart into the program. I love it when Florida can get a kid like him. It’s why college football has so much heart. I really hope he ends up a Gator.

  22. No worries about the “late” offer. Technically, it’s still summer, I would consider any offer made in the summer to be timely, bordering on early. Now, if the kid were offered after the season, in December, that would be a late offer.
    .
    I simply can’t see an offer that comes 6 months before signing day as “late”.

  23. DON’T PANIC YET GUYS, there are still a few quality kids out there and JuCo players. Also think about the early commits to other schools that are going to decommit because they think they may have made a hasty decision, this is not just happening at FLORIDA.

  24. Nope. I’m telling you: The sky is falling. I heard it from eMaryKay writing from his parents’ basement. The world will never be the same if we can’t land all of these mystery players that 99.99% of us have never seen play a single down of football. How did UF ever last this long without our expansive knowledge and generous input? They should erect a statue to US!

  26. My Dear Patrick: You are a troll!! But, nice comment. Insightul, articulate intelligent and thoughtful. Sort of like the Pride of the Sunshine!! Keep up the wonderful posts, my good friend. Oh, wait, haven’t you read. You are not supposed to be addressing me in any post. What, no discipline? Or, perhaps I little difficulty with this ‘reading thing”. Warmest, best wishes.

  27. Man, i love the gators. I come here to check up on my program. I know we havent won every single championship every single year, but we are a top program and that hasnt changed at all. Love this program, love where we are going. Come here to read and support the program and trust these top tier coaches. Love the people that come here supporting the program no matter what, through the highs and lows. This EMK guy doesnt belong here. He belongs somwhere that bashes teams, that’s what he wants so he should be somewhere else where people share his feelings. Dude is like a virus, wants to infultrate and infect everything. You need to leave EMK. Seriously you dont belong here. True gator fans, season is here! We going to do something this year on the field and we already doing something in recruiting! LET’S GO!

  28. Bailey was offered after his junior year along with Mcquay11. The have to work out thing only comes up for certain recruits not all. There are guys everyone can agree project to the next level.It is different with athletes playing quarterback in high school. The reason he is high for the gators now is that they have seen him perform in camps as a wideout and shows that he can make the transition better than others who could not.

  29. My dear gatorseverywhere: Really great post. If there were a weekly ‘Knuckle Dragger’ Award you would win it every time!! There are indeed intelligent posters on this site. However, I must thank the rest of you for unintentionally providing me with laughs for the past few months. Each time I think nothing can top this one for stupidity, sure enough, one of you guys always came through. The End for me. Must get back to real work. So long!!

  32. Woody: If English is a second language for you, I have nothing but respect for your attempt to convey whatever thoughts you may have had. If English is NOT a second language for you, well, what can one say except please continue to try to do the very best you can with the limited intellectual resources you possession. Best of luck, EMK

  35. Gator N NC: Typos can happen to anyone. If you read and was able to understand my post to Woody you see that I never, repeat NEVER criticized his grammar. If you read and was able to understand my post I expressed my admiration of him if Englsih was a second language for him. If you read and was able to understand my post I wrote that if Englsih was his first language he should not give up but rather try to use his limited intellectual abilites to the besy of his ability. Now, my dear Gator N NC is all of that really that hard to understand. If you are still confused please feel free to ask questions I will help you!! Warmest wishes.

  36. Man this kid Treadwell’s tape is something else. This kid looks like a game changer. Look @ the move that he puts on the secondary @ the :44 second mark ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CBw4D0CJf8 ) . Zach….. Can you fill us in on where we stand w/Laquon Treadwell and Robert Foster? Might have missed out on Robinson, Adams, Burse, and maybe North but let’s snag at least either Foster or especially Treadwell. Whoo!

  37. I know, I know, everyone, don’t poke the annoying, negative bear, but I just couldn’t help myself. I thought it was apparent what Woody’s point was, but I guess it was too difficult for some after they read it to understand it. Huge suprise that EMK tries to find a way to bring someone down. I don’t know why I would expect any different after this many posts with the same theme, I guess I must possession limited intellectual abilities as well. I’ll try to ignore him from here on out, its just really hard sometime.

  39. Scooterp, if you would clarify: @realitybites- The reason the offer came late for Bailey, is because WM told he had to come to camp and/or workout for the coaching staff, he refused to do neither – If he refused to do neither, does that mean he agreed to do both?

  40. So If things improve and we become and consistent top 10 team will the doubters jump on the bandwagon or will they keep complaining like a 50 year old wife? We are ranked in the top 10 on most recruiting websites if he does that for 3 straight classes and doesnt finish with a top 10 program after those three years than we can complain. I wonder if your first day on the job you were as good at it as you are today. Its a process and sometimes to get the diamond you have to deal with coal (which is the same material) for a little while. See if turns into diamond with a little pressure and time. Time WILL tell, every coach deserves 3 years.

  41. I agree with VINCEP’s comments on recruiting. Again Fla will never get all of the so called “top” recruits. All of the schools across the country are experiencing the same thing with a few guys wanting to decommit. Remember it’s still 6 months to NSD.

  42. EMK, JUST LIKES A LITTLE ATTENTION. I THINK HE JUST LIKES TO STIR THE SOUP A LITTLE BIT AND KEEPS EVERYONE ON THEIR TOES. I WELCOME HIS COMMENTS. I THINK HE’S KEEPING EVERYONE ON TOP OF THEIR GAME. HE IS NOT AS POSITIVE AS MOST OF US ARE, BUT HE IS STILL ONE OF US. HE MAY GET OUT IN LEFT FIELD A LITTLE, BUT THAT’S OK. WE ALL NEED A RED HAIRED STEP CHILD IN GATOR NATION.