Two of the top targets on Florida’s board received in-home visits Thursday.
UF coach Will Muschamp conducted an in-home visit with five-star offensive tackle Damian Prince (District Heights, Md./Bishop McNamara), while secondary coach Travaris Robinson went to see five-star athlete Adoree’ Jackson (Gardena, Ca./Junipero Serra).
While we’re naming five-stars, UF attended Lorenzo Carter’s basketball game Tuesday at Norcross (Ga.), which was not reported by The Sun earlier this week.
Prince currently has a Top 3 of Florida, Maryland and South Carolina.
The Terps at one time appeared to have an insurmountable lead, but the recent staff turnover at his position has changed that.
Dave DeGuglielmo, who was hired by Maryland last week to replace fired OL coach Tom Brattan, left the school Thursday for an NFL job.
Prince officially visited the Gamecocks over the weekend and told Rivals.com afterward it was the third best visit he’s been on. That doesn’t sound too promising for them.
The Gators could have the inside track at Prince with them getting his last official visit and his relationships with Mike Summers and Jalen Tabor. However, there’s a new twist in his recruitment.
Rivals’ Mike Farrell reports that Prince is making a mid-week trip to Penn State before he heads to Florida. The distance factor certainly gives the Nittany Lions a chance to make a late run.
Jackson is still undecided on where he’ll take his final official on Jan. 31. The visit will go to UF, USC and UCLA, and whichever school gets that trip likely lands him. His other finalists are LSU, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
One advantage the Gators have with the two-sport athlete is their track & field program. In the past five years, UF has won a total of five indoor and outdoor championships, while finishing in second place four times. None of Jackson’s other finalists have even been runner-ups except LSU in 2012. Florida’s indoor team is currently ranked No.2 nationally behind Arkansas.
Offensive coordinator Kurt Roper and receivers coach Joker Phillips spent their Thursday at the house of FSU commit C.J. Worton of Homestead South Dade. He spoke with the Orlando Sentinel about the meeting.
“It was nice, real laid back,” said Worton, who officially visits UF this weekend. “Coach Roper, he’s new to the program so he didn’t really know a lot about Florida. I mean, he knew enough, but it was a good thing coach Phillips was there so he did a lot of the informing.”
The Gators also visited Pensacola West Florida Tech defensive end and Missouri commit Rocel McWilliams, who is a potential flip for Florida after his trip to Gainesville last weekend. His next official is with the Tigers.
Lawrenceville (Ga.) Central Gwinnett linebacker Adonis Thomas, a 2015 prospect, was seen by Florida for the second straight week. Washington (D.C) Gonzaga cornerback Marcus Lewis, a Rivals100 member for 2015, was offered.
Excellent stuff!
Lauderdale would have made sn immediate impact. Worton will be a redshirt – we need receivers
Great article Zach, quick question. Is it a bad thing that Muschamp sent an assistant to to see Adoree’ Jackson instead of goin himself? Or is Prince the bigger priority at the moment?
Desert Gator,
Muschamp can only have one in-home visit per prospect, and he went to see Jackson last Thursday.
Getting Worton may not be a great thing. It probably means that FSU will be getting Lane and Rudolph and may not have room for Worton.
Coaches have done a great job covering the Nation on recruiting. Jackson, Carter, Prince, and McKenzie will be Gators if and only if they want to be here. The Coaches have done all they can do. Great job guys! How many choose the Gators and who is left?
Shariff & snowprint – always looking for the negative. There is a difference between being realistic and pessimistic.
Signing day predictions:
Carter to Georgia.
Jackson to USC.
Prince to Florida.
McKinzee (sp?) to Florida.
McWilliams (sp?) to Florida
Worton to Florida.
Reports on Gator Country by the recruiting reporter that a big time flip to Florida will happen on NSD. Reporter will not give a name.
Snowprint…..
Lane to FSU is a given with Cook there. Lane cannot breath without Cook telling him it is OK to do so.
But Lane and Rudolph will have to get open vs. Hargreaves, Tabor, Poole, J.C. Jackson, Wilson and Dawson in the future. Will not be easy for them to do so.
I heard a couple of weeks back that Florida had already pulled E Lane’s offer. There is also rumor that he still hasn’t taken his SAT so I also wonder if qualifying will be an issue. Whether through UF pulling the offer or Lane telling the coaches his is going elsewhere it seems pretty evident by their actions the last couple of weeks that we have moved on.
“Reports on Gator Country by the recruiting reporter that a big time flip to Florida will happen on NSD,”
If this happens, it would be fantastic as he is a man among boys in both talent and not having to seek media attention like some recruits.
If adoree visit he wil become a gator, prince is 85%, mckenzie is 75%, carter is at 55%, t. Harris is 80%, and then there is the big flip from a sec team…
We signed five top receivers last year, three of whom red-shirted. If Roper/Joker cannot turn Robinson, Fulwood, Bailey, Hawkins, Dubose, Pittman, Dunbar, or Thompson into proficient receivers this season than it doesn’t matter much if Eric Lauderdale or Emron Lane had signed or not. Am I to believe Lauderdale or Lane are so gifted they would beat out all those guys, that there’s really such a gap between them and several of the others? I don’t buy it. We have no idea what kind of impact Lauderdale would make, whether “immediate” or otherwise.
.
By the way, you know where Emron Lane graded out on ESPN? At 87. Last year, DeMarcus Robinson graded at 86 coming out of high school last year, and both Fulwood and Hawkins graded out at 84. People who think that a freshman we may or may not sign will be the sudden savior for 2014 are fooling themselves. If Muschamp saves his skin it’s going to be with the talent he already has on campus, not because of a freshman or JUCO WR. Now, if you want to make an argument that Tabor or Adoree Jackson were or are the “must gets” that’s a far more credible argument due to freshman DBs historically outperforming other freshman positions. Or maybe because of Grier or Ol depth.
It is very strange to be begging a couple of guys to visit from Jesup, Ga. if UF’s coaches felt confident they were getting the big names left on their board. The biggest need is another quarterback, if Harris flips that would be huge because you want some one else in case Grier doesn’t pan out. After Brantley and Driskel, it’s pretty evident that you can’t count on a 5-star to play like one. If Lauderdale doesn’t come, it shouldn’t be a big deal since UF recruited a lot of receivers last year and it would be unfathomable if at least a couple don’t play well. That said, you still need a quarterback that can throw the ball, and it remains to be seen if that will be the case. As for Lane, UF sounds like a woman scorned, he’d be accepted in a heartbeat if he wanted to come to UF.
Snowprint…..
I read you totally negative post about Driskel on GatorCountry. Do you ever post anything positive about the Gators and their players and coaches? FSU fan, I expect.
By the way, I fully expect Driskel to perform better in the spread option offense under Roper. And, if Muschamp and Roper turn him loose this year, he could rush for 1,000 yards and pass for 2,000.
Zack….
Most of the recruiting sites are saying USC is now leading for Adoree Jackson…..with a watch out for Oklahoma. Why do you feel 75% for the Gators when most do not see it that way now? Doesn’t USC have an outstanding track team as well?
Tampa Gator,
I put Jackson at 55 percent last week, not 75. I think it will ultimately be UF or USC, but Florida’s track program is better than Southern Cal’s and that could be the deciding factor if he indeed picks the Gators.
Considering UF went 4-8 last season (including worst season since 1979, losing to FCS school etc etc) and the fact we had a OC turnover, O line and SP teams coach turnover this class is superb. We filled needs with O line depth and added some elite talent on the o line too with David Sharpe and I do believe UF lands Prince adding even more elite talent on O line. Getting Tabor was huge, can you imagine him and VH3 starting opposite to each other? yikes. We landed Grier which can turn out to be a great QB, we landed Clark, Willis, and Holley all elite talent on D line. We lost on Lane but as someone said above we are stacked with receivers we just need them to develop. Also losing cook is not as big a blow as we have KT and we got some speed in this class by flipping Brandon Powell from Miami. If UF lands Prince and Jackson this may end up a top 3-5 class. Very excited for Roper and new offense. If UF can stay healthy we have a real shot at winning east. Aside from traveling to Bama and FSU all other difficult games are at home (Gamecocks, Mizzou, LSU) and UGA is 100% winnable especially with Murray gone (we should have beat them last yr if we had a reliable kicker)
Tampa,
I’m just the type of man who likes to be a reelist. So sue me. I may not be a ladies man b/c of that, but I don’t care. I make my mark on the msg boards where people need to hear truth. My knowledge can’t be denied.
I agree with you Greg, We have VERY GOOD talent at the WR position, the lost of lane is not that great. It would have been great to have him but it should not be a distraction since he nor Lauderdale will be here.
Now the big flip on NSD, my GUESS is Bo leaving Alabama. GO GATORS!!!!
Yeah Greg you are right on. The talent is here. I, like many of us have been down on Coach and the progress of the team but the coaching changes and recruits we are bringing in has me excited. We are filling needs and realizing we must change. Months ago I may have called for WM’s head but now I really hope we turn it around. For the sake of our program, and also for his coaching career. If he can stick around for 2 years we will be great. We are loaded and i want Coach to be here for that turnaround. If he’s not then the next guy’s success will be a direct result of the talent that we are stockpiling under Coach Muschamp.
-Excited about 2014, can’t wait!
Muschamp is going to be the Florida coach for a long, long time. Mark my words.
The foundation is being built wide and strong.
Go Gators. No matter what.
Well said JW. I like this recruiting class, no matter who else is added.
The Gators went 11-2 with Driskell at qb the year before last. No reason to believe they can’t be successful again with him at qb.
Snowprint hates the gators.
good point greg,,i still believe were stacked at wideout,,i would like to see both def/off lines improved. i think harris is the big flip,, go gators
I think snowprint is just being realistic about Driskel. He has sucked as a passer, there’s no denying that. People want to talk about the year the Gators went 11-2. The Gators ranked 96th in passing that year. That is not a ringing endorsement of Driskel’s passing ability, it’s not like they were blowing people out and just ran the ball to run out the clock. It’s just realistic to think that a new assistant coach is not going to turn Driskel into a good quarterback. Since UF plays three patsys instead of two to start this year, we won’t know until the fourth game if Driskel is better or will be what he has always been. A lot of you are crazy when it comes to Driskel. You know if it walks like a duck, quacks like…you get the picture.
They ranked 96th in passing and they were 11-2. They don’t need Driskell to be great to succeed. Obviously he needs to play better and that realistically can happen. The same way the play at offensive line, tight end and receiver can improve. College players should get better each year. I also have to believe they won’t have as many injuries this year as they did last.
Driskel ranked 99th in passing yards because we never passed the ball!! We ranked 101st in total passing attempts in 2012. His passing percentage was 63.7%. For a comparison, that’s better than Marcus Mariotta 63.5%, Braxton Miller 63.5%, Connor Shaw 63.4%, Jordan Lynch 62.6%, James Franklin 62.1%, and Bryce Petty 62% this season… Most of which were Heisman candidates. Did you watch any of the games ntcrze?
Great work again Zack. Keep it up.
An to the Gator naysayers, don’t come here when the Gators are on top again!
snow flake go jump off a cliff
Kirk, yes I watched the games and Driskel sucked passing the ball. By the way, Morningweg was 80% against the nations best pass defense, FSU, so don’t tell me about percentages, it just shows you know little about what a quarterback looks like if he’s a passer. Maybe Driskel can be a runner like Auburn’s Marshall, but he seems a little fragile to be able to withstand the punishment.
Enough with the girl fights.
@ntcrze,, i really dont think dris was the problem. i think it was hc chump grip on the offense, but we will see
Ntcrsz, fragile???? What the heck QB are you talking about?? The man walked off the field on a broken leg! I don’t know if there’s any player tougher than Driskel. Miss one game due to an ankle injury then get your leg snapped in half and all of a sudden your fragile?? Broken bones happen. Some things are just unavoidable. Say what you want about Driskel’s passing ability (though the tape would disagree with you) say what you want about his understanding of the mental side of the game (there the tape would agree with you) but driskel is anything but fragile
ntcrze, you’re a lost cause.
I’m really looking forward to this spring. It will be interesting to see who emerges at wide receiver and if some youngsters can provide us with depth on the OL.
Getting Carter would be great but Prince is a Must Have..
I don’t know why Prince is such a need, he seems like an unrealistic young man when he said that he wants to go somewhere where he will play immediately. Not just wish, but he made it sound like he needed to be promised a starting job right away. I don’t think that is going to happen at UF. I know Humphries was benched, but he still should be better than an incoming freshman, maybe he just needs an attitude adjustment. Grren and brown should be able to handle the other side. He sounds like a prima donna, do the Gators want one who thinks he’s entitled because of his high school career?
I usually get irritated by prima donnas too but the way Prince talked it seemed he was just plain 100% confident in his ability to earn playing time as a true freshman if he is given a chance. I have no problem with that. And if being able to compete his way in is what he is looking for then Florida looks like a place he has a higher chance to do it. Not many locked down positions on this O-Line.
[…] Phillips and Kurt Roper had an in-home visit Thursday with Worton, and his host in Gainesville will be UF freshman quarterback Will […]
[…] was seen by offensive coordinator Kurt Roper and receivers coach Joker Phillips last Thursday and officially visited Florida over the weekend. Head coach Will Muschamp conducted an in-home […]