Billy Napier and the Florida Gators must soon get to work on their 2025 recruiting class. (Photo credit: John Raoux, AP)
With the recruiting landscape shifting as frequently as ever, I thought today would be a good day to look back at our list of top ten recruits for the Florida Gators to focus on in the 2025 class, and update their status. Today marks three months to the day since publishing the initial list. And, well, things have changed.
I will do another, updated look at a new potential top ten recruits to watch for list, but for now, let’s just take a look at how the initial list has aged.
(Original piece begins below)
With Signing Day in the rearview mirror, the 2024 recruiting cycle is all but finished, but what about the next cycle? Recruiting never stops, and with only one commit in the 2025 class, Billy Napier and the Gators will need to get a move on with that next cycle. After all, only eleven and a half months until Signing Day.
So. who should Napier and Florida be looking at?
Top Targets
Of course, with the way things change in the recruiting world, this is always subject to change. A prospect could explode out of nowhere and have a great senior year of high school ball, or maybe the inverse happens and the kid gets a big head and his play suffers. But as it stands right now, the Florida Gators would be doing themselves a big favor to land the following prospects:
1: OT David Sanders Jr. (Charlotte, NC/Providence Day HS)
247Sports rank: #2 overall, #1 OT | On3 rank: #2 overall, #1 OT
The #1 overall player in the 2025 class isn’t coming to Florida, because he’s a QB and Florida just signed DJ Lagway. So for all intents and purposes, this is the best player on the board. Both On3 and 247Sports agree that Sanders is the best tackle in the 2025 recruiting class, and Florida’s offensive line has been spotty these past few years. Between the athletic ability, the 6’6, 270 frame with still a year to grow and fill out that frame, and the quick, heavy hands he brings, David Sanders is the ultimate can’t-miss prospect. This is a plug-and-play Game One starter with first-round NFL Draft pick potential. One fun fact that might trigger PTSD for Florida fans: Sanders plays for Providence Day, which is coached by none other than a man named Chad Grier.
Status update 4/3/24: It’s not happening. Sanders has been crystal-balled to Clemson, and the five-star has set official visits to several other schools, including Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and Ohio State… but not Florida. The Gators aren’t in his top six, which means barring a colossal failure at each of those other schools, he’s not coming.
2: CB/S DJ Pickett (Tampa, FL/Zephyrhills HS)
247Sports rank: #8 overall, #3 CB | On3 rank: #7 overall, #1 S
Some recruiting sites list him as a corner, some list him as a safety. Pretty much all of them agree that DJ Pickett can play. In fact, 247Sports and On3 both have him ranked as a top-ten prospect for the 2025 class. He’s already got a good SEC-style build and figures to only bulk up more before the time comes for him to play in the SEC. He’s got impressive closing speed, a nose for the ball in the air, and a willingness to get dirty and make difficult and/or forceful tackles. The good news is that he’s already visited Florida several times, including on September 16th to watch the Gators upset then-No. 11 Tennessee. The bad news is that his relationship was mostly with Corey Raymond, meaning that Will Harris has a lot of work to do, and he seems to be a Miami Hurricane lean in the meantime.
Status update 4/3/24: Another miss. Pickett’s top five includes Georgia, Miami, LSU, Michigan, and Oregon, and he’s set official visits to those five schools. As expected, getting rid of Corey Raymond effectively ended the Gators’ chances to land this five-star prospect.
3: DE Jalen Wiggins (Tallahassee, FL/James Rickards HS)
247Sports rank: #56 overall, #5 DE | On3 rank: #82 overall, #8 DE
Standing a solid 6’4 and 245 at the end of his junior year, Wiggins is an incredibly gifted athlete who also stars on James Rickards’ baseball team. That athleticism makes him a problem on the defensive side of the line of scrimmage, as he racked ups 14 sacks and averaged nearly two TFLs per game as a junior. His hometown Seminoles haven’t made much of a push for his services, at least not yet, and he’s visited Gainesville at least five separate times that I’ve been able to track- including for the Tennessee game on September 16. Georgia figures to at least push for Wiggins somewhat, and there’s always the possibility that FSU simply enters the race late as the hometown team and quickly becomes a favorite. But Wiggins does seem to be favoring Florida at this way-too-early stage of the 2025 cycle.
Status update 4/3/24: Got him! Jalen Wiggins committed to Florida twelve days after this post was originally published. While perhaps not at the elite-of-the-elite level of prospect of Sanders and Pickett, this is a big get nonetheless– it’s at a position of need, and Wiggins can certainly play. Now to hold onto him for the next eight and a half months…
High Priority Targets
Florida is going to have needs in the trenches, but they could use home-grown reinforcements across the defense. Here are a couple of defensive prospects the Gators could really use:
4: LB Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng (Washington, DC/IMG Academy of FL)
247Sports rank: #52 overall, #8 LB | On3 rank: #49 overall, #7 LB
Originally from the Virginia side of the DMV area and Maryland’s DeMatha Catholic High School, Owusu-Boateng caught the attention of IMG Academy as a sophomore and transferred there for the back half of his four years of high school ball. And he rewarded the move by helping guide IMG to an undefeated season and a state title. He’s a very savvy, dependable playmaker at linebacker who can detect plays pretty quickly, and then sift through the garbage and make the play consistently. Owusu-Boateng’s brother, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, went to Notre Dame and won the Butkus Award there for the nation’s best linebacker, and so Notre Dame- along with Georgia, Miami, Ohio State, and likely several more- are going to be in hot pursuit. Austin Armstrong typically doesn’t shy away from a fight on the recruiting trail, though, so the Gators have a very real shot here- and if they land him, could have an award-winning linebacker in tow.
Status update 4/3/24: This recruitment remains hotly contested, as the Gators will have to battle South Carolina, Georgia, Notre Dame, Miami and Stanford. It would be a mammoth pickup for the Gators to land him, but this one doesn’t feel likely to be decided any time soon.
5: S Hylton Stubbs (Jacksonville, FL/Mandarin HS)
247Sports rank: #59 overall, #8 S | On3 rank: #48 overall, #4 S
Scouts do point out that Stubbs doesn’t have that blinding burst of speed, and his game tape more or less backs that up, but Stubbs checks all the other boxes. He’s a highly intelligent player with great instincts and ball skills, and can get physical and deliver the boom as a tackler. If he bulks up just a little bit more, and shows an ability to cover tight ends in the pass game, he could have a breakout senior year and shoot up the rankings. And sure enough, Clemson, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Michigan, FSU, LSU, USC, Oklahoma and a bevy of others have already offered him a scholarship. As mentioned with Thomas, Florida has got to start placing an emphasis on Jacksonville kids, and this would be a nice way to do so.
Status update 4/3/24: Stubbs recently committed to USC. That’s a pretty bad miss, if we’re keeping things a buck: a high-priority, unanimously-ranked top 60 prospect in the country from your backyard, and you let him leave the state. No bueno.
Would Be Nice To Get
At this way-too-early point in the cycle, the names could certainly change, but these are five recruits that Florida should make a push for.
6: OL Solomon Thomas (Jacksonville, FL/Raines HS)
247Sports rank: #21 overall, #1 OG | On3 rank: #28 overall, #6 OT
Thomas is the type of offensive lineman that the Florida Gators sorely lacked in 2023 after the departure of O’Cyrus Torrence: he’s big, he’s physical, he’s quick on his feet, and he brings heavy hands on every snap. And he’s versatile. Though some experts peg him as an offensive tackle, it’s still somewhat unclear where on the offensive line he’ll best project at the next level, but that’s a good problem to have- and it’s one Florida can worry about later. For now, Napier needs to wrestle him away from FSU, where he recently committed to, and the first step toward achieving that will be getting him on campus. And by any means necessary, it’s time for the Gators to reclaim Jacksonville as their home turf. A blue-chip offensive lineman would be a good start.
Status update 4/3/24: Solomon Thomas remains committed to FSU and has not shown any signs of wavering from that commitment.
7: OT Michael Fasusi (Lewisville, TX/Lewisville HS)
247Sports rank: #37 overall, #5 OT | On3 rank: #14 overall, #2 OT
Fasusi is another one of those types of offensive linemen the Gators desperately could have used this past season. He’s a true athlete on the offensive line, as evidenced by his participation in the shotput and discus events for his high school’s track and field team. His strength and quick feet mean he’s best projecting as a tackle, but he could easily tack on another ten or fifteen pounds of muscle and play inside if he’s needed there. Florida is going to have its hands full prying him away from local schools Texas and Oklahoma, but a sweet enough NIL deal and the opportunity to block for a generational talent in DJ Lagway could move the needle if the Gators can pursue him aggressively enough and get him to take a visit or two.
Status update 4/3/24: Fasusi still hasn’t committed anywhere yet, but this commitment is all but over as far as the Gators are concerned. This is where losing Texas ace-in-the-hole Joe Hamilton to Texas A&M really stings, as now it feels like a three-team race between Texas, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma.
8: LB Riley Pettijohn (McKinney, TX/McKinney HS)
247Sports rank: #57 overall, #9 LB | On3 rank: #26 overall, #3 LB
Every now and then, in every class, there lurks a prospect who’s solidly rated as a run-of-the-mill four-star recruit but whose profile seems suspiciously more promising than that. That’s Riley Pettijohn. Already boasting offers from Ohio State, Texas, LSU, Oklahoma, Michigan, FSU and Oregon, Pettijohn is the defensive equivalent of an explosive playmaker. Great instincts are paired with excellent athleticism and sure tackling skills, and though scouts warn that he’s not always the most technically sound (hence the four-star ranking, not five-star) that can be corrected with coaching. The Gators’ chances to land Pettijohn took a hit with the departure of Jay Bateman to Texas A&M, although he does have a good relationship with defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong. Pettijohn would be a top pick to succeed Myles Graham and Aaron Chiles at linebacker.
Status update 4/3/24: Here’s the other major casualty from losing Joe Hamilton. The Gators are going to have to really regroup in terms of recruiting the state of Texas, but that won’t help them in time here. Pettijohn is strongly leaning Texas, and if he doesn’t wind up there, his next most likely destination is probably Ohio State.
9: CB Ben Hanks, Jr. (Miami, FL/Booker T. Washington HS)
247Sports rank: #70 overall, #8 CB | On3 rank: #167 overall, #23 CB
Whenever it comes to landing a legacy player, you want to at the very least make it to the end of the recruitment process to keep the kid’s legendary father happy in his alma mater. In the case of the guy who recorded a 95-yard pick-six in the 1995 SEC Championship Game for the Gators, his identically named son garners a lot of attention for the way he hops routes and closes with a blinding burst. And Florida coaches like that ability. Unfortunately, so do the Miami Hurricanes, and Mario Cristobal’s staff has made it clear that they’d love to have him stay closer to home and play for the Canes. Make no mistake, Florida has a very realistic chance here; it’s just that it’s nowhere close to the slam dunk you’d like to think landing the son of a former Gator hero is.
Status update 4/3/24: Sometimes a legacy kid just doesn’t want to follow in his father’s footsteps out of fear of getting lost in his shadow. It’s still not a great look to lose a legacy to a rival, which is exactly what the Gators are in danger of watching happen as Miami seems to be closing in on Hanks at this time.
10: QB Ryan Montgomery (Findlay, OH/Findlay HS)
247Sports rank: #172 overall, #11 QB | On3 rank: #241 overall, #18 QB
The chances of the Florida Gators landing a top QB recruit in the 2025 class are slim to none with DJ Lagway onboard. For as talented as the top-flight QBs in the class may be, they know that Lagway was hand-picked to be the Gators’ signal-caller of the future. So that’s going to scare off any quarterback even sniffing five-star status. But you still need to sign a quarterback in every class, and Montgomery might be the perfect fit: he’s accurate, he can step in and drill the ball, and he’s a leader, starting as a true freshman for his high school team. The Gators’ QB line of succession obviously runs through Lagway through the mid-2020s, but you could do a lot worse for his backup than Montgomery. And who knows when you might need him? Only in one year since Taylor Wyndham knocked out Tim Tebow in 2009 was Florida not forced to go to its backup QB at some point in the season, either due to injury or struggles: Kyle Trask’s Heisman finalist season in 2020.
Status update 4/3/24: Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina appear locked in a three-team race for the Ohio QB prospect. The Gamecocks appear to be leading the way for him right now, but that feels very easily fixable with just a little more attention paid to him.
