Welcome to our 2016 National Signing Day Tracker. Updates will be posted below as they happen.
7:58am
I’m awake. This is a miracle since I’m a senior in college and am usually asleep at this time. Here’s to a big day.
8:25am
Defensive end Brian Burns has committed to FSU. Not a complete surprise, but somewhat disappointing. He was considered a UF lean after taking his official visit two weekends ago, but he then took his official to FSU this past weekend and was sold.
8:32am
Three Florida commits have sent in their letters-of-intent: defensive end Jachai Polite and offensive linemen Brett Heggie and Jawaan Taylor. You can also track which Gator commits have sent in their letters-of-intent on our recruiting page; the “status” column will turn blue with orange font when a LOI is sent in. Also, it will say signed, so pretty self-explanatory. (It’s still early and most of us aren’t very sharp at this time.)
9:10am
Tyrie Cleveland has not shown up to his 9:00am announcement ceremony. Why not? Because he is apparently still undecided about where he wants to play college football. Let the fun begin…
9:22am
Tyrie Cleveland has arrived, has apparently made up his mind, and will announce soon. He delayed his whole school’s Signing Day ceremony with this little about-face, but he’s here now and it’s underway.
9:24am
WR Rick Wells has sent in his letter-of-intent. Florida now has four LOIs.
9:30am
No, I haven’t fallen asleep here, but I’m about to if this guy droning on at the Westfield High School Signing Day ceremony (Tyrie Cleveland’s high school). We know why we’re all here. Let the kids make their announcements already.
9:33am
During a break in the Signing Day ceremony, Tyrie Cleveland was apparently speaking with somebody on his cell phone. No idea what that means, just reporting it.
9:42am
WE GOT THE DAMN PLAYMAKER! (Translation: Tyrie Cleveland has committed to, and signed with, Florida. Now we wait for UF to announce that they received his LOI.)
9:52am
DT Shavar Manuel has announced on twitter that he has decommitted from UF. This means that he will likely sign with FSU. Not exactly turning cartwheels in celebration, but not the end of the world. Tyrie Cleveland was the bigger need and we got him.
10:03am
ESPN reporter Andrea Adelson, who is reporting live from Gainesville this morning, just said that there was a tremendous cheer coming from the Gators’ war room when Tyrie Cleveland committed. There was also a tremendous cheer coming from me when Tyrie Cleveland announced.
10:05am
RB LaMical Perine’s letter-of-intent is in. Like I told y’all yesterday, there was no real decision between Florida and Alabama. He just wanted to get Tide fans’ hopes up for nothing.
10:11am
LB Vosean Joseph’s letter-of-intent is in. I was never really worried that he wouldn’t send his in, but he did say that he would make a “final decision” today. So it’s nice to get an official word.
10:16am
According to Zach Abolverdi of SECCountry, the reason for Shavar Manuel’s decommitment was that he “would have had trouble meeting the academic requirements for UF enrollment.” I’ll leave the FSU academic jokes to you, but that’s what Abolverdi is saying.
10:25am
CB CJ McWilliams has sent in his letter of intent.
10:48am
DE Antonneous Clayton has sent in his letter of intent.
11:03- mid-morning assessment
I can’t say I’m shocked with the Gators losing Shavar Manuel, though I wouldn’t have predicted that it would be because of grades. Not on National Signing Day, anyway. Nor am I shocked that Brian Burns picked FSU over Florida and Georgia. Given the Gators’ strength on the defensive line with Caleb Brantley and Cece Jefferson, these guys were luxuries, not necessities. Plus, Florida long ago filled their need for defensive linemen with Antonneous Clayton.
The big pickup was Tyrie Cleveland. He may have four stars, but he’s a five star talent. Watch his tape and see for yourself. The guy can PLAY. He joins Rick Wells, Joshua Hammond and Freddie Swain in a wide receiver class that immediately upgraded from good to great upon his commitment. And given Florida’s lack of production from their wide receivers since the departure of Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy, this was the big need, and thus, the big get.
There’s still a long way to go, and lots of things to unfold today, though. Today has to be considered a net success, but Gator targets John Simpson and Kristian Fulton will be announcing at 12:30 and 12:45pm, respectively, and there are still several commits who need to send their letters of intent in. So keep on following along as the day progresses. I’ll be here keeping the updates coming as they happen.
11:27am
Defensive back Aaron Robinson has decommitted from Florida, and flipped to Alabama. This could have something to do with fellow DB Kristian Fulton, who announces at 12:45pm. Or maybe not. Stay tuned.
11:33am
Safety Jeawon Taylor will stick with the Gators, spurning Georgia’s late efforts to flip him.
11:35am
Tyrie Cleveland’s letter of intent is in. It’s official: he’s a Florida Gator.
11:49am
The Gators have received letters of intent from Jeawon Taylor, Quincy Lenton, and Jeremiah Moon. Florida now has LOIs from every single verbal commit, pending the announcements from John Simpson and Kristian Fulton.
12:32pm
DT Shavar Manuel has committed to FSU. Not a surprise.
12:39pm
Offensive lineman John Simpson has committed to Clemson. Also not a surprise. Last one up for the Gators is Kristian Fulton.
12:47pm
Five star CB Kristian Fulton will announce soon. People are filing into his high school gym right now, and the table is empty, so it will probably be at least ten more minutes. Stay tuned for more updates.
12:55pm
There’s a table set up in Fulton’s high school gym (Archbishop Rummel) with Rummel helmets and the hats of all the kids’ college choices. Here he comes now, along with some of his teammates, sitting down and getting mic’ed up.
12:57pm
Like Cleveland’s ceremony, all the kids will announce their college choices and/or sign their LOIs one by one. Seems like they’re almost ready to start.
1:00pm
The ceremony has started. Fulton has arrived with a bag, probably containing the hat/gloves/some other form of apparel. Fulton also appears to be last in line to announce. Because of course he is.
1:03pm
Kristian Fulton has committed to LSU. First legitimate surprise of the day. Damnit.
1:36pm
Barring any surprise late additions to the Class of 2016, the Gators’ day is done. This is fine with me; if Jim McElwain doesn’t think a player can cut it either academically or football wise, save the scholarships for another class. No need to waste it on someone you don’t really want.
I’ll be writing up my final thoughts in a little bit, so stick around for that. I will say that although the day didn’t end so well, it was a pleasure covering National Signing Day for y’all once again.
2:06pm
To the surprise of nobody, LB Mack Wilson has committed to Alabama.
3:10pm
Get ready for this. In a complete shocker, JUCO cornerback Joseph Putu has sent his letter of intent to Florida, flipping from Arkansas. We’ll have more details soon; keep checking back here for them.
3:46pm
Putu, formerly of North Dakota State College of Science, is ranked as a two star corner by Rivals. He recently committed to Arkansas, but decided out of the blue to go to Florida… despite the fact that he’d never even taken an official visit to Gainesville. He may be looked at as a backup plan with the loss of Kristian Fulton to LSU and Aaron Robinson to Alabama, but he’s definitely not lacking talent. He runs a 4.37 40 yard dash and has decent reflexes and ball skills, as showcased in his highlight tape. It’s not the highest profile get for Florida by any means, but it’s certainly not a terrible way to finish the day, either.
4:03pm
Florida has received another late addition to the class, as consensus three star cornerback Antonio Nelson has sent in his letter of intent to UF.
4:58pm
Um… well, I’ll just go ahead and say it: after initially being reported by OnlyGators, a source has confirmed to me that Antonio Nelson is not likely to qualify academically at UF. This is the second time we’ve heard this today (the first being Shavar Manuel, who “flipped” to FSU) but this time, the consequences are more dire for the player. Nelson will likely have to take a detour to a junior college. If indeed he does not qualify, his letter of intent will be null and void. He did send it in, but it’s pending acceptance from UF admissions. Stay tuned for more updates there.
5:24pm
The source has confirmed to me that Antonio Nelson “either will be or has been denied admission into UF.” Oh, well. I wasn’t really expecting to land him anyway, and this frees up a scholarship for next year.
