The signing day thread I put up the other day was for national recruiting news. Keep checking that one for national stuff. This one’s just for the Gators. Keep refreshing this page, because I’ll be updating it as things happen (and I expect a ton of things to happen). You can also check out the full Gators recruiting class here, which we will be updating by the minute.
I expect Treon Harris, CJ Worton and Adoree Jackson to all pick the Gators, and possibly another big surprise name as well that I can’t spill just yet because I’ve been asked not to. But that’s the fun of the next 12 hours.
Note: for the rest of the day, I’m updating this mostly on my iPhone, so a lot of the updates are going to be short, sweet and to the point.
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Update 8:21am: Wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie pulls the first Signing Day shocker, commits to Georgia. Could be the start of a really sweet day for the Bulldogs. But this likely means CJ Worton will come to Florida. Both would have fought over the same spot in Gainesville.
Update 8:44am: JC Jackson, who had been wavering on his commitment to Florida, says he will stick with the Gators, much to the relief of Florida fans and coaches.
Update 9:02am: Per a source that I trust, dual threat QB and FSU commit Treon Harris has informed the Gators coaching staff he is coming to Florida. Announcement to come at approximately 9:40, but the decision is final. The hat picking ceremony is merely a formality.
Update 9:04am: JC Jackson’s letter-of-intent is IN. The saga is OVER. Jackson is a GATOR.
Update 9:33am: Wide receiver CJ Worton spurns West Virginia, picks Florida. Likely had something to do with Florida pulling out of the McKenzie sweepstakes.
Update 9:44am: As expected, Treon Harris announces for Florida.
Update 10:32am: Highly touted offensive tackle Damian Prince picks Maryland over Florida, South Carolina. Not really surprising, but it would have been a nice get to provide some depth on the offensive line.
Update 11:45am: Florida has received a letter-of-intent from each of the 24 players on their board. All that’s left is to see whether highly sought after defensive back Adoree Jackson will join them, which I think he will. I’m pretty sure linebacker Lorenzo Carter picks Georgia, and I’d be shocked if defensive back Myles Autry picks Florida over Georgia Tech.
Update 1:23pm: Ex-Florida commit Chris Lammons decides to play for Steve Spurrier at South Carolina.
Update 2:07pm: Top defensive back target Adoree Jackson shocks, and drives a dagger through the hearts of, Gator fans, and commits to USC.
Update 3:38pm: Highly rated linebacker Lorenzo Carter decides on Georgia. Upsetting, sure, because that leaves the Gators with exactly zero linebackers in this class, but no surprise.
Update 3:51pm: Defensive back Myles Autry surprises many people by even putting Florida on his finalist list, but ultimately chooses to play for Georgia Tech. Autry was the surprise name I listed at the beginning of this post, but it didn’t pan out. Oh well.
Update 4:19pm: Will Muschamp will be joining the ESPNU set in just a couple of minutes to discuss his Gators’ signing day.
Update 4:28pm: There are still some other uncommitted players yet to make their announcements, but Florida’s day is done; they’ve already received all 24 letters-of-intent from the players on their board. Check out our general national signing day thread here to keep up with national news. Stay tuned for the day’s recap, first from myself, and in a bit, Joey Vizzi.
Update 6:00pm: Neil’s Signing Day Wrap-up
Florida didn’t really have a bad signing day, despite the notion that quiet is bad. The Gators did flip two guys from good schools early this morning in dual threat QB Treon Harris (from Florida State) and receiver CJ Worton (from West Virginia). The pickup of Harris was huge, as he was considered a heavy FSU lean for awhile. I see a lot of similarities with Jameis Winston in Harris from their raw high school tapes, with one notable upgrade: his 40 yard dash dwarfs Winston’s (4.47 to Winston’s 4.65). The other major success (more of a sigh of relief) UF had today was holding onto athlete JC Jackson, who was considering flipping to FSU.
Aside from those two, though, Florida didn’t get any of the guys they thought they might, and that’s OK. Missing out on Adoree Jackson to USC hurt, but not as much as you might think with All-SEC corner Vernon Hargreaves returning and Florida adding the nation’s top corner in Jalen Tabor (another Muschamp flip, from Arizona a few weeks ago). Matter of fact, that’s probably why Jackson chose USC- Florida’s too talented in the secondary for his liking, which is a good sign for a team desperate for one of any kind after going 4-8 last year. Florida also missed on OT Damian Prince (Maryland) and linebacker Lorenzo Carter (Georgia) Losing Carter especially stings, because that means UF didn’t sign a single linebacker in this class.
But complaining is nitpicking, because Muschamp did a good enough job throughout the year that anything that would happen on Signing Day would just be icing on the cake. Florida didn’t limp into NSD crossing their fingers on 15 guys, and that’s because Muschamp likes to lock up recruits early on and then hold onto them throughout the year. This is still a consensus top 10 class, and some people have it rated in the top five. Highlighted by QB Will Grier, OT David Sharpe, DTs Gerald Willis and Thomas Holley and the aforementioned Jalen Tabor, this was quietly one of the nation’s best classes- and the trendy top 10 ranking is proof that quiet is good. Give Muschamp an A- for the class.
Update 7:20pm: Joey Vizzi’s signing day wrap-up
Several programs made more noise than the Florida Gators did on National Signing Day, but that doesn’t mean the class fourth year head coach Will Muschamp just reeled in is void of talent in any way. In fact, quite the contrary. The crown jewel of this class is DT Gerald Willis, who spurned LSU (his hometown school) to come to Gainesville. His ceiling is extremely high and has the potential to be a top 5 draft pick in 3 years. Look for him to play a ton as a freshman, and I say he will be starting by his sophomore season. Other top players Florida signed include QB Will Grier and DB Jalen Tabor.
The one big splash Florida did make today happened down in Miami. Dual threat QB Treon Harris was one of several impressive flips by the Florida staff throughout the year, and one of two big ones today (the other being receiver CJ Worton). He may be short for a QB, but is extremely talented and I can envision him playing anywhere on the field, and I mean anywhere. He could be the offensive weapon that Florida has sorely missed for years now.
In short, this was a good, not great recruiting class that was capped off by a good, not great National Signing Day. Even though the Gators missed out on several top targets today (Damian Prince, Adoree Jackson, Lorenzo Carter) I still give Muschamp credit for landing a solid, B+ class.
Update 8:34pm: Adoree Jackson has still not sent in his letter of intent to USC. His father does want him there. We’ve seen this before (Josh Harvey-Clemons, Alex Collins), and although the parent usually caves in and respect son’s wishes, nothing’s official until that fax machine buzzes in Steve Sarkisian’s office.
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Update 8:40pm: Final words
That about does it for National Signing Day coverage. Luckily my classes got canceled today due to snow, so I was able to sit back and cover it all day. My admin dashboard says around 410,000 different IP addresses viewed this Signing Day thread at least once in the 13 and a half hours since I published it at around 7:10 this morning- that’s absolutely incredible, dwarfing even my wildest dreams for any one article when Ryan and I re-launched this site- and to each of you, I say thanks for following along. I guess the world loves college football recruiting, and talking Gators recruiting with y’all was fun for me too, and if you have anything else you want to ask about in terms of Gators recruiting, this page isn’t going anywhere- fire away in the comments box. Huge shout-out to Joey for helping out with news and tweets throughout the day.
We’re veering off on a totally different topic tomorrow, one that’s far more heavy and serious than some good ole fashioned ‘crooting, as my co-founder Ryan Bryant likes to call it. So take in your fill of National Signing Day for the rest of the night, celebrate what many are calling a top 10 class, but come back tomorrow ready to learn something much more important than any big name Will Muschamp just flipped.