Gators Land 4-Star RB Over Clemson, Georgia and Tennessee

The Florida Gators on Friday landed its fourth commit of the week as 2027 Bogard (Ga.) Prince Avenue School four-star running back Andrew Beard pledged to the program over Clemson, Georgia and Tennessee.

Beard (5-10, 198 pounds) is rated as the No. 8 running back in the class by 247 Sports and gives the Gators a four-for-four week on the recruiting front after pledges from four-star offensive lineman Elijah Hutcheson and four-star safety Kailib Dillard on Tuesday and a pledge from three-star defensive lineman Stive-Bentley Keumajou Yondui on Wednesday.

While Florida ultimately landed Beard, who is the Gators' first running back commit of the class, the Gators emerged suddenly and were seen as outsiders for a good bit of Beard's recruitment.

Initially trending towards Clemson, Beard started trending towards Florida earlier in the week after a prediction came from 247 Sports' Tyler Harden in favor of the Gators and as Clemson began to trend for four-star running back Gary Walker. Beard is set to officially visit Florida on June 4, Georgia on June 12 and Tennessee on June 19.

As a high school player, Beard is coming off back-to-back 1,200-yard, 10-touchdown seasons rushing. He had 1,937 yards and 21 touchdowns as a sophomore in 2024 before adding 1,292 yards and 13 touchdowns last season. He has also recorded at least 450 yards and five touchdowns receiving in each of the last two seasons, as well as two punt return scores and one kickoff return touchdown across the last two seasons.

Meanwhile, Florida is in the midst of one of its best recruiting stretches in program history with 14 commits before the summer visit season begins, 11 of whom have joined across April and May. The Gators are not done either with a number of recruits predicted to choose Florida.

Namely, the Gators hold predictions to land four-star receiver Amare Patterson, four-star receiver Elias Pearl, four-star edge rusher Frederick Ards III, four-star defensive lineman Tyler Alexander, three-star corner Kamauri Whitfield and three-star safety Loia Valade.

Patterson will announce his decision on June 20, while Pearl recently trimmed his list of top schools to six, consisting of Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, North Carolina and Ole Miss.

Florida's official visit slate begins on Thursday, May 28.

Florida Gators 2027 Recruiting Class

Florida Gators on SI is tracking all of Florida's moves in the 2027 recruiting class in our official tracker. Florida's 2027 recruiting class is ranked as high as sixth in the country, according to the Rivals Industry Ranking.

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