2021 Recruiting Profile: Florida Gators Target Athlete Xavian Sorey Jr.
Xavian Sorey Jr., Athlete
School: IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.). Transferred from Graceville High School, (Graceville, Fla.) prior to his senior season.
Height/Weight: 6-foot-3, 214 pounds
247Sports Composite Rating: Four Stars, No. 5 OLB, No. 11 overall (Florida), No. 64 overall (National)
Recruitment History:
Athlete Xavian Sorey Jr. hails from Graceville High School, just three hours from Gainesville (Fla.) in Graceville (Fla.). Sorey received an offer from Florida early in his high school tenure in 2018 and has been one of the Gators' priority targets as an outside linebacker since.
Yesterday, Sorey released his top-five-teams list. Along with Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Auburn and LSU. The major theme of his list happens to come from the SEC-bias. All of the teams listed hail from the SEC, with three of the teams - Auburn, Florida and Georgia -, coming from the SEC East in particular.
Recruited by Gators linebacker coach Christian Robinson, Sorey is in good company in the type of player the Gators recruit as an off-ball linebacker. Players such as Derek Wingo Jr. and Tyron Hopper have been recruited primarily or secondarily by Robinson.
Thus far in his recruitment, Sorey has received plenty of offers from power-five schools, including the ones on his top-five list. That includes Clemson, FSU, Miami, Penn State, Michigan, Tennessee and more.
Prior to the recruitment dead period, Sorey visited the Gators at the universities' junior day. It also happens to be his most recent visit. Sorey has spoken in the past regarding the "family" vibes he gets from Florida and head coach Dan Mullen, likely pushing the Gators further up the list than for other programs that didn't evoke a similar feeling.
In March, Sorey released a top-10 list which included the Gators, Miami, Georgia, South Carolina, Auburn, Alabama, LSU, Clemson and Tennessee. The Gators have heavily recruited Sorey, and one of their commitments from the 2020 class, linebacker Diwun Black has advocated on the school's behalf for him to commit to Florida.
Sorey's cousin, Daquayvious Sorey, currently attends the same high school and is in the class of 2023 as a wide receiver/athlete. Daquayvious already has an offer from Florida and would likely want to play in the same college like his older cousin, making their recruitment seemingly equally tied together.
Where He Fits:
Sorey is a legitimate athlete, playing both sides of the football. This fits in terms of how the Gators generally have been recruiting linebackers, especially lately. Athleticism will trump height and weight at all turns along the defensive side of the football. Sorey also plays basketball.
At Graceville, Sorey totaled 57 tackles and three interceptions on defense, while adding 778 total yards and five touchdowns on offense. At 214 pounds, Sorey is not completely filled out and will benefit from Florida's strength and conditioning regimen if he were to commit to the University for the 2021 season.
At the off-ball linebacker position, specifically at weakside linebacker, rising redshirt juniors Ventrell Miller and James Houston IV and incoming freshman Derek Wingo, all represent players which Sorey will likely look to emulate. While Wingo will likely play both outside and inside linebacker at Florida, he represents a similar athletic profile as Sorey.
Sorey is a smooth linebacker who makes his way to the ball, not necessarily with haste, but with precision. With his length, he will be more productive in the passing game early on, while allowing his body to fill out in order to be more effective in the run game if he were to play inside.
In total, Sorey would bring a new element to the ever-building Todd Grantham defense and represents the types of players the Gators wish to add to their arsenal.