Florida Gators 2023 Official Visits Preview: June 10-12
The Florida Gators are making use of another nine official visits over the weekend, hosting numerous priority recruiting targets from the class of 2023 on campus from Friday through Sunday in similar fashion to the first weekend of the month.
You can each visitor and a quick breakdown of where Florida stands in their recruitment below, as well as a roundup on interviews with prospects who officially visited UF last weekend.
* indicates prospect is committed to Florida
Gators' June 10-12 official visitors
RB Justice Haynes, Buford (Ga.): An SEC legacy who's father played at Georgia, the Bulldogs are the favorite in Haynes' recruitment. But that hasn't stopped their SEC East rival Florida from doing its best to pull Haynes out of the Peach State and into the Sunshine State.
This weekend will mark Haynes' second Florida visit this year as he unofficially made his way to Gainesville in April. He's already officially visited Georgia and will see Alabama and Ohio State officially later this month.
The Gators are looking to load up at running back in 2023 and Haynes, a 5-foot-10, 193-pound back who has averaged nearly 2,000 rushing yards per year in three varsity seasons, would be welcomed warmly should he team up with UF.
OT Payton Kirkland, Dr. Phillips (Fla.): The ultimate recruiting turnaround story, the Gators are squarely in contention to land Kirkland when he announces his commitment on July 23.
A year ago when the Gators' previous coaching staff was in town, Kirkland had no interest in playing for Florida and was looking out of state. But the 6-foot-6, 345-pound tackle has developed a strong bond with new head coach Billy Napier and his assistants, which led to his official visit and fourth trip to Gainesville this year.
RELATED: Payton Kirkland praises Gators' newfound consistency in his recruitment
Kirkland made his way to Oklahoma for his first official last week, and he'll see Michigan State and Miami officially before June is over. Alabama, another school in his top five, got an unofficial visit from Kirkland in late May.
IOL Knijeah Harris*, IMG Academy (Fla.): For the second week in a row, Florida will have an offensive line commit in house for an official visit with Harris making his way up for the fourth time this year and seventh in total.
Harris, a 6-foot-3, 327-pound interior lineman, will be tasked with helping recruit his fellow IMG teammate, defensive tackle Will Norman, among other prospects to join him in orange and blue at the next level during the visit.
EDGE T.J. Searcy, Upson-Lee (Ga.): As things stand, Searcy only has official visits remaining with Florida and South Carolina after stopping by Clemson last week. He saw a few other programs unofficially during the spring, but these three schools are the only ones he's set to repeatedly visit.
A lengthy edge rusher standing at 6-foot-5 and a half, 243 pounds, Searcy best projects as a JACK edge rusher in the Gators' scheme should he end up at Florida.
It's worth noting that the first coach to ever offer Searcy was UF outside linebackers coach Mike Peterson when he was with South Carolina, the edge rushing recruit shared with AllGators in February.
DL Peter Woods, Thompson (Ala.): Woods was pursued by Florida's former coaching staff for quite some time, and it's no different with Napier and Co. in town.
Florida, Alabama, Clemson and Oklahoma make up Woods' top four, but so far only the Tigers (June 3-5) and the Gators are getting official visits from the 6-foot-2, 276-pound versatile lineman. This will be Woods' first trip to Gainesville since June 2021.
Keep in mind, however, that the Yellowhammer State native has paid the Crimson Tide seven unofficial visits in the past, including three this year.
Note: Woods' visit to Florida is taking place earlier than the rest on this list, beginning on June 9.
DL Derrick LeBlanc, Osceola (Fla.): After making his way to Gainesville eight times unofficially since the Gators' new coaching staff was introduced, LeBlanc will kick off his currently-brief official visit tour with another trek to UF this weekend.
Penn State (June 17-19) is the only other school scheduled to receive an official from LeBlanc at this time. Aside from UF and soon PSU, Oklahoma is the only school to earn numerous visits from the 6-foot-4, 270-pound lineman this year.
LeBlanc recently pushed his commitment from July 23 back to October 22 to give himself more time to access his college options. That may not seem ideal for UF considering how often he's visited, but a strong official this weekend could help seal the deal on LeBlanc's recruitment in the long run.
DL Will Norman, IMG Academy (Fla.): As mentioned before, IMG teammates Norman and Harris will take their official visits together, and it wouldn't be a total surprise if the two remain teammates at the next level considering Norman's recruitment to date.
Florida is the only school Norman has visited multiple times this year, and is also the only program where he has scheduled an official visit to.
The 6-foot-4, 276-pound defensive tackle has developed a strong relationship with Gators' defensive line coach Sean Spencer, whom Norman — a New Jersey native — admired watching coach with the New York Giants and at Penn State.
LB Malik Bryant, Jones (Fla.): Bryant named Florida in his top five with Miami, USC, Alabama and UCF, but only the Gators, Trojans (June 17-19) and Hurricanes (June 24-26) are set to get an official visit from the 6-foot-2, 234-pound hybrid edge rusher/linebacker.
Bryant made his way to Bama for an unofficial visit to get the summer rolling on June 3 and doesn't have any plans currently to pay his hometown Knights a visit. One might believe that this is turning into a three-team race based on Bryant's plans for officials.
RELATED: Malik Bryant predicts championships for Billy Napier-led Gators
In which case, the Gators will want to strike while the iron is hot and "wow" Bryant while he's on campus this weekend, which will be his third stop by UF this year. Bryant is set to announce his college commitment alongside Kirkland at a ceremony on July 23.
LB Raylen Wilson, Lincoln (Fla.): The Gators are pushing to flip Wilson, a Sunshine State product, from his over half-year long pledge to the Michigan Wolverines with a strong official visit this weekend.
The 6-foot-1, 215-pound linebacker from Florida State's neck of the woods previously visited the Gators in March and came away impressed by what Napier and his staff had to offer, ultimately awarding UF with an official visit and the opportunity to sway him to play his college football close to home.
Florida isn't the only program attempting to pry Wilson away from Michigan, however, as Georgia received an official from Wilson just last week. This could be a three-team battle up until Wilson shuts down his recruitment for good.
Who knows, perhaps that could come not long after his official visit to Ann Arbor next week.
Gators' June 3-5 official visit roundup
- RB Treyaun Webb talks Billy Napier, plans leading up to June 30 commitment
- WR Aidan Mizell "confidently" names Florida as his leader
- DT Kelby Collins: Gators "definitely moved up" in recruitment after official visit
- LB Jordan Hall speaks glowingly on family-oriented trip tp Gainesville
- LB Raul Aguirre says Gators visit "set everything apart" in his recruiment
- S Jordan Castell predicts new Florida coaching staff will change program for the better
- Although they were not available for interviews, Rockledge (Fla.) offensive tackle Bryce Lovett* and Andrew Jackson (Fla.) linebacker Grayson Howard were among UF's first batch of official visitors.
- Additionally, quarterback Jaden Rashada took a midweek official visit to Florida from June 7-9. He is set to make his college commitment on June 18.
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