Florida Quickly Rises Into WR Braylon Staley's Top Schools

Wide receiver Braylon Staley has included Florida in his top schools despite the majority of his Gators' recruitment being without a position coach.

Photo: Heavener Football Training Center hallway; Credit: Zach Goodall

Florida made the top ten schools for Aiken (S.C.) High 2024 wide receiver Braylon Staley on Saturday evening, he announced, quickly cementing its spot in his recruitment after entering the mix in late February.

Auburn, Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, North Carolina, Miami, Tennessee, Penn State and Georgia Tech join Florida in Staley's group of contending programs. 

Staley earned his offer from UF on Feb. 27, just days after former Florida wide receivers coach Keary Colbert made his move to the Denver Broncos in the NFL. 

Despite the absence of an on-field position coach, Florida has done enough to make Staley feel like a priority in a short stretch of time. The coaching staff sent Staley gift bags with hand-written messages on March 13, the day before Billy Gonzales was reportedly hired as the team's wide receivers coach.

FLORIDA JUST SHOWED UP !! 🐊🐊🐊 @GatorsFB pic.twitter.com/UDCK0fFQJy

— ᵕ̈ (@BrayStaley) March 13, 2023

Inside linebackers coach Jay Bateman — a UF assistant well-regarded in the Carolinas following three seasons as UNC's co-defensive coordinator (2019-21) and five as Elon's defensive play-caller (2006-10) — and wide receivers graduate assistant David Doeker have operated Staley's UF recruitment in its initial weeks. 

Staley, 6-foot, 175 pounds, is viewed as the No. 46 wide receiver and No. 306 national prospect in the class of 2024 according to the 247Sports composite rankings. He produced 838 yards and eight touchdowns receiving during his 2022 junior regular season.

A track and field star, Staley broke his school's 200-meter-dash record earlier this month with a result of 21.88 seconds. 

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