QB DJ Lagway Previews Second Visit With 'Dream School' Florida Gators
The final week of July is going to be a hectic one across the college football recruiting landscape, a seven-day window for prospects to visit programs before the upcoming season gets underway.
Many big-time recruits will hustle their way across the country to squeeze in as many visits as possible. Others, like 2024 Willis (Texas) quarterback DJ Lagway, have just one destination in mind.
For Lagway, that location is far to the east of his hometown, as he'll head to Gainesville to meet with the Florida Gators and their new coaching staff for a second time this weekend.
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"I'm only going to Florida this week, I'm excited to get back up there," Lagway told AllGators on Sunday. "I've always liked Florida as a school, as a kid I always liked watching them. I mean, growing up it was my dream school. I'm always excited to get back down there."
Lagway will arrive in town on Friday when UF hosts its annual Friday Night Lights camp, expecting to compete in the workout so long as his flight arrives on time that evening, and will stick around on Saturday when the Gators host a cookout for the recruits that made it to campus for the weekend.
Beyond taking the field at his "dream school," however, Lagway is most looking forward to reuniting with head coach Billy Napier and quarterbacks analyst Ryan O'Hara.
"He's a really good guy, [a] good, genuine guy," Lagway said of O'Hara. "I'm excited to keep building my relationship with him and get to talk to him more while I'm down there in Gainesville."
As for Napier, Lagway pointed to his role as quarterbacks coach in addition to his leadership position as a part of why Florida intrigues him so much.
"That'd be huge," Lagway said about Napier potentially personally overseeing his development as a signal-caller, if he were to choose UF. "That's what the main thing is about, developing and becoming a better quarterback. That's going to be huge in my recruitment, so that's going to be good."
Lagway is one of the top quarterbacks on Florida's 2024 recruiting board at this time and has been since he earned an offer from Napier himself during his March trip to the school, for good reason.
In his debut season as Willis' starting quarterback last year, the 6-foot-2, 225-pound Lagway was an incredibly efficient passer with a 17-to-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio, and he added six scores on the ground as a cherry on top.
"[Florida's coaches] say they like the way I can just be able to keep the play alive," Lagway shared. "You know, being able to do both throwing and running just as equally, being able to be that dynamic on the ground in the air."
Lagway intends to make a third trek to Florida later this year, planning on returning during the season for a game although the matchup has yet to be determined. Southern California, Texas A&M, LSU, Alabama and other blue-blood programs are likely to receive an in-season visit as well.
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