Gators Among Finalists for Top In-State Recruit

The Florida Gators are among the top 10 teams in the running for a top 2026 edge recruit in the country. Four-star Trent Henderson has the Gators along with Georgia, Florida State and LSU. The remaining schools in the running are Alabama, Michigan, Texas, USC, Vanderbilt and Auburn.

NEWS: Elite 2026 EDGE Trent Henderson is down to 🔟 Schools, he tells me for @on3recruits

The 6’5 220 EDGE from Pensacola, FL is ranked as a Top 5 EDGE in the ‘26 Class (On3 Industry)

Where Should He Go?👇🏽https://t.co/uiGqfhRZ2S pic.twitter.com/aJuvU10iJ3
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) February 24, 2025

He is scheduled to take a visit to Florida on June 13. Starting in mid-May, he has a visit to one of the final 10 schools over four straight weekends.

Henderson is the No. 12 recruit in the country, the No. 3 player at his position and the top recruit out of Florida, according to 247 Sports. The outlet doesn’t currently have a crystal ball prediction for where the Pensacola native will choose.

Currently, On3 gives Auburn the best odds to land him followed by Alabama.

While it’s not a good look that the Gators aren’t the frontrunner for someone who is technically an in-state recruit, keep in mind that Pensacola is closer in distance to both Auburn and Tuscaloosa than Gainesville. It’s even in the same time zone (Central) as these SEC opponents.

So far, the Gators 2026 recruiting class only has two commits: four-star quarterback Will Griffin and three-star safety Devin Jackson. They recently lost four-star cornerback Jaelen Waters. He decommited last week following the departure of Will Harris to Miami.

The slow start has them ranked No. 51 in the country, according to 247 Sports.

The Gators finished with the No. 10 class in 2025, landing three edges - two out of high school and one from the transfer portal.

Four-stars Jayden Woods and Jalen Wiggins are enrolled at Florida. Kofi Asare transferred over to Florida from UMass back in December.

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