State of Florida Recruiting News: Comparing Canes, Noles and Gators
There's still over three months until recruits sign letter of intents, with Miami, Florida State and Florida working feverishly to sign the best recruiting class.
As of today, it's the Noles or Gators with the best class from the three programs. Shall it stay that way? Let's take a look at a few of the key names that are committed and a few prospects still on the board.
***More good news coming for the Hurricanes? That’s the expectation today, and after two consecutive commitments from quarterback Luke Nickel and pass rusher Elias Rudolph, why not three days in a row?
***All Hurricanes will have any recruiting breaking news later today.
***Which in-state program ends up with the best recruiting class? The way that Florida State and Florida charged up the recruiting rankings this summer, and the continued efforts of Mario Cristobal and his staff as well, this could quite the interesting finish.
***For in-state commitments, Miami (11) holds the lead over Florida State (10) and Florida (7) for now. That could change as there are usually multiple flips down the stretch, especially in South Florida. That brings up a related subject.
***The best recruiting class from the Big 3 could come down to a few elite prospects (some from South Floirida possibly). Miami probably holds the chance at the most 4-star and 5-star recruits left on the board; that’s especially the case when considering the number of potential flip candidates there are.
***FSU commitment Lawayne McCoy (WR) would be a great example of that. A few other prominent names could be flip candidates down the line as they have stayed in contact with Miami despite being a commitment elsewhere.
***Uncommitted players like Aydin Breland (DT), Kamarion Franklin (DL), David Stone (DT), LJ McCray (DL), Chris Cole (LB), Zavier Mincey (CB/S), and Zaquan Patterson (S) all have the Hurricanes among their top schools. Some of them are still considering Florida and Florida State, too.
Breland could be a Oregon-Texas A&M-Miami battle, while other programs are involved as well. Franklin looks like Auburn, Tennessee and Miami, with Ole Miss still in the picture.
Stone appears to be headed to Oklahoma, but Miami has recruited him well, and he’s still talking to Florida consistently, too. McCray could end up being a FSU-Florida battle, and Miami would love to sign him as well. Cole is being projected to Georgia, but the Virginia product has been a priority for numerous programs so who knows where he eventually signs.
McCray’s high school teammate at Daytona Beach (Fla.) Mainland would be Mincey. He’s looking at several of the same schools and one should not count out any of the in-state programs come National Signing Day.
Patterson has Miami, Auburn, FSU, Ohio State and Michigan amongst his group. It could be one of multiple schools – depending on the person communicating with to obtain information – holding the edge right now. Patterson could commit prior to the end of August.
***Mike Norvell and his Florida State staff did a tremendous job of recruiting the state of Georgia and even knocking off Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs for top recruits like Landen Thomas (TE) and KJ Bolden (S). Watch out for Kam Davis (RB) as well. He’s a tremendous all-around athlete projected to play in the backfield for the Noles.
***This will be FSU’s best recruiting class since 2017 when the Noles finished No. 7 in the 247 rankings.
***So far, Florida also did well in Georgia with five current commitments. One of those would be pure zero-technique Michai Boreau that Smart and UGA want very much. That will be a battle to the end as the following tweet also indicates:
***UF’s ability to not only recruit the state of Texas, but gain commitments from two elite players with Xavier Filsaime (CB/S) and DJ Lagway (QB), adds two impact prospects to the roster. One or both could end up competing for starting jobs by the end of their respective freshman seasons.
***Kahnen Daniels (RB) and Javonta Waller (DE) are two steals from the Magnolia State and could play early in Gainesville as well. That’s an overall theme from all three of Miami, FSU and UF: Landing elite prospects out of states with at least one powerful program that is usually hard to beat for local prospects.
***Looking down the line, there’s still one big fish all three of Miami, FSU and UF would love to sign, and of course that’s current Ohio State commitment Jeremiah Smith (WR). He’s a future NFL player that’s still taking a serious look at UM, FSU and UF. If any one of the three land Smith, he could catapult that class towards the top of the overall recruiting rankings.
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