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What Gabriel Dindy visiting UCF Means for UCF Football

It’s not every day that UCF football hosts a bona fide five-star recruit. Further, it’s even rarer when an elite five-star defensive end comes to the UCF campus for an unofficial visit, but that happened on Wednesday for the Knights.
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For those of you that have been reading the recruiting articles here at Inside The Knights, you probably already know just how important it is for UCF football to recruit the local communities.

Not just Orlando and the suburbs directly adjacent to the UCF campus mind you, but also those counties and cities located just a short drive away. The primary county of note would be Polk County. Home to some of the best prep prospects in Florida, and it’s also a consistent producer of top-notch defensive talent, something UCF really needs to add to the 2022 roster.

One of the most important aspects of the 2022 recruiting class will be bringing in top defensive linemen. With yesterday’s unofficial visit to UCF now in the books, Gabriel Dindy is squarely on UCF’s recruiting board. While UCF certainly recruited him prior to yesterday, it’s not the same as Dindy actually visiting the UCF campus.

Once a prospect unofficially visits a college football program, there’s a sense of reality. UCF or any other program can recruit whomever it wants, but it does not automatically mean that young man will seriously consider attending that program.

With Dindy making the short drive to Orlando to see UCF for himself, now Head Coach Gus Malzahn and his coaching staff have entered the race for Dindy. Before that, it was probably fool’s gold to believe Dindy would realistically consider signing with UCF.

To date, Dindy’s recruitment has been a national race with three programs appearing to currently stand out -- Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and Ohio State -- for the elite talent’s services. Born in Louisiana and the son of parents with ties to the University of Oklahoma, Dindy is not your typical Florida recruit.

That means the UCF coaching staff, led by Defensive Coordinator Travis Williams, will need to find more than staying close to home as a selling point like many other programs often do here in Florida. With Dindy still having the opportunity to officially visit UCF, there’s no reason to believe the Knights are not a possible college destination for the Lakeland (Fla.) High School football player. As for Dindy’s talent, it’s truly unique.

The 6’4”, 280-pound defensive end is about as rare as it gets. Despite his height, weight, frame, and massive size 15 shoe size, Dindy is agile on his feet and possesses incredible power. He demonstrated his skills during the spring game jamboree versus Venice (Fla.) High School

As one can see, Dindy is not your typical defensive end. He’s a game changer. After watching Dindy physically move opponents against their will, play after play, it was obvious that he was not just a really good player. Dindy should be considered an elite talent.

Will the Knights secure an official visit with Dindy? That’s the prime question moving forward. Until that question is answered, UCF fans should know that the Knights coaching staff is going after the best of the best.

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You will find me on Twitter @fbscout_florida and @UCF_FanNation