Thursday Recruiting Rundown, June 2nd

UCF recruiting news, a look at the recruiting efforts of in-state programs Florida, Florida State and Miami, and a certain person in Tuscaloosa walking back his comments from a few weeks back are in this week’s edition of the Thursday Recruiting Rundown.

Author:
Brian Smith
Publish date:
Jun 2, 2022 5:20 AM EDT

ORLANDO - The crazy times of college football recruiting are about to begin. Here’s a look at what’s going on with the four prime programs in the state of Florida, beginning with UCF, then moving to Florida, Florida State and Miami. Finally, closing out with Nick Saban attempting to backtrack on some earlier comments, but it’s not going to work.

UCF Official Visits

UCF will be hosting several other official visitors this weekend, and the list can change at any moment. As for prospects not yet committed to the Knights, a few of the names to know include Braeden Marshall (CB - Florida), John Walker (DT - Florida), Lamar Seymore (WR - Florida), Joshua Horton (DT - Georgia), and Johnathan Cline (OL - Georgia).

The above tweet is a great example of one just not knowing what will transpire. Seymore has been a Hurricane’s commitment for a long time. Maybe UCF can change his mind?

UCF committed prospects like Dylan Rizk (QB - Florida) and Kaven Call (DE/OLB - Florida) will also be on campus. Keep in mind, there could also be unofficial visitors from current commitments to help recruit the prospects taking official visits.

There’s a long way to go for the vast majority of prospects taking official visits to UCF this weekend, as well as to any other college football program. The first weekend of June is more or less the unofficial kickoff weekend for summer visits. It’s going to be an extremely busy month of June. That also includes another activity on the UCF campus, too.

UCF Camps

There are a litany of camps for UCF this year. Among them, three separate prospect camps, the Gus Malzahn QB Academy, three OL/DL camp days, several seven-on-seven camps, and a specialist camp (that’s today actually). There’s even Kristi Malzahn’s second annual Lady’s Knight that will be July 21.

Full UCF Football Camp List and Information

The state of Florida is famous for prospects seemingly coming out of no place and earning offers. A track athlete that decides to go out for spring football, then he goes to a football camp or two, and voila! He’s on the radar for programs. That type of situation could definitely play out for UCF or another program in Florida this summer.

There are prospects that are just now emerging, too. Could be a lineman, cornerback, or any position. Sometimes a prospect just takes longer to develop. One just does not know, and that’s why these camps are important. It provides the UCF staff first-hand evaluation opportunities, and it’s a chance for the player to learn the school. It’s a win-win situation.

It’s been the week leading into the official visit madness that’s about to ensue, beginning on Friday. With that, some significant notes about the in-state foes for the Knights.

Gators - Seminoles - Hurricanes

It’s the first year for Florida Head Coach Billy Napier, third season coming up for Florida State Head Coach Mike Norvell, and first year for Miami Head Coach Mario Cristobal. All three of them are in the midst of attempting to bring their respective programs back to glory. To do that, two items to note about June beyond the official visits that everyone will be hosting.

To begin, the volume of in-state talent that has been leaving the Sunshine State is alarming. This year does not appear to be much, if any, better. For UCF or any of the three aforementioned schools to really climb the college football ladder, keeping more prospects at home is a must. Can any one of the “Big 3” in Florida start to do that again? UCF is starting to tap into that talent pool as well, so there’s even more in-state pressure for Florida, Florida State and Miami with recruiting.

Lastly, can any of UCF’s rivals have a splash commitment this month, whether it be in-state or out of state? There will certainly be a plethora of top-notch prospects on the campuses of all three of these schools.

Florida will be bringing in one of the hottest names in all of the state of Florida with wide receiver Andy Jean (June 24) from Miami (Fla.) Northwestern. He’s also a top target of Miami, Georgia, and several other programs. Coming in this weekend, Kelby Collins (June 3) is one of the nation’s best overall defensive lineman. The Gardendale (Ala.) High School prospect is also planning to visit South Carolina (June 10) and Georgia (June 24), with a couple of more trips to still be decided.

Florida State has big-time wide receiver Shelton Sampson (June 10) coming to visit from Baton Rouge (La.) Catholic. He’s the type of player that can all but pick his school. A defensive lineman that is coming to Tallahassee would be Keldric Faulk (June 10) from Highland Home (Ala.) High School. While there are other top prospects coming in to visit the Seminoles, Sampson and Faulk are definitely two of the very best.

Miami has a chance to close out on its 2023 quarterback recruit when Milton (Fla.) High School signal caller Emory Williams (June 17) heads to Coral Gables for a visit. Playing near Pensacola, Williams has gone somewhat under the radar, but he’s a talented prospect. A player that could be protecting Williams is also visiting from inside the state of Florida. Payton Kirkland (June 20) is one of the most coveted offensive line recruits in the state, hailing from Orlando (Fla.) Dr. Phillips. He also has visits with Oklahoma (June 3), Florida (June 10), and Michigan State (June 17). He will make his college decision on July 23.

The last category today is something interesting to end on, but not one that’s not likely full of honesty.

What Saban Said

After the war of words between Nick Saban of Alabama and Jimbo Fisher of Texas A&M, the SEC summer meetings took place in Destin, Fla. When the dispute between the former coaches that were actually on the same staff at one point for LSU came up, Saban absolutely walked back his comments about Texas A&M buying players from a few short weeks ago.

Wait a second. Does Saban really expect us to believe the “nobody did anything wrong” bologna he just spit out? Coach Saban, you cannot let that cat out of the bag and then put it back in. That’s more like a full grown male lion that you just plopped out onto the living room floor. After claiming a program is cheating across the board, now nobody did anything wrong? Okay…

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