The Beginning of UCF Football Recruiting Armageddon

If you love to follow UCF Football recruiting, the time is now.

Author:
Brian Smith
Publish date:
Mar 18, 2022 8:43 PM EDT

ORLANDO - From a Football Hotbed Bus tour with prospects, recruits from as far away as Oregon, local prospects coming to town, and a top signal caller visiting, UCF Football is trending as a top destination for prep football players to visit this spring. In all, more than 200 prospects could visit the Knights from the classes of 2023, 2024, and 2025 between now and the end of April alone.

The next couple of weeks will include big visit lists. There will be several recruits announcing their plans on social media as well as posting pictures and videos as well.

This is an extremely important time for the Knights to bring in top talent as spring practice is in full swing, the weather is accomodating, and there’s new Offensive Coordinator Chip Lindsey breaking in as a member of the UCF coaching staff. All of those factors will help UCF keep recruits, their families and coaches entertained.

Oh, and it’s Orlando! There’s certainly plenty of entertainment options beyond the UCF campus.

With all of that said, a few notes about recruiting and what’s been happening and what will be happening during the next few weeks.

What is a Bus Tour?

It’s exactly what it sounds like. Football players travel together in a group via an organization and at least one bus and/or van. Sometimes it’s a high school coach, or a seven-on-seven coach, maybe a group of parents. The idea is to visit multiple schools on a trip to give recruits a chance to experience what college life is truly like.

The Football Hotbed bus tour went through Orlando and UCF today, and then hit Gainesville and the University of Florida. Florida State is tomorrow. It will roll on from there to more schools before returning back to Miami.

Yes, it’s just like that. Visit the school, meet the coaches and see the facilities, talk to people in and around each program, and then move on for the same schedule at the next school on the trip.

During this trip, it’s unique because elite quarterback Dante Moore is on the tour and he’s actually from Detroit (Mich.) King. Most rankings have him in the top 10 players in the land. In the following tweet showing UCF recruits, it’s Moore in the bottom left photograph, as well as playing ping pong.

Moore is one of several players that could become interested in UCF. Who knows? That’s the whole point of the bus tour. There will likely be some 2023 prospects, as well as underclassmen prospects, that emerge from this tour as UCF prospects. Another big-time prospect on the bus tour is actually a recruit that’s been to UCF earlier this year and that would be speedster Jalen Brown from Miami (Fla.) Gulliver Prep. His offer list is much like Walker’s.

Oregon?

Yes, UCF even has players visiting from as far away as Oregon. This young man is a part of the Football Hotbed bus tour, but it is also a sign that recruiting is simply no longer a regional concept.

Davis is well recognized for his class and will likely have several offers before he eventually signs with a lucky institution. Why not UCF for the Portland (Ore.) Central Catholic prospect?

Do Not Forget The Home Base: Florida

Of course the volume of recruits coming to UCF right now is still primarily from Florida. One of the absolute best players in Florida, as well the country, was at UCF today.

To say that defensive tackle John Walker would be an impact recruit is an understatement. Cannot teach the big fella’s quickness and athleticism inside his 6’4”, 295-pound frame. Walker plays at Kissimmee (Fla.) Osceola, just 45 minutes from the UCF campus. Walker’s offer list expands past 30 schools, so UCF will be fighting against a national collection of programs including Southern Cal, Ohio State, Michigan, Miami, etc. Several other recruits are coming through to see UCF as well.

Another top prospect that’s really gained recruiting momentum in general would be Zachary Tobe from Ocoee (Fla.) High School. The cornerback has the size coaches seek and it’s led to offers from programs like Tennessee, North Carolina, Duke, UCF, USF, Illinois, Indiana, Arkansas, and Iowa State.

Singleton Coming to UCF

An absolutely vital visit will be taking place on Saturday when quarterback Malachi Singleton treks to Orlando from must north of Atlanta and North Cobb High School. The elite quarterback camped at UCF last summer and he’s being heavily recruited by numerous SEC and ACC programs, as well as UCF. Many believe he ends up being a Knight in college, and that’s why Singleton’s unofficial visit this weekend is so important.

Malachi Singleton Quarterback Kennesaw (Ga.) North Cobb 2023 — **Malachi Singleton**
Margaret Whittemore Singleton

There’s no definitive timeline for when Singleton will announce his decision, but this weekend’s visit should help determine if UCF is truly going to be a finalist as expected.

More Visits Coming This Spring

There will be visits galore. Location is key, and UCF is in the middle of one of the most concentrated areas for recruits in America. There’s a big seven-on-seven tournament in Plant City, Fla. the last weekend of March, and it’s likely that some of the recruits will find a way to at least visit the UCF campus while in town. That’s but one example.

Look for high school coaches, parents, and even seven-on-seven coaches to be bringing several prospects by UCF over the course of the next month or so to see what a UCF practice is like. There’s not likely to be much of a rhyme or reason for when recruits will come as many live close by, but every visit counts.

How these unofficial visits go will help determine if prospects take an official visit, which will be paid for by UCF and give a more detailed view of what UCF has to offer. That leads to a quick point.

Official visits can be taken in April. That’s also the case with the month of June when even more visits are likely to be taken. Just keep the two months in mind because recruiting will really heat up with commitments and news.

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