December 31, 2009
[h1]Whispers: Can UF keep class and close strong?[/h1]
Mike Farrell
Recruiting Analyst
MORE: UF recruits try to get handle on Meyer situation |
All-star games coverage
What a weekend for Florida.
First, coach
Urban Meyer resigned and was all set to leave behind a short but amazing legacy in Gainesville. Then, a day later, Meyer announced he simply was taking a leave of absence - and recruits were being told he would be back on the sideline this fall.
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| Trey Burton has been working the phones for Florida. | |
Will Meyer's decision to take a leave of absence keep this Florida class intact and allow the Gators to close strong - or has the damage been done?
We do know a few things. First, UF's only quarterback in the class of 2010,
Trey Burton, is about as solid a commitment as there is. Burton, from Naples (Fla.) High, worked the phones while news was flooding out about Meyer over the weekend. Burton talked to key commitments and tried to keep them calm and in the fold. He spoke to recruits such as offensive lineman
Ian Silberman, defensive back
Jaylen Watkins and wide receiver
Solomon Patton, and each is expected to sign with the Gators.
Right now, it appears Burton, Silberman, Patton, Watkins, defensive tackle/offensive lineman
Leon Orr, running back
Mack Brown, tight end
Gerald Christian, defensive end
Lynden Trail, wide receiver
Quinton Dunbar, tight end
Michael McFarland, athlete
Travon Van, defensive end
Neiron Ball, cornerback
Joshua Shaw, athlete
Jonathan Dowling and defensive back
Jordan Haden seem solid to Florida.
Orr was thinking of taking a few visits, but sources say he has backed off that a bit. Florida State is pursuing Trail, but he and Dunbar - teammates at Miami Booker T. Washington - want to play together. With Dunbar so solid, it is unlikely Trail is going anywhere. As for Shaw, sources say he was upset and ready to eliminate Florida, but he did an about-face when Meyer changed his mind and now is set to enroll next week.
That still leaves quite a few prospects as question marks. The biggest name is obviously five-star defensive back
Matt Elam, who was all set to be an early enrollee at Florida. Now, Elam is playing high school basketball and apparently has decided to remain at Palm Beach Gardens (Fla.) Dwyer through the end of the school year. That means a huge recruiting battle is brewing for Elam. Florida State is the biggest threat to the Gators, followed by Tennessee and West Virginia. But if Meyer truly is returning, Florida still has to be considered the team to beat.
Still, the Gators are keeping in contact with safety
Dietrich Riley, of La Canada (Calif.) St. Francis. Riley could take an official visit in January, which is newsworthy because Florida had backed off every other safety prospect on their board because of Elam's commitment.
Elam's teammate, wide receiver
Robert Clark, might re-consider, too. At one time, Clark was a West Virginia commitment, and he might look at Auburn and a few others. But he always has been a huge Gators fan and he's tight with Christian, also a high school teammate. More than likely, Clark will stick with his commitment. But he might not be able to enroll early, as he had planned, so this still could get interesting.
Linebacker
Gideon Ajagbe is saying all the right things, but keep an eye on South Carolina here. Ajagbe, from Miami Ransom Everglades, has been in contact with the Gamecocks, and there were rumors of a flip even before the Meyer drama.
Defensive back
Demar Dorsey of Lauderdale Lakes (Fla.) Boyd Anderson has made no secret about his intention to take other visits. He will visit Tennessee, West Virginia and possibly Alabama and some others before making his final decision. Tennessee appears to be the biggest threat here.
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| Cody Riggs could take another look at Georgia and Tennessee. | |
Finally, cornerback
Cody Riggs of Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas is expected to take another look at Tennessee and Georgia before making a final decision.
All in all, most of the class should remain intact. But when it comes to uncommitted targets, things don't look as rosy. Four five-star prospects - offensive tackle
Seantrel Henderson, defensive end/tight end
Ronald Powell, defensive tackle
Sharrif Floyd and linebacker
Jordan Hicks - have been affected by the happenings over the weekend. Sources say Meyer's flip-flop likely was the end of Florida's chances with Hicks and Henderson. Hicks already was souring on Florida after defensive coordinator
Charlie Strong left to become coach at Louisville; with Meyer's situation in flux, Texas has emerged as the team to beat. Hicks was rumored to be committing at the Under Armour Game but he has since backed off and now will announce on National Signing Day.
As for Henderson, Florida was a long shot, anyway, and trailed Ohio State and USC heading into his recent official visit.
With Powell, the Gators had a big lead for his services before the weekend, but sources say things have changed. With no defensive coordinator in place and no certainty about Meyer's return, Powell is expected to take a much longer look at USC now. Shaw being in the fold and enrolling early helps the Gators' chances.
Floyd already was leaning toward Ohio State, and the Meyer situation is likely to push him toward Columbus even more, with North Carolina moving up.
Florida was fading for Tampa Catholic teammates
Christian Green and
Chaz Green before the weekend. Christian now favors Florida State in a big way, followed by Georgia and Florida. Chaz Green has been a serious lean to Tennessee for quite some time.
Miramar (Fla.) High wide receiver
Ivan McCartney is hard to read, but word has it that Miami is looking more and more attractive. He also had interest in West Virginia and Florida, but WVU lost ace recruiter
Doc Holliday and Florida lost wide receiver coach
Billy Gonzales. Miami gets McCartney's last official visit.
The only top target for the Gators that still is considered a heavy lean is wide receiver
Chris Dunkley of Pahokee (Fla.) High, who is expected to choose the Gators this weekend at the Under Armour all-star game.
Decisions coming
A few top prospects are expected to announce their decisions at the Under Armour event.
Dunkley is expected to choose Florida, but a few other prospects are a little harder to read.
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| Darius White is set to announce on Saturday. | |
Fort Worth (Texas) Dunbar wide receiver
Darius White has been the subject of much speculation. At one point he looked like a lock for Oklahoma, but something happened in November and he began to look around a bit. He took an official visit to Texas on Nov. 20 and was supposed to visit OU in early December; instead, he took an official to Oklahoma State on Dec. 11. While the Sooners' coaching staff still has hope he will end up at OU, Texas and Oklahoma State seem to have more momentum.
Cornerback
John Fulton of Manning (S.C.) High has been equally hard to read. Fulton lists a final three of Florida, Alabama and South Carolina, but you can take the Gators out of the mix. Most sources think he'll choose Alabama, but Fulton's father - who is in the service - is a big South Carolina fan. The dad is coming home on leave for the announcement, and the Gamecocks were Fulton's leader as recently as late November.
Wide receiver
Kenny Shaw of Orlando Dr. Phillips and defensive end
Dominique Easley of Staten Island (N.Y.) Curtis also are expected to announce at the game. Shaw appears to be a lock for Florida State, while Easley lists Miami, Oregon and Penn State after backing off from his commitment to the Nittany Lions. But this one will likely come down to Oregon or Penn State.
Finally, former Notre Dame commitment
Toney Hurd Jr. of Missouri City (Texas) Marshall is expected to announce for Texas A&M at the game.
The U.S. Army Game is a week from Saturday, and the following prospects have signed up to make their decisions on the air - Floyd; defensive end
Gabe King; defensive backs
Victor Hampton,
Demetrius Wright and
Dior Mathis; linebacker
C.J. Mosley; and athletes
Marquis Flowers and
Latwan Anderson. We'll have much more on where they are leaning during our week-long coverage of the Army game live from San Antonio.
FSU ready to close
Is there a hotter team in the nation right now than Florida State?
The Seminoles landed four-star junior college cornerback
Mike Harris, four-star linebacker
Jeff Luc and five-star cornerback
Lamarcus Joyner before the break, and they have put themselves in position to land numerous big-time prospects down the stretch. By cleaning up the coaching mess, FSU suddenly is a hot commodity again.
As mentioned above, Shaw is headed to FSU. Barring anything strange, Christian Green will be a 'Nole, too. It's likely that linebacker
Christian Jones of Casselberry (Fla.) Lake Howell will end up in Tallahassee, as well. Jones was rumored to be a silent commitment to the 'Noles back in the summer and now is a strong lean. Things have improved with defensive end
Corey Lemonier of Miami American, and it wouldn't be a shock to see him and cornerback
Terrence Mitchell of Tampa Hillsborough end up signing with FSU.
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| Can the Seminoles turn Florida commit Matt Elam? | |
There's also no reason FSU fans can't dream of stealing away Elam. While it's still a bit of a long shot, coach
Jimbo Fisher is making a huge effort to recruit Elam personally and Elam is friendly with many FSU commitments.
FSU's could earn its first top-five finish in the team recruiting rankings since 2006.
Louisville is hot
Georgia linebacker commitment
B.J. Butler, from Kissimmee (Fla.) Osceola, could end up flipping to Louisville after he takes an official visit there on Jan. 8.
Butler was interested in Florida even after committing to Georgia and took a visit to Gainesville during the season. Now that former Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong is in charge at Louisville, sources say Butler will end up with the Cardinals if he gets an offer.
Strong recently surprised many by grabbing a commitment from Miami Northwestern wide receiver
Michaelee Harris. While Miami, West Virginia and Tennessee remain in the hunt, the commitments from Harris and teammate
Corvin Lamb could mean Louisville turns Northwestern defensive tackle
Todd Chandler. Chandler, who originally committed to Miami before switching and choosing USF, will take an official visit to Louisville in January.
Etc.
Things are getting a bit worrisome at North Carolina when it comes to two key positions. The biggest area of need is along the defensive line, where UNC might be forced to go the junior college route. Unless the Heels pull a big surprise and steal away Floyd,
Brandon Willis of Duncan (S.C.) Byrnes or FSU commitment
Tavaris Barnes of Jacksonville First Coast, they will be hoping to land
Kareem Martin of Roanoke Rapids (N.C.) High and
Ethan Farmer of Tabor City (N.C.) South Columbus. The Heels also could possibly get a junior college end and tackle. At running back, they were hoping to be a finalist for
Marcus Lattimore of Duncan (S.C.) Byrnes, with Corvin Lamb and
Mustafa Greene of Irmo (S.C.) High as fallbacks. But now that they are out on all three, the Heels will make a huge push for Miami Central's
Brandon Gainer, although he's likely to end up at UCF. Rutgers commitment
Casey Turner of Jacksonville Ed White will visit in January, and he could be the player the Heels get in the end.
Texas Tech wide receiver commitment
Kadron Boone of Ocala (Fla.) Trinity Catholic could up at Florida now that Red Raiders coach
Mike Leach has been fired. Florida has commitments from three wide receivers - Patton, Clark and Dunbar - with Dowling and one or two others also potential receivers. But with Christian Green all but gone to FSU, McCartney iffy at best and only Dunkley an apparent lock to commit, Boone should become a priority. There are also rumors that Florida will take a run at Ohio State commitment
James Louis of Delray Beach (Fla.) Atlantic. Louis was interested in Florida before committing to Ohio State.
Defensive end
Owamagbe Odighizuwa's elimination of California is a stunner. Odighizuwa, from Portland (Ore.) David Douglas, once was considered a silent commitment to Cal. Most now feel this will come down to UCLA and Oregon State in the end, with Oregon an outside possibility and USC a long shot.
There are differing opinions on who leads for defensive back
Sean Parker of Harbor City (Calif.) Narbonne. Sources are confident Parker will end up at USC, but there are those who are convinced he will sign with Michigan. Parker once was a big Notre Dame lean, but sources say he has narrowed his choices to USC, Michigan and Cal. He isn't expected to make a decision until National Signing Day.
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| Michigan is in good shape with Tony Grimes. | |
Things look good for the Wolverines when it comes to Hollywood Hills (Fla.) High teammates
Tony Grimes and
Clarence Murphy. It's unclear when the duo will commit because Grimes is apparently interested in taking at least one more visit. But it would be a stunner if either ended up anyplace but Ann Arbor. Grimes is a defensive back, Murphy a defensive end.
Andover (Mass.) High tight end
Brian Miller, a 2011 recruit, recently visited Boston College and met with the dean of the business school and the athletic director, but rumors that a commitment to the Eagles was imminent are premature. Michigan, Iowa, Northwestern, North Carolina and Stanford also have offered, and Alabama and Oregon are the newest programs to show interest.
Rumors began to fly this week about defensive end
Bryan Murphy of Ramsey (N.J.) Don Bosco Prep having second thoughts about his commitment to Pittsburgh. But it appears those second thoughts have passed and that he is solid to Pitt. He takes his official visit to Pittsburgh on Jan. 15.
Five-star defensive end
J.R. Ferguson of Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy has taken official visits to LSU, Notre Dame and Cal, and has stated he will take his fourth official visit to Oklahoma. But who gets the fifth? Sources say it could be UCLA, as coach
Rick Neuheisel made quite an impression by flying cross-country simply to visit Ferguson. Maryland, Miami and South Carolina also seem to be in the mix, but it doesn't look as if they will get officials. Ferguson was supposed to take another unofficial visit to Maryland the weekend of Dec. 18, but a blizzard stopped that.
Ohio State is the newest school to offer 2011 offensive lineman
Angelo Mangiro of Succasunna (N.J.) Roxbury. He also has Boston College, Maryland, Rutgers, North Carolina, North Carolina State and others on his list. Look for Penn State, Miami and Pittsburgh to get more involved. Mangiro, who has already visited with the Nittany Lions, Notre Dame and Rutgers, will take a trip to Boston College this spring.
