Steve Spurrier put the finishing touches on a top-three recruiting class two days after National Signing Day (February 1, 1995) when Reggie McGrew signed with the Gators at Lafayette High School in nearby Mayo, rounding out a 24-man haul for Florida in the Class of 1995:
Ernie Badeaux, Line (6-5, 258), River Ridge, La. (John Curtis)
Tim Beauchamp, Line (6-2, 235), New Smyrna Beach
Cheston Blackshear, Line (6-3, 278), Jacksonville (Ed White)
Pat Browning, Line (6-3, 290), Tampa (Jesuit)
Scott Bryan, Line (6-4, 270), Longwood (Lake Mary)
Zuri Buchanan, Back (6-0, 215), DeSoto, Tex. (DeSoto)
Cooper Carlisle, Line (6-6, 265), McComb, Miss. (McComb)
Reggie Davis, Back (6-0, 175), Bradenton (Southeast)
Damian Hill, Back (6-1, 175), Dallas, Tex. (Carter)
Ryan Kalich, Line (6-3, 276), Houston, Tex. (Spring Woods)
Jevon Kearse, Back (6-5, 220), North Ft. Myers
Keith Kelsey, Back (6-1, 220), Newberry
Erron Kinney, Back (6-6, 256), Ashland, Va. (Patrick Henry)
Demetrius Lewis, Back (6-0, 195), Decatur, Ga. (Southwest Dekalb)
Eugene McCaslin, Back (6-1, 205), Tampa (Chamberlain)
Reggie McGrew, Line (6-2, 279), Mayo (Lafayette)
Anthony Mitchell, Line (6-5, 235), Louisville, Miss. (Louisville)
Dock Pollard, Back (5-8, 170), Bradenton (Manatee)
Jamie Richardson, Back (5-11, 175), Tallahassee (Godby)
Johnny Rutledge, Back (6-2, 225), Belle Glade (Glades Central)
Bobby Sablehaus, Quarterback (6-6, 225), Owings Mills, Md. (McDonogh)
Greg See, Line (6-5, 251), Denon, Pa. (Archbishop Carroll)
Robby Stevenson, Kicker (6-1, 177), Bradenton (Manatee)
Corey Yarborough, Line (6-2, 266), Glen St. Mary (Baker County)
– The Gators landed 12 of the state's top 50 prospects, good for second among the Big Three. Florida State (14) led all teams, while Miami only finished with two. Auburn led all out-of-state programs with four top-50 signees from Florida.
– 15 of the Gators' 24 players (62.5%) in the Class of 1995 hailed from the state of Florida.
– UF landed a pair of USA Today first team All-Americans in Badeaux and Stevenson. Most services regarded Sabelhaus (the #2 QB, behind USA Today Offensive Player of the Year Dan Kendra) as the top recruit in Florida's class.
– Buchanan was the only group from this class who failed to qualify, but he would enroll at Florida as a part of the Class of 1996.
Biggest Hits: Jevon Kearse and Reggie McGrew had celebrated careers in Orange & Blue and would eventually go on to be first-round picks in the NFL Draft as well. Five players from this group (Blackshear, Carlisle, Kearse, McGrew, Rutledge) would go on to win All-SEC honors.
Biggest Misses: There were several, highlighting the Jekell and Hyde nature of this class. But perhaps none was as big as that of Sabelhaus. Touted as the potential successor to Danny Wuerffel, Sabelhaus was gone within 18 months. A disastrous performance in the 1996 spring game proving to be the final nail in the coffin of Sabelhaus' brief UF career.
Badeaux's signing was highly celebrated, but the talented defensive lineman proved to be a handful off the field and was finally dismissed from the team in August of 1997 following a rash of incidents.
Jamie Richardson showed signs of promise early in his tenure at Florida, but was also dismissed following an incident at the Florida Theater in Gainesville back in January of 1998, resulting in Richardson's second battery arrest within a 14-month period.
Acclaimed as a Parade All-American, with 28 career interceptions at the prep level, Damian Hill was the big corner every major college program craves. He arrived at Florida with considerable fanfare, and the early reports indicated he would live up to the considerable expectations. But his time in Gainesville would prove to be short lived. Hill was ensnared in a textbook-selling scandal which also nailed fellow '95 signee Dock Pollard. Throwing additional academic issues into the mix, Hill was gone from Florida after the spring semester in 1996.
The ones who got away: Despite Florida's best efforts, several top prospects elected to sign elsewhere. The biggest name would prove to be Belle, W.Va. receiver Randy Moss, who elected to go with Notre Dame over Florida and Tennessee.
The other big-time receiver the Gators lost out on was Bradenton Southeast athlete Peter Warrick (6-1, 175), who elected not to follow several teammates (including '95 UF signee Reggie Davis) to Gainesville, and instead would head to Florida State.
The state's top quarterback, Ocala Vanguard passer Daunte Culpepper (6-4, 214), wound up at UCF after academic issues caused the Big Three to back off his recruitment. By the time Culpepper had put himself in a position to qualify, he decided to stick with the Knights, who had supported him through his academic issues.
With a need at the defensive tackle position, missing out on Belle Glade Glades Central lineman Robert Newkirk (6-4, 280) – a one-time UF commitment – to Michigan State was a tough pill to swallow for the Gators. Thankfully for Florida, the late commitment of Badeaux and the addition of Reggie McGrew 48 hours after the faxes had started coming in on National Signing Day filled their quota on the defensive front. Newkirk went on to play three seasons in the NFL.
Tampa Jefferson athlete Keith Newman (6-3, 225), a guy who could have played tight end, defensive end or linebacker at UF, elected to go with Mack Brown and North Carolina instead. Newman went on to play seven productive seasons at the pro level.
************
Max Emfinger had the Gators ranked as the top recruiting class in the country as Florida reeled in what was generally considered to be the third best class in the country behind Notre Dame and Florida State.
The Gators had dealt with some issues recruiting the linebacker position in the prior two cycles – especially when going up with the Seminoles – but made up for those losses in 1995 with a haul that included Kearse, Kelsey and Rutledge.
No comments:
Post a Comment