Monday, September 2, 2013

UF Recruiting Roundup

Hope everybody is enjoying their Labor Day weekend. Here's a trio of Florida-related recruiting notes for your perusal:

– Florida State lost a commitment in Orlando Timber Creek wide receiver Javonte Seabury this weekend.  Seabury (5-9, 170) is an ultra-quick option as a slot option, return man and/or potential defensive back at the next level. He has not been all that productive at the prep level to date, but his level of speed obviously cannot be coached. Seabury turned around gave another pledge to FIU, within 24 hours of dropping FSU, although his recruitment may not be completely over. Time will tell.

How does this affect Florida? Well, his brother is teammate and highly-regarded 2015 RB prospect Jacques Patrick. The big back is one of the early targets that has emerged for UF on the board at the position along with Lakeland Christian speedster T.J. Simmons, University School star Jordan Scarlett, James Allen out of Citra North Marion and Kieran Higdon of Sarasota Riverview. Many observers figured that with Seabury poised to go to Florida State, that the Seminoles figured to be the odds-on favorite to land Patrick as well. Now that the recruitment of both players no longer appear tied to one another, the race for Patrick is wide-open once again. It's still early, and the Gators still appear to be evaluating their 2015 options, but Patrick figures to be a name floating around near the top of the board as it stands.

– Nothing particularly new here, but Top-100 safety Jamal Adams (Lewisville, Tex./Hebron) once again reaffirmed his intention to make a decision by the end of the season:




As noted last week, the move of Valdez Showers to offense has gives the Florida defense one less body to work with at the safety position. Adams is still a bit of a luxury item in this recruiting cycle for UF, but one for whom there might be a bit more urgency to land at this point. The Gators still appear to be in good shape here, as they tussle with Ole Miss, Texas and A&M for the signature of Adams.

– Five-star OL David Sharpe (Jacksonville/Providence) visited Clemson this past weekend for a classic between the Tigers and border rival Georgia, a Saturday night showdown on ABC. Now Sharpe will see UGA once again, as he heads to Athens this weekend to watch the 'Dawgs host South Carolina in one of this weekend's key matchups.




The Gators have positioned themselves well early for Sharpe, but we're only about halfway through the race to land his signature. As of now, I think Clemson and Georgia have primed themselves to be the other major contenders. Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina and USC are in the mix as well, although to a lesser extent from where I'm standing.

Although Florida has already received several visits from Sharpe since the beginning of the year, they need to get him on campus as much as possible this fall, in light of the fact he's said he doesn't plan to use an official visit to UF since he's so familiar with the campus already. After going to Clemson and UGA in back-to-back weeks, I expect the Gators to make a real push to get Sharpe on campus for the SEC opener against Tennessee on Sept. 21 to keep pace with the two teams that presently seem to have the most momentum going for them with the 6-foot-6, 290-pound offensive tackle prospect.

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