Florida Gators 2013 Recruiting Class

[Escambia94]

Here is the class of 2013. Most services rank this as the #2 class in the country, right between Alabama and tOSU. More importantly, this filled all the voids in talent created by graduation and NFL Draft. This class had 13 athletes ranked in the ESPN top 150. Of the 5 offensive top-150 recruits, 2 transferred out.

This class had 2 five-star, 14 four-star, 10 three-star, and one two-star recruits. 2 four-star, and 2 three-star recruits transferred out. 1 four-star and 2 three-star recruits medically retired.

First	Last	Position	Ht	Wt	High School	Rating	Notes
Vernon​	Hargreaves III​	CB​	5-11​	185​	Tampa, Fla. / Wharton​	0.9980​	2017 (round 1, Tampa Bay Buccaneers)​
Kelvin​	Taylor​	RB​	5-10​	216​	Belle Glades, Fla/ Belle Glades​	0.9897​	2016 (round 6, San Francisco 49ers)​
Alex​	Anzalone​	LB​	6-3​	232​	Wyomissing, PA/ Wyomissing​	0.9750​	2017 (round 3, New Orleans Saints)​
Daniel​	McMillian​	LB​	6-2​	220​	Jacksonville, FL First Coast​	0.9734​	2017 (UFA), arrested in 2017​
Demarcus​	Robinson​	WR​	6-1.5​	196​	Fort Valley, GA Peach County​	0.9648​	2016 (round 4, Kansas City)​
Marcell​	Harris​	S​	6-1​	209​	Orlando, FL Dr. Phillips​	0.9647​	n/a​
Ahmad​	Fulwood​	WR​	6-4​	200​	Jacksonville, FL Bishop Kenny​	0.9512​	2017 (UFA)​
Keanu​	Neal​	S​	6-1​	200​	Bushnell, FL South Sumter​	0.9486​	2016 (round 1, Atlanta Falcons)​
Caleb​	Brantley​	DL​	6-3​	308​	Crescent City, FL Crescent City​	0.9478​	2017 (round 6, Cleveland Browns)​
Matt​	Rolin​	LB​	6-4​	210​	Ashburn, VA Briar Woods​	0.9334​	Medical retirement 2016​
Alvin​	Bailey​	WR​	5-10.5​	175​	Seffner, FL Armwood​	0.9236​	Transferred 2016 (Youngstown St)​
Nick​	Washington​	S​	6-0​	182​	Jacksonville, FL Trinity Christian​	0.9208​	n/a​
Jaynard​	Bostwick​	DL​	6-4​	280​	Port St. Lucie, FL St. Lucie West Centennial​	0.9103​	Transferred 2015​
Jordan​	Sherit​	DL​	6-4​	240​	Tampa, FL/ Hillsborough​	0.9061​	n/a​
Adam​	Lane​	RB​	5-8​	214​	Winter Haven, FL Winter Haven​	0.9025​	Transferred 2014 (Eastern Kentucky)​
Darious​	Cummings​	DL​	6-2​	301​	Titusville, Fla/ Astronaut/ East Miss CC​	0.8994​	2017 (UFA)​
Trenton​	Brown​	OL​	6-8​	350​	Milledgeville, GA Westover/ Ga Mil College​	0.8877​	2017 (round 7, San Francisco 49ers)​
Joey​	Ivie​	DL​	6-4​	265​	Dade City, FL Pasco​	0.8814​	2017 (round 7, Dallas Cowboys)​
Roderick​	Johnson​	OL​	6-5​	315​	Delray Beach, FL American Heritage School​	0.8753​	Medical retirement 2015​
Antonio​	Riles​	DL​	6-4​	265​	Lawrenceville, GA Archer​	0.8753​	n/a​
Marqui​	Hawkins​	WR​	6-1​	194​	Columbus, GA Carver​	0.8739​	Transferred 2014 (UAB), medical retirement 2017​
Cameron​	Dillard​	OL​	6-3​	290​	Canton, MI Canton​	0.8712​	Graduated 2016, transferred to North Carolina​
Jarrad​	Davis​	LB​	6-2​	210​	Kingsland, GA Camden County​	0.8681​	2017 round 1, Detroit Lions​
Chris​	Thompson​	WR​	5-11.5​	165​	Gainesville, FL Gainesville​	0.8544​	2017 (UFA)​
Max​	Staver​	QB​	6-5​	238​	Brentwood, TN Brentwood Academy​	0.8501​	Transferred 2013 (Tyler CC)​
Octavius​	Jackson​	OL​	6-4​	280​	Moultrie, GA Colquitt County​	0.8469​	Medical retirement 2014​
Johnny​	Townsend​	P​	6-2​	200​	Orlando, FL Boone​	0.8156​	2017 (UFA)​

 

[Escambia94]

QB Ryan Buchanan will choose between Ole Miss and Florida on Monday according to this ESPN Tweet: https://mobile.twitter.com/DerekTysonESPN/status/209452072830115841

Edit: looks like he is staying home in Mississippi.

 

[DRU2012]

QB Ryan Buchanan will choose between Ole Miss and Florida on Monday according to this ESPN Tweet: https://mobile.twitter.com/DerekTysonESPN/status/209452072830115841

Like to see us get this kid--think he might have all the tools to be the next QB after whomever eventually emerges from our "dueling QB-race" finishes his/their career at UF (while we might end up going through a significant portion of this season with BOTH still neck-and-neck and successfully alternating with each other, that WILL be settled at SOME point; I don't see it going on for 2 or 3 seasons!) All-in-all, the timing would be right, and though still raw, with his cannon-arm, body-size and backfield skills, a redshirt year AND a freshman year on the bench under Pease's tutoring, the timing would be right.
Though we've already got some good WRs committed, I'd like to see us pick up Demarcus Robinson's as well.
There are some other guys on the second, "interested-but-not-yet-committed" list who are good ones, though in several cases we'll only really turn our attention to them if other players on the same list look to be ready to turn us down. All in all, no matter how the exact final tally looks, I think we'll have one of the top 3 classes--and, more importantly, we'll have load of great talent who want to be Gators and are ready to come in, work hard and help us ASAP.

 

[Escambia94]

Joey Ivie is the 17th verbal commitment as of June 16, 2012.

 

[DRU2012]

We just "offered" Grier, QB from FirstCoast (Jacksonville) for 2014...While I trust our coaching staff in these matters, I don't exactly follow the thinking here: By all accounts, Matt Staver has been an absolute revelation at Gator Camp this past week, with coaches buzzing in the back offices about how maybe we caught a break in Buchanan and others going elsewhere early, etc. Now, I know this Grier kid is more "highly thought of" among experts and other schools who have and will be offering him scholarships, and Staver is quite a bit further down "the list" of QB-prospects nationally (or at least WAS until these last few days), but if you find a big kid who's a good fit, talented if raw, with "great character and enormous upside", and you really DO put things like that and your own overall evaluation ahead of "conventional wisdom" and "experts' ratings", as Muschamp and his staff swear they do, why not go ahead and offer HIM, first, only, or at LEAST at the same time, one of those scholarships? I only know what I see and hear (and in this case, ONLY "what I hear"), so I don't know enough to start squawking, but I AM throwing the question out there. Anyone heard anything about what's going on here?

 

[Escambia94]

One disadvantage to the information age is that we see too much information. Recruiters have to "offer" to at least two high school kids per position on the hopes that one of them will take it. In some cases, the high schooler gets butt-hurt that he was not the only one offered. We don't want those butt-hurt kids. We want the kids that come to compete for position, regardless of whom they are competing against. Maybe we are offering to both Grier and Staver. If we get them both, then we pit them against one another for the next few years.

Also keep in mind that major colleges tend to have 5-7 QBs on the roster. We have 7 now, but there is no guarantee that all 7 will be back next year even though they are all young. Of these 7, not all are on scholarship. The non-scholarship QBs may just leave. By the way, Ryan McGriff is the sixth McGriff to be on the Gator football team. He is probably just happy to don the uniform, whether or not he even takes a snap. Some of the QBs could be asked to move positions, or some of the inbound QBs could be asked to switch. That is how we got Joe Haden, Cornelius Ingram, and several other players over the course of time.

In short, I would not sweat over the 2014 quarterbacks. We may get both or neither.

14 Chandler Carr QB 5' 11" 211 JR SQ Ponte Vedra Beach/Bolles
12 Jacoby Brissett QB 6' 3" 229 SO 1L West Palm Beach/William T. Dwyer
19 Ryan McGriff QB 6' 0" 201 RFR SQ Gainesville/Gainesville
10 Tyler Murphy QB 6' 2" 204 RSO SQ Wethersfield, Conn./Wethersfield
15 Ryan Parrish QB 6' 2" 201 JR SQ Lakeland/Lakeland Christian
13 Christian Provancha QB 6' 6" 222 SO SQ Cocoa/Cocoa Beach
6 Jeff Driskel QB 6' 4" 232 SO 1L Oviedo/Hagerty​

 

[DRU2012]

Btw (and proving you are right to caution, "Relax!", E-):
Turns out , as I was privately assured WAS coming, Staver was offered and committed to a scholarship with the Florida Gators for 2014 the same day as Grier; the latter just had the higher profile and worked it online, unlike the more low-key Staver--which mean we now have 2 good ones coming in that year, as things stand now (and from all the situational details I've been apprised of, Staver at least is REALLY solid on the idea for such an advanced commitment--he's that excited and thankful that UF, and this coaching staff in particular, saw so much in him this early, and is determined to "do everything to hold up my end").
Anyway, you're right about our overall situation at quarterback: we'll be fine, and then some...and you're ALSO right about how often (like kids who are pitchers AND big hitters in baseball when younger have to pick one or the other, depending on their relative strengths at the various positions, later on) the "best athletes" on high school teams may be at QB as late as their senior year, but eventually switch over to become great receivers or even defensive cover-guys when they get to college--and though we may well lose one or two before NSD, we'll also no doubt get some good positional players from among current "QB-prospects" too.

(Dec. 18--LATE NOTE, 6 mos. later--We have continued trending ever-upward, generally and specifically--including at least ONE more QB in Gier, who himself has shot up in EVERYONE'S estimation over the course of what is STILL just his junior year in highschool--and still grabbing two or three 4- and 5-star players, then losing a counter-flip here and a transfer-out there, and hard to tell whether either case is really bad or good news--BUT it looks to be a better-than-Top-5 Class regardless, at this point...)

 

[Escambia94]

Gator commitment James Hearns was ejected from a Tallahassee 7 on 7 football game by an FSU staff member for using a Gator chomp on the opposing QB...after he had picked off the pass and was tagged out of bounds by the QB. Kudos to Hearns! Can't wait to see him on campus in a couple years.

http://recruiting.blogs.gatorsports.com/13021/hearns-ejected-from-fsu-camp-for-gator-chomp/

 

[DRU2012]

I loved that story! (...and they were dumb to throw him out, really--just made themselves look petty and uptight, and helped make it a bigger deal, underlining the "message" Hearns sent to everyone else, anyone "on the fence", and especially any other Gator-commits who were there, that WE are different, WE stand apart, and when you're finished "messing around" and taking your free trips, "Make good your promise and come on home to G-ville and UF!"...Would have been wiser to play it low-key, at most sit him down for a few plays or move him over with the "less impressive guys" in the unofficial stratification that always develops at these "Camps". Instead, this incident and the FSU coaches' reaction to it may well have helped preserve the still early and relatively tenuous links that so far exist between us and the 2 or 3 Gator-commitments who were there.)

 

[Escambia94]

Added a few commitments (#18 Vernon Hargeaves, #19 Antonio Riles, #20 Jordan Sherit, and #21 Chris Thompson) from Friday Night Lights.

 

[Escambia94]

The Gators just landed commitment #22, Octavius Jackson of Moultrie, Georgia. Do not get too excited. With the resignation of Aubrey Hill, WR Rodney Adams will re-open his recruitment.

 

[Escambia94]

Updated the 2013 recruiting class listing to reflect the de-commitments of Adams, Bell, Johnson, and Outlaw.

 

[Escambia94]

I added three recruits to the 2013 class. I had been slacking off on keeping this updated.

1. Alvin Bailey WR 6-4 275 NR 3*
2. Darious Cummings DT 6-2 305 4* (transfer)
3. Daniel McMillan MLB 6-2 220 4*

 

[DRU2012]

I added three recruits to the 2013 class. I had been slacking off on keeping this updated.

1. Alvin Bailey WR 6-4 275 NR 3*
2. Darious Cummings DT 6-2 305 4* (transfer)
3. Daniel McMillan MLB 6-2 220 4*

Hey--just a sidenote: You'll find among our various discussions and suppositions above my picking out this kid Grier at QB WAY back there, and noting that, along with the better-known (and DEFINITELY promising himself) Max Staver who HAD already been offered, on June 17 I said it looked like we'd have "2 good QBs in that class" after ALL, that "Grier" was ALSO about to be offered, and that although not well-known (ie. from a small school) he had really dazzled the coaches who had (in one case seem him play live, and) seen some film on him...Well, of course THAT'S the kid who (unofficially, at least--there is now some supposed "snag" in officially certifying the documentation of the actual number-of-yards) just this past weekend had that MONSTER game--what-is-it, personally responsible-with-his-arm for, like, 937 passing yds. and 102 pts/17 TDs? Ok, the OTHER team scored around 80 pts. themselves, so they don't play a lot of defense up there (N. Carolina, I think?), but it's hard to do what he did in PRACTICE, let alone against an opponent in a "real game", where they're trying to BEAT you, in more ways than one...
In fact, BOTH of these QBs, and Morninweg (who we'd already grabbed from PSU when he "reconsidered" HIS long-standing commitment) too, are all strong-armed, versatile but definitely "pass-first" quarterbacks who, as such, would seem to point out where our OC may be inclined to take our offense, don't you think? At least a"hint of a possibility", wouldn't you say?

 

[Escambia94]

Here are the top targets that Gator coaches will start visiting today during recruiting open season.

• St. Petersburg (Fla.) Catholic running back Ryan Green (FSU verbal)
• Lakeland (Fla.) Lake Gibson fullback Kennard Swanson (LSU verbal)
• Raymond (Ms.) JUCO receiver Quantavious Leslie
• Charlotte (N.C.) Mallard Creek receiver Marquez North
• Durham (N.C.) Hillside tight end Josh McNeil
• Milledgeville (Ga.) Georgia Military offensive lineman Trenton Brown (committed to UF after Florida visits)
• Delray Beach (Fla.) American Heritage offensive lineman Rod Johnson
• Vienna (Ga.) Dooly County defensive tackle Montravius Adams
• Port St. Lucie (Fla.) defensive tackle Jaynard Bostwick
• Scooba (Ms.) East Mississippi defensive tackle Jarran Reed
• Avon (In.) High defensive end Elijah Daniel
• Lawrenceville (Ga.) linebacker Trey Johnson
• Brentwood (Tn.) Academy cornerback Jalen Ramsey
• Orlando (Fla.) Dr. Phillips safety Marcell Harris

 

[Escambia94]

The first target from my last post has just committed, Marcell Harris. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/spor...its-to-florida-gators-20121129,0,7452555.post

 

[DRU2012]

Meanwhile, Mark Stoops leaving Free Shoes U, 1 or 2 assistants rumored to be following him to Ky., and now Jimbo himself may be "talking to" Auburn...we may have inadvertently cracked THAT brittle egg WIDE open...
Of course, all KINDS of rumors swirling around that Auburn job--now Charlie Strong "in the mix" as well, and word is HE'S the "hottest property" on the wishlists among major college open jobs' ADs...Btw, Strong's team Louisville recovered just enough, just in time (in terms of their season and tonight's game against Rutgers, who in contrast in both respects did NOT), to win and limp somewhat-less-than-impressively into the Big East Championship and that ridiculous automatic bid in the Orange Bowl.
Along with being just a complete travesty that a team that may not even be (and often one that doesn't DESERVE to be) in the Top 25 can annually back into auto-placement in a BCS game, while our 11-1 Gator team with an argument for a place in the "Plus One" Nat'l Championship STILL has to wait for another week, the outcomes of the hit-or-miss "Conference Championship" games, and the last round of "official Human Polls" to be assured of a place in one themselves, you just have to wonder how the Orange Bowl AND the BCS can continue to rationalize accepting this smelly version of the status quo: Even WITH the coming marginalization of the "BCS-Bowls" and the NON-playoff teams that play in them with the coming reorganization of post-season college football in 2014, you'd THINK "they" (The O.B., at LEAST) would make a change, with or withOUT the BCS, since it is THEIR game, community, sponsors and community leaders who are "taking a bath" in getting stuck with a joke of a game because of this never-DID-work tie-in).

(PS Going back to the question of that Auburn job: How good a job IS it right now? I mean, talk about "the cupboard being bare"...I don't care WHO you are, you have to get a LOONNGGG contract, well-compensated--'cause there's no guarantee they'll GIVE you that long, and if they DON'T, and they pull-the-plug only half-way THROUGH the full-rebuilding job that program truly requires, THEN where will you be?...unemployed on-the-sidelines with everyone having forgotten the previous stint (whatever it was) that was impressive enough to get you offered the "Bigtime Opportunity" in the first place, only the poor record and apparent disarray that was left when YOU left, never MIND its inevitability say 2 or 3 years INTO a "5-to-6 year project". Now, the guy AFTER you may have a decent shot, once YOU have done the bulk of the "dirty work" and spent those "long years in the wilderness"...Aside from a fat contract that keeps paying you in the aftermath, a pretty "thankless" job.)

 

[DRU2012]

On another side-note: Liked where TAMU's "Johnny Football" made a point of complimenting UF's defense, saying it was "the best we faced this season, and the toughest for me personally to get much accomplished against"...even better, this was in response to a question (something along the lines of, "Do you think had you faced Florida later in the season, as you really hit your peak as a player and a team, the outcome would have been different?") clearly designed to give him the opportunity to play DOWN what we did against him and imply rather that if he played us later in the year they'd have beaten us--but Johnny was having none of it, calling our defense "the best in the country, as that game on Saturday showed..." Classy kid. (Glad we don't face him OR A&M next year, I don't believe--and when we DO, it'll be at OUR place next time, regardless.)

 

[Escambia94]

My only concern in this thread is recruiting. Mark Stoops, a defensive-minded coach, going to UK just means that we have to be on the lookout for UK poaching Florida kids. I cannot imagine a Florida recruit wanting to go to Kentucky, so we might be safe there.

 

[DRU2012]

My only concern in this thread is recruiting. Mark Stoops, a defensive-minded coach, going to UK just means that we have to be on the lookout for UK poaching Florida kids. I cannot imagine a Florida recruit wanting to go to Kentucky, so we might be safe there.

Might be right there, E- (he said, tongue-in-cheek)...Really loved what Coach M had to say about recruiting (said in passing as part of answer to a question about now things were in disarray when he got here, "cleaning house" , and what he "was and is looking for in players" for HIS team): "Not interested in a kid if he's not a good guy...he can be a 5-star player that everyone is after but if he isn't a good guy, I don't have the slightest interest in him--I mean it, he can go elsewhere, I'll go find a good kid to help our team..." Here at the end is the big "hint" as to what our Head Coach means when he talks about being "a good kid"; sort of like his talk about doing things "the Florida Way": He means that, as we've seen all along here now, he's looking for the guys who can, who WANT to work TOGETHER, help the guys around them, be part of a TEAM. We're gonna GET the talent at UF: Right now we have just (with our latest 4-star "legacy-recruit" in in-state safety Harris, son of 90s UF player "Mud" Harris) moved up to "#1 Recruiting Class" in the ESPN ratings, #2 with Rivals...What's different, the reason things have turned around SO quickly and are, well, "Heading in the right direction..." is pretty much "understatement", wouldn't you say? I'm normally cautious, even superstitious about saying something like this, making big forward-looking statements as we end one season and haven't even GOTTEN to January and our Bowl Game, let alone NSD, but in this context I'm just gonna let it fly...In fact I have TWO:
(1) We are going to have JUST the kind of recruiting class we NEED--somewhere in the Top-3 and, more importantly, the kinds of guys that our Head coach approves of at "positions-of-need" after his staff's fine hard work, and who want to be a part of what's happening HERE: It's a mutual commitment, and that's why, in the long run (the only kind that really matters, as you'd have THOUGHT our FORMER Head Coach would have grasped but apparently either did not, or didn't care), IT WILL WORK.
(2) We are going to CONTINUE to get BETTER AND BETTER--and the best reason I can give you for how and why that is so is , "Because our coach says so!", and as long as he is doing things HIS WAY (now that I know what "his way" means, and what it entails) I just couldn't be more confident that this is going to be the case.
Sound a little "thin" without further explanation? Well, I have my reasons, in fact a fully considered and well-convinced POV, based on everything we've seen and whatever behind-the-scenes intelligence and/or fact-based OR emotion-based arguments anyone could demand, BUT--It's all OUT THERE...I've read about it, written about it, we've all SEEN it with our own EYES, in games and in highlights and in articles and quotes we are ALL getting the same picture, each at our own rates, arriving at a similar, ultimate idea of what we've got and what is coming...