Florida Gators 2023 Recruiting Class

[DRU2012]

The "big day" finally arrives, and after all the hype about this McClain kid about to be a "sure commit", turns out we lose ANOTHER 5-Star--and lose him to MIAMI, again, of all programs--as we did a month or so back with the top-rated Florida prep-QB.
I don't know what this weird "tease-and-shaft-job" we keep running up against is about, but I am already SICK TO DEATH of it!
I don't wanna hear another tale about some pending 5-star who is "all but in the bag".
Let the little pukes GO to "Paid Vacation U".
My basic rule is and always will be, if you are "Miami-material", WE DON'T WANT YA!!!
I mean it. The difference between them and us--hell, the diff between Coral Gables and GAINESVILLE--is so great as to make the whole argument absurd.
A whole TEAM-full of such individuals pretty well DEFINES "a disaster in the making", far as I can see.
"You are considering going there? OK--We withdraw our offer..."
Period. I DO NOT care to hear this story again.

 

[DRU2012]

Cormani McClain is off the board for Florida after committing to Miami. The Gators will shift focus to Desmond Ricks.

I voiced my (STRONG) feelings on the above on another thread (ie. "...2023 Recruiting Class").
To succinctly (more or less) repeat:
"TO HELL WITH MIAMI--and anyone who would even CONSIDER them an alternative to UF, let alone anything close to any kind of "equal".
Equivalent to selling one's soul, I say we dispense with pursuing ANYONE who shows real interest in them as their future.
Yes, we are after TALENT, 5-Star Players if we can get tbem--but ones that FIT our TEAM-to-be...
And I see serious Miami-interest as a "dealbreaker"--practically the definition of a "sign of character-flaw" in a prospective recruit.
They won't fit our team.
So far this recruiting cycle we've had TWO of these "big-tease lead-ups to big-day disappointment"--and I say that discovering MIAMI to be the "other suitor" SHOULD end our pursuit right then and there in the first place...There cannot, should not BE another of these "announcement-day let-downs".
Hell, we shouldn't BE "disappointed" in the first place:
As in, "You're interested in going to MIAMI? Fine. Go ahead. OUR active interest is at an end"...
If they change their mind, let THEM come back to US...and even then, "We'll get back to you. Maybe."
If this "Ricks" is really in the same general talent-range as McLain I say we should have switched our active pursuit to him before now-- before continuing to woo "potential Miami-material". When will we LEARN?

 

[Escambia94]

Cormani McLain fooled everyone, including his own high school DB coach Ahmad Black.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1585774734796636160

 

[DRU2012]

I am already sick of scheming manipulative headcases--and God knows we've had our FILL of the ones who are "only after the money" at THIS point in their young lives. NIL is already proving to be an extra-large inducement and influence in this regard...and Miami (not surprisingly) is already proving itself a leader in the "pro-bribe corruption-of-innocence" (what little of this last may still be left here).
Like I say--while disgusted at the underlying reveal, I am NOR especially disappointed at the "loss" itself: The moment I learned that this was the way this kid rolled, I DIDN'T WANT HIM ANY MORE!
YES, we want as much talent as we can gather here at UF under Billy & Co., BUT:
That is contingent upon character, personality, honor, loyalty, and the MAKINGS OF A TEAM.

 

[DRU2012]

@Escambia94,
In case you haven't heard yet (you surely will, but I get such a charge being able to pass this one along!), but at 11:30pm on a Thursday night it comes through as a big headline on several national and State-of-Florida (and GATOR) sites:
2023 top-ranked California QB J Rashada just jumped his Miami commitment--flipped it BACK to University of Florida Gators!
The details are still emerging, but it is pretty juicy, apparently involving a heartfelt "RETHINK"/apology-laden "mea culpa", where Napier allowed a relaxed, informal continued "dialogue" between Jaden and a couple of staff members who had developed a relationship with him and mainly just LISTENED as he pretty quickly soured on what he found as he became more familiar with the U's program...
There are now rumors flying about there being MORE such potential moves in the offing--though so far people I have talked to say Billy had gotten to know Rashada somewhat, had him specifically targeted as the best-fitting prospect for his plans at QB in the 2023 class, and that this all developed in a uniquely "organic fashion"...But that he wasn't likely to be so "flexible and understanding in EVERY such case"--to which I THINK that whole Cormani McClain fiasco was being referenced in particular there. A young guy's "mistake" is one thing; a full on, blatant PAYOFF is something else, at least to a fellow like Billy Napier, who places so much emphasis on "Character" and TEAM building.
Anyway, we'll no doubt know more over the next day or two.

 

[Escambia94]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1590934511898198016

 

[Escambia94]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1590934218934472704

 

[DRU2012]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1590934511898198016

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1590934218934472704

A WHOLE lotta RELIEF coming out surrounding Jaden Rashada and his "second chance at the school I REALLY wanted and planned on going to all along..."
Look: These are KIDS--they make mistakes, get caught up in all the attention and hype and temptation...Like I said elsewhere, there are differences, some subtle, some HUGE, between a last minute "impulsive last moment change-of-heart" this one begins to regret almost immediately, and/or that one who begins playing fast'n'loose with lies and schemes and angles "under the table" all along--then thinks he can have endless "do-overs"...which, somewhat sadly I think, the current "system" ("NON-system", really, in terms of how little is yet truly written DOWN or "ironed out" in all of this stuff--NIL, the transfer portal and the like--so far) HASN'T gotten settled or codified thus far.
So...Jaden Rashada, for all the public nature of his "FORMER-committment" to Miami a little over a month ago, had NOT burned his bridges behind himself vis-a-vis actually "signing with ANYONE"-- Miami, UF or ANYONE ELSE...and with FLORIDA Coaches (above all HEAD Coach Billy Napier) ready and willing still to welcome him, he was able to do this; others may or may NOT be so welcomed, their change-of-heart so quickly, easily CELEBRATED!

 

[DRU2012]

(Also, I wonder how this hits the Stokes kid we signed as a "Plan B"...HE'S been an enthusiastic and loyal commit who has encouraged others to join the Gator's 2023 class.)

 

[Escambia94]

An unfortunate side effect of recruiting 5-star and high 4-star athletes is pushing out 4-star athletes. If Stokes is good enough he can beat out Rashada just as 3-star Stetson Bennett has beaten half a dozen 5-star QBs. This is the new normal.

 

[DRU2012]

An unfortunate side effect of recruiting 5-star and high 4-star athletes is pushing out 4-star athletes. If Stokes is good enough he can beat out Rashada just as 3-star Stetson Bennett has beaten half a dozen 5-star QBs. This is the new normal.

Agreed...I just hope he stays and competes. Both kids are gonna be on the sidelines tomorrow, both taking visits and (supposedly) hyping uncommitteds on the joys and advantages of themselves joining them (and US) in Gainesville...We'll have a full complement of both committed future Gators AND prospects of various stripe here for this one.

 

[Escambia94]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1591506418406133761

 

[Escambia94]

Source: Swamp247 (Blake Alderman)

 

[DRU2012]

What do y'all make of Marcus Stokes' screw-up, and UF's subsequent withdrawal of his scholarship offer?
I am a confirmed "anti-racist", supporting, to whatever degree it is more and more POSSIBLE in the current world we live in, for there to be an open, color-blind acceptance of ALL young people into our midst (especially as members of the collegiate population). I prefer and SUPPORT the idea that not just the administration, but ALL GATORS should reject racism, casual, subtle, overt or inadvertent as it may be.
However, the more I learn about THIS one the more confused and "mixed" is my reaction.
The kid was singing along to lyrics of a song on the RADIO. Now, in this day and age, and (by his own subsequent admission), young Stokes, as a high-profile recruit needed better judgment than to be caught in such a scene on-camera/microphone blurring out the n-word, regardless of context.
I have NEVER been comfortable with it being thrown around so casually, even by African Americans--but have long understood that regardless of how I feel about it as a white "baby-boomer" who was raised in a vocal civil-rights parenting household, it is acceptable AMONG BLACK FOLK--NOT the rest of us.
As an SEC school we are a Southern institution among many others, in Southern States with a certain unavoidable history pre-, during and post-Civil War. There is baggage, crosses that must be borne, lessons still to be learned and the continuing need to be CAREFUL, to "go gently".
But does this kid really deserve the "termination of his dream road" for what more and more appears ill-inforned cultural IGNORANCE MUCH more than overt, hostile racism?
I don't know. And, by-tye-way, I'm also not entirely sure if the reaction would have been as kneejerk quick and dramatically final had not our original "FIRST CHOICE" not recently flipped BACK to us...
I HOPE that is just an unfortunate "coincidence of timing", and that even the THOUGHT is unworthy of me to mention here--but there it is.
I mean, he says all the right things in contrition after-the-fact; perhaps intervention, an opportunity for discussion and more open education might have been pursued--time and dialogue ensuing...
The thing about all this, the times and the world we are living in is that I know that I might be castigated for not jumping unquestioningly on one bandwagon or the other among those out there muttering about this to each other.
But this is a subject that, if anything, deserves, BEGS FOR an extended examination and airing of real thought and emotion...Instead, however, another chance at exactly that is being missed--in my view being buried under "tsking" and head-shaking self-righteousness.
I'm not saying we were WRING to revoke his scholarship...but I sure would prefer the opportunity for dialogue, communication, education and some sort of logically redemptive closure be at least pursued first.
This just seems more like the "safer PC road".

 

[Escambia94]

In today's era my opinion on the Marcus Stokes situation is "no comment".

 

[DRU2012]

In today's era my opinion on the Marcus Stokes situation is "no comment".

OK...Then I'LL carry on and proceed to answer my OWN thoughts with another potential counter-point to my wondering if our just flipping Rashada might have possibly made Stokes' dismissal "easier":
Is it just possible that an originally confused and disappointed Marcus Stokes (who, in a Twitter comment the day after news of Rashada's flip, by his own admission prefaced his immediate politically correct "welcoming the competition" by noting his "just having passed a disturbed and upsetting day" after hearing the sudden NEWS of this change, in truth was maybe NOT all that upset at his now suddenly having NO CHOICE but to now take his recruitment, along with his skills and efforts to ascend to "QB-1" at a major program, ELSEWHERE after all?
Again, admittedly another cynically unworthy thought on MY part as to a graceful "way out", a smoother alternative to direct and immediate head-to-head competition with a high profile cross-state rival player.
I hope not...but regardless, I wish all involved well. Perhaps there will be further comment and eventual closure of some kind here.
(By the way, my first hearing about this whole thing came on a YouTube Hurricanes site I inadvertently clicked on somehow included among the "Florida Gators" sites set aside for me, wherein the host, a big Hurricanes fan, laughed and GLOATED as he brought this news...Real class.)

 

[Escambia94]

The University of Florida is very protective of its image, so they are quick to act on any social issues. Other universities are less protective of their image in this regard.

 

[DRU2012]

The University of Florida is very protective of its image, so they are quick to act on any social issues. Other universities are less protective of their image in this regard.

True...But I cannot help at least some albeit cynical suspicion that this whole deal has strong overtones of "other factors" lurking on the edge of (indeed, in truth even perhaps greatly influencing) BOTH parties' decisions (ie. that of UF AND Marcus) in the end.
Heck, right after posting my comment above I happened to go on YouTube and IMMEDIATELY encountered a young African American SEC-follower on his and a pal's college football fansite use the same word casually, conversationally to start his intro to a whole other topic! Again, I have always been torn between my own discomfort with this EVER being OK, and Lenny Bruce's insistence that only be USING these words somehow "openly, widely, casually can we defuse them, take away their power to hurt...":
Ultately, the fact that by definition I am NOT a part of the "community of inclusion" that has and continues to make its own organic use of words and more as part of a "cultural STYLE" precludes MY even judging it, letting own any of "the rest of us" using it. Believe me, I really had (continue to have) mixed feelings commenting on it even in this way, here and now.
I wish it hadn't intruded upon us, the ongoing discussion of our program, or in the larger context of college recruiting (already a confused, more and more complex subject calling itself into deepening question) in this way.

 

[DRU2012]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1545501038656077826

Here is just ONE example of how and why OUR now having "plenty of time and room" to work through the growing, rising-in-perceived stature 2023 recruiting class can have a salubrious effect on our otherwise somewhat depressing "denouement" to the 2022 season:
I have been diving into the details of that accumulating class, and am finding a number of specifically encouraging signs--the reasons perhaps for our steady rise in "experts rankings" (maybe even lagging BEHIND their overall TRUE value)...In this case, I offer one amazing "Athlete", Eugene Wilson III. I recommend you find his COMPLETE "highlight reel" (I was able to find online the one submitted to our incoming recruiting team some months back).
There are other more heralded guys still out there, but there are some things there I myself have never SEEN BEFORE...speed, verticle leaping ability, skills all over the field, offense AND defense.
(I want to say he reminds me of Percy Harvin, but I know better than to DO that to the kid.)
Probably a bigtime playmaker on offense by his 3rd year here, I'm thinking--but maybe he's on special teams as a frosh. Yes. He is that amazing. Eventually he will likely be our game-breaking WR.
There are some others, quite a few who are part of the growing rumble of warning to everyone out there who are hoping that our irrelevancy continues...For now, given all that "time and room" we have to "focus on other things" besides the aforementioned basic "irrelevancy" of what is left for us in 2022, personally, among other things I will work my way through the growing balance of our recruiting haul, highlighting some potential causes for additional hope, even excitement.
Beyond all that, there is still the other side of all this: "Who will we be LOSING?"
...and on that subject, the latest concerning AR's next move is, according to observers, likely to be affected by the Colts' stacked picks in the pending pro draft, AND a potential change there at Head Coach...Where many don't yet even include Richardson in their lists of "Who's available?", there are now a handful suddenly speaking of his being a "project pick" by Indianapolis, who will then keep their current guy as an adequate place-holder as Anthony "slowly rounds into shape". Even THEY grant that it's a gamble, plenty of risk to go with all those "tools".
As with every OTHER such stories, however, the headlines say one thing (in this case, "Colts maneuvering to take Richardson!") while the details turn out to track somewhat less clearly.
I just don't know what's gonna happen there--and let's be honest, I want BADLY for him to stay another season at UF:
I truly believe that it would be better for HIM as WELL AS us!
One more thing:
Don't look now (and I'm only reporting what all our eyes have seen and what some are concluding as a result), but Jalen Kittna has shown sharp SKILLS to go with his Coach's son's "QB Instincts" so far--and seen that impression GROW with every appearance! There are those who are beginning to wonder, "Is this the next Trask??!" If AR DOES jump, we may need to find out.

 

[Escambia94]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1605538148729004033