Florida plays host to top tier talent from IMG Academy
Normally, during this time of year, a day like today would be the calm before the storm as Florida prepares to hit the road on Monday for the Spring Evaluation Period. Instead of calm, cool and collected, it was a feeding frenzy of sorts in Gainesville as the Gators played host to some of the top prospects in the nation.
You see on Thursday Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy brought a bus-load of players to campus on the first stop of three campus tour which also has scheduled stops at Auburn and Florida State.
From the looks of it today's visit ran the gamut - featuring activities from meeting the coaches, to touring the facilities, to a lunch pizza party, to playing corn-hole in the new Indoor Practice Facility
As for the recruiting aspect of it, there were two distinct group of top tier visitors today:
There were those who have a legitimate interest in Florida and used this trip as an opportunity to find out more about the Gators.
This group includes first and foremost three-star tight end Tre McKitty. The one time Miami commit has been high on Florida since last summer. And then there's a couple of out-of-state prospects who transferred in to play football, who have the Gators as finalists. They are Rivals100 offensive lineman Robert Hainsey, who has Florida in his top 10 and four-star center Cesar Ruiz has the Gators in his list of finalists.
However, Florida's best bets at the school are in the Class of 2018. Offensive tackle Curtis Dunlap is originally from Jacksonville and grew up following the Gators. He hinted at possibly pulling the trigger over Twitter while on the visit.
Then there's four-star wide out Brian Hightower. He has Florida as his outright leader since visiting the Gators earlier this month.
Those are the top prospects who have Florida in play.
And then there were those top kids who were more than likely along for the ride.
That group includes five-star linebacker Dylan Moses, who though he has mentioned Florida, he is mostly focused on others, and Rivals100 defensive back Isaiah Pryor, who is pledged to Ohio State.
Regardless of interest level, according to the official IMG Football Twitter account, Florida made quite an impression today.
Check back with Inside the Gators and the Rivals Network as we provide updates on the prospects as they make this bus tour swing through the south.
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