Quick Hitter: Florida Gator Recruiting, Thanksgiving Edition

Dan Quinn gets a huge commitment from junior college transfer Darious Cummings this past week. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Speaking of being thankful, The Florida Gators are thankful they picked up a big recruit this week when consensus four star junior college defensive tackle Darious Cummings committed to the Gators after his official visit this past weekend. When I say big, I mean large. Cummings checks in at 6’3” and 305 lbs and comes to the Gators from Scooba (MS) East Mississippi Junior College. The one time Florida State Seminole transferred out after last season. His commitment shores up an obvious potential area of need after this season as Omar Hunter graduates, Shariff Floyd is expected to turn pro after his junior season, and Dominique may very well test the waters of early entry as well. Cummings comes from the same junior college as this season’s defensive line newcomer Damien Jacobs and it’s expected that Cumming’s teammate at East Mississippi Jarran Reed, a recent decommit from North Carolina, may now give the Gators a look as well.

Five star cornerback Marcel Harris decided to put off making a decision in his recruiting.  Originally set to announce last Friday, Harris put off the announcement early last week.  Instead he is expected to announce on November 29.  Popular reasoning for the delay was simply so he could make the announcement on live tv. The good news for the Gators is nothing has changed in his recruiting and he is still expected to announce for the Gators.

Recently Clemson decommit Elijah Daniel who has flirted with the Gators for some time has set a tentative visit date of January 12. It has been in the rumor mill for a while that Daniel was seriously interested in the Gators but hasn’t yet made a qualifying test score to be able to visit.  While many feel that Muschamp likes Daniels he apparently has grade issues that may prevent the Gators from taking him even if Muschamp wants him. Hang loose on this one.

Another guy that has been active on the recruiting front is junior college offensive tackle Trenton Brown.  He made his official visit to Florida this past weekend for the Jacksonville State game and came away impressed as always with the Gators.  He visited the Seminoles on Wednesday, is headed to Oklahoma this weekend, and is expected to announce his decision at some point next week. The one-time Georgia commitment has been considered a Gator lean for some time and most figure he will indeed choose the Gators when he announces. Regarding the Seminoles and Sooners, Ogundeko said,

"“They have a chance to be a school I sign with, but they’re going to have to do some exclusive stuff to beat out Florida,” according to a story on gatorsports.com."

Another recruit in town for the Jacksonville State game was Brooklyn Thomas Jefferson high school defensive end Ebenezer Ogundeko who was also on an official visit. The three star is actually being recruited to play the Buck position which is a combo outside linebacker and pass rushing defensive end. Ogundeko had unofficially visited in July and had good things to say leading many analysts to call him a Gator lean. This time he got to see the Swamp and some live game action and still was raving about his visit. Ogundeko was quoted by Zach Alboverdi on Gatorsports. com after his visit,

"“I spoke to Dominique Easley too and he told me I need to come down and represent New York like him, so I loved the vibe at Florida and I could definitely see myself playing there.”"

There’s  a lot of schools involved in this one and my personal feeling is that Syracuse is the team to beat simply because of location. It’s always tough to pull guys a thousand miles away from their home, family, and friends. However, if ultimately distance is not a factor I think he picks the Gators. Stay tuned.

Of the currently committed Gator recruits four guys have been rumored to possibly be taking visits elsewhere. The four are Daniel McMillan, a 4-star middle linebacker that scout.com has listed as a soft verbal, James Hearns, a three star middle linebacker from Tallahassee, Caleb Brantley a four star defensive tackle, and Quinton Powell a four star outside linebacker.

McMillan, who is very close to fellow Gator commitments and Jacksonville area natives Ahmad Fulwood and Nick Washington, is expected to trip to Ohio State and Alabama who still recruit him hard. He says he’s a “Gator forever” but then again we’ve all heard that one before. Hearns is said to be flirting with Urban Meyer’s Ohio State team which is recruiting him very hard.  Some analysts say he’s simply trying to get a free trip and enjoy the recruiting process. As they say in recruiting circles, “watch what I do, not what I say.”  Caleb Brantley is said to be being recruited the hardest right now by the Seminoles and some think he may end up visiting before long. This is another one that me by simply enjoying the attention of the recruiting process but if he does indeed visit FSU there’s always a chance he could flip. After losing Dante Fowler on signing day last year FSU fans will stop at nothing to float stories about flipping a Gator recruit this season. Finally Q Powell is another one that is thought to be looking to schedule a visit elsewhere. Again, my feeling (an admitted uneducated one) is that none of these guys flip. If anybody it would likely be Hearns who is being recruited hard by the master recruiter Urban Meyer and may feel he committed to early and is just not getting the attention he feels he deserves. Happens every year.

Finally some guys still on the board that Florida is actively recruiting are TE’s O.J. Small and and Josh McNeil both Bama commits, 5-star offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, db’s Shaquille Wiggins and Jalen Ramsey, running back Ryan Green, and number one ranked defensive tackle Montravious Adams. None of these guys are likely to sign with the Gators in the end but if I were to guess which recruits would be likeliest I would say either Jalen Ramsey, a teammate of Gator quarterback commit Max Staver, or Ryan Green a small fast running back who would work well on the outside runs or in the slot.

That’s all for this edition of HailFloridaHail recruiting report Thanksgiving edition.

Happy Thanksgiving to all and Go Gators!