Florida football recruiting: Gators in pursuit of legacy recruit Ben Hanks Jr.

Florida football recruiting is taking a good early look at the 2025 cycle and working to identify the guys that they want to go after.

One recruit from Miami is a pretty clear target, given what his father did for the Gators back in the ’90s.

The Gators are after Ben Hanks Jr., a 4-star corner at Booker T. Washington, and the son of Ben Hanks who played for Florida from 1992-1995.

Florida may be able to use its legacy connection to gain the upper hand in his recruitment.

Florida football recruiting: Jack of all trades

Watching Hanks on tape, he is able to do just about everything on the field and doesn’t have a glaring weakness.

At 6’1”-150, he has great length to contest passes at the point of the catch and get physical with receivers downfield. While he will have to get his weight up a bit, he still lays the boom like a much bigger player, and he’ll lay you out if he wants to.

Hanks Jr. has great closing speed and crashed towards the line of scrimmage quickly if the ball is dumped off or the QB rolls out.

In his sophomore season with Booker T. Washington, Ben racked up 31 tackles over 11 games, as well as three interceptions, eight pass deflections, one fumble recovery which he brought back for a score, and a blocked field goal. A bit of everything.

On the idea of coming to Florida like his father, Hanks Jr. told Corey Bender, “That would be great if I went and followed his footsteps.”

Right now his hometown Hurricanes lead for him per On3’s RPM with a 76.1% chance. But with a year and a half left in his recruitment, he’ll make multiple trips to The Swamp and have both Billy Napier and Corey Raymond on his tail.