Florida football recruiting: LJ McCray sits atop Gators’ recruiting board

Florida football recruiting is staring down a handful of recruits as they look to fill out the final spots in their 2024 recruiting class, but one name stands above the rest.

The Gators have put together one of the best defensive classes in the country, and are looking to add a top-50 overall player to that haul.

LJ McCray, a DL out of Daytona Beach, Florida, has long been one of the Gators’ highest-priority recruits on the defensive side of the ball.

That hasn’t changed as spots have filled up, and the Gators are still going all out to try and secure LJ’s commitment.

Florida football recruiting: Hold on to the rope

As I said the Gators have been at the top of LJ’s recruitment for a while, and still hold the On3 RPM lead for him with a 35.6% chance to land him.

But some of the top schools in the country are after him given how elite of a player he is. He has plans to go visit Georgia this week, and in-state schools FSU and Miami are also going after him.

Despite the pressure, Billy Napier and the Gators have done well not letting him slip yet, which is evident by the surprise visit he took to Gainesville last night.

McCray has taken OV’s to four of his top five schools (Florida, Georgia, Auburn, Miami) and has one scheduled to the fifth, FSU, in October. He won’t make a decision until those visits are all done.

But the coaching staff knows how important LJ is to this recruiting class. Getting him on campus for a surprise visit before he goes to UGA is huge, plus McCray is teammates with Zavier Mincey, another high-priority Gators’ defensive target.

McCray, a top-50 overall player and a top-10 DL, can be the guy that pushes Florida’s recruiting class to the next level.