Hello Demarcus Christmas

Maxpreps.com

Position:  Defensive Tackle

Hometown/School:  Bradenton, FL - Manatee

Height/Weight:  6'3/285

• 247Sports gives Christmas four stars and gives him a grade of 97 in their early 2014 ratings.  They list him as a top DT (2nd) in the class of 2014, fifth in Florida, and 26th overall in the nation.
• Currently holds offers from Florida, Mississippi State, Alabama, Auburn, North Carolina, Florida State, Miami, and USF.
• Christmas was at Florida's FNL camp last month and has also camped at Auburn, USF, and Mississippi State.
• Played a big role on Manatee, the #1-ranked team in MaxPreps 2012 Preseason Xcellent 25 Football list and Class 7A Florida State Champions.
• Here is a great excerpt from a quote from Rivals.com's Chris Nee on what he sees from Christmas($):   "Watching him in the state title game, I walked away thinking this is an SEC-style defensive tackle. He's dominant at the point of attack. He's excellent at finishing plays. And he's surprisingly quick laterally."
• Here is his HUDL profile.

2013 Recruiting: Keanu Neal

(OrlandoSentinel.com)

Position:  Safety

Hometown/School:  Bushnell, FL - South Sumter

Height/Weight:  6'1/205

Rivals - 247Sports - Scout - ESPN

Other Offers:  Auburn, Clemson, South Carolina, USF, Georgia Tech

Report:  Neal committed to the Gators back on Florida's Junior Day in February.  Neal joined Nick Washington as Florida's 2013 commitments at the position.

Neal is a consensus 4-star recruit and Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN all rank him in the top 25 amongst safeties in the nation.

According to his Scout profile, Neal totaled 140 tackles, 4 INTs, and forced 4 fumbles last year for South Sumter.

As you can tell my his measurables, Neal is a big safety.  Some people see Neal as an OLB, but I see him playing safety with the Gators.

To the scouting reports.

We'll start off with the opinion of Scout.com's Chad Simmons.  Simmons touches on Neal's hard-hitting style which is he is known for.

Neal is a very strong tackler and a hard hitting safety. He plays some in and out of the box, but he is best when attacking the football at full speed. His strength is against the run right now, so he will need to improve on his coverage when he gets to the next level. He will need to work on his footwork and his hip rotation. He has the size to play early and he will a hitter people talk about.

Neal was invited to compete with the best at Nike's The Opening.  With the intense media coverage around the event, there are a couple tidbits on Neal's performance that I will share.

Neal's stock was on the rise according to Rivals analyst Mike Farrell($):

Neal is a big safety with good coverage skills and solid ball skills. His deflection to save the game for his team in winning the title after getting beaten for a touchdown earlier shows me he has a short memory, something needed for a defensive back. 

InsidetheGators.com ranked Neal as the best Florida commitment/target at the camp($):

He showed there is a lot more to his game that being a "smash-mouth" safety. Neal showed great instincts in the passing game, and the scary thing is, he did all this without pads on which brings a whole new dimension to his game.

Neal has been invited to some of the biggest national prep events including Gridiron Kings and The Opening.  Fans will get the chance to see Neal play in the Under Armour All-American Game in January.

Videos:
LINK

WR Rodney Adams May Decommit

With the resignation of assistant coach Aubrey Hill, Florida WR commit Rodney Adams is likely going to decommit and reopen his recruitment.  In an interview with Rivals($), here is what Adams had to say about the situation:

"I committed to Florida due to my relationship with Coach Hill, said Adams. "He left due to the issues that he had at Miami and I don't want to get caught up with it if it ends up hitting Florida."

The article goes on later to state that West Virginia has been recruiting him the hardest.  Don't expect a decision soon as he is shutting the recruitment down until football season is over.

So what does this mean for Will Muschamp's 2013 class?  It would hurt, but it won't come close to ruining the class.  The Gators already have three strong commitments from WRs in this year's class and there are a couple targets left on the board too.  Who knows, maybe Adams decides to stay with the Gators (doubt it, though).

Gator Recruiting News - 8/2

Tom Luginbill heads ESPN's recruiting which we discuss below.  Nice watch, bro.

Well, there is really nothing going on in the world of Gator recruiting except little tidbits here and there. So I'll cover those tidbits real quick right now.

#2.  ESPN updated their class rankings for 2013 and Florida moved up to second behind USC.  Here is what they had to say about it:

The Florida Gators continue their climb up the rankings, sliding past Michigan for the No. 2 spot. Will Muschamp bulked up his defensive line by adding two four-star defensive ends, including ESPN 300 prospect Jordan Sherit. He will join ESPN 150 DTCaleb Brantley as Muschamp builds a defensive line able to compete in the SEC.

That's good to hear.  However, if you ain't first your last, right?  Good news, Zach Abolverdi of Gator Prospectus believes Florida will take over the top spot in the future.

#Gators class now No. 2 on ESPN. If they get DeMarcus Walker and Marcell Harris, which I expect them to, they should take top spot from #USC
— Zach Abolverdi (@ZachAbolverdi) August 2, 2012

Besides the Gators, four other SEC schools are in the top 10; Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, and LSU.

2014 OG Offered.  After standing out at Friday Night Lights, the Gators offered Jacksonville OG Travaris Dorsey($).  The Gators are one of two early offers for Dorsey along with North Carolina.  The guy sounds like an athlete.  He is 6'3/295 and can run a 5.2 40-yard dash according to 247Sports.  Impressive.

I guess this article must be good.  Twitter really liked this article by SB Nation Recruiting.  The article talks about coaches recruiting younger and younger prospects.  The article is really long, but it must be decent.  If you have the time, read it.

Hello Corey Holmes

Position:  Wide Receiver

Hometown/School:  Fort Lauderdale, FL - St. Thomas Aquinas

Height/Weight:  6'1/175

• Holmes has offers from Michigan, Ruters, Florida, USF, Florida State, and Wisconsin.
• Michigan seems to be the leader at the moment.  Florida and Florida State are high on his list but still behind the Wolverines.  Holmes has stated that he grew up rooting for Michigan and his getting an offer from Michigan was a dream come true according to Tremendous.
• Has camped at both Michigan and Florida over the offseason.
• Here is a lengthy article by DetroitNews.com discussing Holmes and what the Michigan offer meant to him.
• Holmes has been described as a great route runner with ability to stretch the field for the offense.
• Here are some of his highlights from his sophomore year at Aquinas.

2013 Recruiting: Jordan Sherit

Position:  Defensive End

Hometown/School:  Tampa, FL - Hillsborough

Height/Weight:  6'4/240

Rivals - 247Sports - Scout - ESPN

Other Offers:  Florida State, Michigan, Notre Dame, USF, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Miami, Stanford

Report:  It seemed clear that Sherit would end up as a Gator.  He finally ended the speculation by committing to Florida over the weekend.

Scout, Rivals, ESPN, and 247Sports all agree that Sherit is a 4-star prospect.  How good Sherit is nationally varies from service to service.  Rivals has him in their Rivals100 (94), he is in 247Sports' Top247 at 217, and 254th in the ESPN 300.

According to Scout, Sherit totaled 110 tackles, 14 sacks, and forced 3 fumbles last year for Hillsborough.

Academics were a large part of Sherit's decision which kept the likes of Notre Dame, Stanford, and Vandy in the race.  He was offered a spot in Florida's Honors College, but isn't sure if he will do it or not.

Here is an excerpt from a post by InsideTheGators.com($) that describes Sherit's talents and how they will fit at Florida.

Sherit is perfectly built to play the Buck position that Muschamp utilizes at Florida. In fact, during this stage of his development, he might be better suited out in space rather than mixing it up along the line. During the summer Sherit played a big role in his 7-on-7 teams victory at IMG, displaying the ability to play in coverage.

EliteScoutingServices.com puts Sherit 21st in their Pre-Spring Top-150 for the class of 2013 in Florida.  Here is what they had to say about him:

Our first look at Sherit was at the Under Armor Combine last year. He dominated the combine and came away as one of the best defensive ends that day. He relies on his brute strength to beat the guy opposite him. He is another player who goes hard on every down. Jordan does a very good job of getting off the ball quickly before you can get your hands on him.

Sherit had the chance to compete with some of the best at The Opening in Oregon.  Mike Farrell and Chris Nee of Rivals quickly broke down what they saw from Sherit that weekend($).  First Farrell's take:

 A bit undersized for an end, but he played tough and was physical. At his size, he was sometimes over-matched by the size of the offensive linemen, but other times used his speed and willingness to be physical to beat bigger guys. He will need to get quicker.

Nee:

Sherit is a big frame defensive end who can bulk up a great deal. He has a good first step, active hands, and a variety of moves off the edge that make him tough to stop.

 So it remains a little unclear exactly where Sherit will play at Florida.  Defensive End (strong-side or weak-side), the "Buck" linebacker, or maybe even an outside linebacker.  Time will tell.

Sherit will play in the Army All-American Game which will allow Gator fans to see Sherit play live instead of YouTube videos.

Videos:

WR Chris Thompson Commits to Florida

Chris Thompson isn't going to travel very far to play football on the next level.  The Gainesville WR got his dream offer from Florida and committed quickly after on Monday.  The 3-star WR (according to 247Sports) had an impressive showing at Friday Night Lights this past Friday.  Thompson didn't have many great offers before Florida came knocking.  FAU, Marshall, UMASS, and Utah were his top offers.  This is a dream come true for Thompson, who's biggest asset is his speed.  The Gators continue to roll in recruiting, picking up their fifth commitment in five days.

Here is a quick scouting report from Scout:

Thompson has very good speed. He can get behind a secondary or make defenders miss with his quickness. He can go up and get the ball and has very good leaping ability and body control. Perhaps his strongest attribute is his ability to separate from defenders, especially coming out of his breaks. This is a big play receiver who's likely destined to play in the slot because he lacks ideal size to play on the outside.