Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- With just two short weeks left until national signing day, the Florida Gators have 18 verbal commitments. Florida's recruiting class is expected to exceed 25 players. Here is a look at the top five uncommitted prospects still on the Gators' recruiting board.

1. Stefon Diggs (Olney, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel)
Florida has lacked elite playmakers at the wideout position over the last two years and Diggs is electric with the ball in his hands. The Florida offensive coaches visited Diggs at his home on Monday night. It was Diggs' first chance to meet new Florida offensive coordinator Brent Pease. Diggs' mom is expected to accompany him on his official visit to Florida this weekend. The Gators have positioned themselves nicely to land the talented receiver.

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Last weekend, the top prospect in Georgia, linebacker Josh Harvey-Clemons (Valdosta, Ga./Lowndes), was in Athens to check out the Bulldogs on an official visit. Harvey-Clemons took an official to Florida in December, and it appears that a Bulldogs versus Gators battle is brewing for the Army All-American. Having been to Georgia with his family three times, Harvey-Clemons had already seen most of what Athens has to offer. What caught the Valdosta native off-guard was seeing how well the players were rewarded for their successful season.

“We were excited and surprised by the number of gifts the athletes receive for winning the SEC East and going to the bowl game,” said Woodrow Clemons, Josh’s grandfather and adoptive parent. “They get new watches, iPads, tote bags and several other items. I was very impressed with that.”

With the two neighboring programs being so comparable, it was tough to determine a leader. So Josh and his family inquired about where each program would play him and evaluated what each program will offer on the gridiron next season.

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With just a few short weeks left until national signing day, the Gators are turning the heat up on two of the country's top uncommitted players.

On Monday, top wide receivers Nelson Agholor (Tampa, Fla./Berekely Prep) and Stefon Diggs (Olney, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel) were set to receive in-home visits from the Florida offensive coaching staff. Offensive line coach Frank Verducci will be the only offensive coach not able to attend, because the Gators have an official visitor, OL Jake Meador, still on campus.

This marks the first time that both players will get to meet Brent Pease, Florida's new offensive coordinator. Pease was hired last Tuesday to replace Charlie Weis.

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ESPNU 150 athlete Nelson Agholor (Tampa, Fla./Berkeley Prep) had great things to say about his official visit to Florida State.

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound senior has his final official scheduled for Jan. 27-28 at USC.

"I had a good trip and a good opportunity to talk with Coach [Jimbo] Fisher and Coach [Lawrence] Dawsey," Agholor said. "They are good coaches and good people."

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Heading into his weekend visit to Florida, Edwardsville, Ill., defensive tackle Vincent Valentine Jr. had Nebraska as his leader by a wide margin.

That is not the case anymore as the Gators have closed in.

“How much I bonded with the coaches,” the three-star Valentine said stuck out the most on his first visit to Gainesville, Fla. “I can see myself playing for them. That really stuck out.”

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Alex McCalister (Clemmons, N.C./West Forsyth) was scheduled to visit Florida this weekend, but he had to postpone the visit because of an illness in his family on Friday, according to his head coach Adrian Snow.

“Now he won’t commit on Tuesday,” Snow said. “He will commit a week from tomorrow, which is a Tuesday here at the school at 1 p.m. He will make his Florida (Jan. 20) visit next weekend.”

McCalister, 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds, was really hoping to commit this week and get his decision behind him.

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Family. It will be a strong factor in Stefon Diggs' recruitment.

That should bode well for Auburn in its recruitment of the No. 10 prospect in the nation.

“They're big on family,” the four-star athlete from Olney (Md.) Good Counsel said when asked about his official visit this weekend to The Plains. “I'm big on family. When I go to a school, I would like it to be like a family when I get there.”

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Freddie Burden (Statesboro, Ga./Statesboro) made an official visit to Georgia Tech hoping that the Yellow Jackets would make him offer. He got just that on Saturday morning and it came from head coach Paul Johnson.

“I made the decision today,” Burden said. “They offered me on Saturday morning, so I talked it over my parents. It came from coach (Paul) Johnson. At Georgia Tech you get a great education. That’s the first thing for anyone. Football just adds to it. But I have to say that it’s a great place to play football, and it’s the ACC.”

Burden, 6-foot-3 and 290-pounds, played tight end in high school but projects as a guard or center for the Yellow Jackets.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Four-star outside linebacker Jeremi Powell (Largo, Fla./Pinellas Park) took his official visit to Florida this weekend with his mother.

Powell said the visit made him feel at home and that he can't wait to get to Gainesville for good.

"My visit was off the chain," Powell said. "I was hanging out with Mike [Taylor] and Mack [Brown]. Those dudes are real cool. They took care of me. It was crazy. I wish I could stay and not come back to hard living."

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Florida State will entertain ESPNU 150 prospects Nelson Agholor, Ronald Darby and Leonard Williams this weekend.

Agholor (Tampa, Fla./Berkeley Prep), the nation's 41st-ranked prospect, has said that the Seminoles are part of his top group of schools with Notre Dame, Florida, USC and Oklahoma.

This is his fourth official visit, with the final one expected to be USC.

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