Florida Gators

ESPN 150 running back Ryan Green (St. Petersburg, Fla./St. Pete Catholic) has been firm to Florida State since his commitment to the program in June.

But recently the 5-foot-10, 190-pound senior has been hearing from other schools quite a bit and hearing rumors about Jimbo Fisher’s future with the Seminoles.

It’s all enough that the 2013 Under Armour All-America Game participant will take a few official visits according to his father.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida head coach Will Muschamp and offensive line coach Tim Davis were on hand to watch Florida wide receiver commit Chris Thompson and his Gainesville (Fla.) High School teammates defeat Lake City (Fla.) Columbia and their five-star offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil 17-14 on Thursday night.

The victory was bittersweet for Gainesville, however, as Thompson left the game early with a lower leg injury. There is no word yet how serious the injury is.

The Gainesville victory over Columbia was just the start to a packed weekend full of great games involving Florida commits. Here's a closer look at some of the games to keep an eye on this upcoming weekend.

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Midway through spring practice at St. Petersburg (Fla.) Catholic, tight end Reilly Gibbons decided to make the move to the offensive line. Three months later, the 6-foot-6, 265-pound junior has more than a dozen offers with programs such as Nebraska, Tennessee, Missouri, South Florida and North Carolina showing heavy early interest.

For his part, Gibbons said the move wasn't difficult to make and he's happy that the switch was made.

"We really don't throw a lot in the offense so maybe I was getting two balls a game if I were lucky," Gibbons said. "I was blocking from the tight end position for Ryan [Green] anyway so it was a natural transition."

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Under Armour All-American running back Ryan Green (St. Petersburg, Fla./St. Pete Catholic) committed to Florida State on Friday night. The 5-foot-10, 195-pound junior is the Seminoles' 12th commitment in the Class of 2013.

Green, who chose Florida State over Auburn, Notre Dame, Florida and Clemson, was originally thinking about waiting until National Signing Day to make his decision, but a second trip to FSU for the Jimbo Fisher Camp proved to be difference.

"I knew this was the place I wanted to be," Green said. "I just felt it and I knew if I didn't commit if was going make things more complicated as other schools kept pursuing me."

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PLANT CITY, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay area has been very good to Florida recruiting. Since 2010 the Florida Gators have signed eight players from either Hillsborough, Pinellas or Pasco counties and that number will likely increase when the 2013 recruiting class is completed.

In the 2012 recruiting class, Florida landed Land O'Lakes tight end Kent Taylor (Pasco), Lakewood defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. (Pinellas), Pinellas Park linebacker Jeremi Powell (Pinellas) and Armwood running back Matt Jones (Hillsborough).

Including Jones, Armwood head coach Sean Callahan has sent four of his players -- Torrey Davis, Matt Jones, Mike Pearson and Matt Patchan -- to Florida. Callahan says he believes it's because of how well Florida has recruited and also because of the tradition and history of the program.

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There are six or seven spots left in Florida's 2013 class and a few needs to fill. Some of the top prospects in the nation are considering the Gators, and it would be difficult to turn them away. So GatorNation is ranking the top 12 uncommitted prospects for Florida this week, two-a-day. We’ll also add comments by some of our Insider subscribers from The Chompions Club premium message board.

No. 7

Derek Tyson's pick: CB Mackensie Alexander (Immokalee, Fla./Immokalee)

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There are six or seven spots left in Florida's 2013 class and a few needs to fill. Some of the top prospects in the nation are considering the Gators, and it would be difficult to turn them away. So GatorNation is ranking the top 12 uncommitted prospects for Florida this week, two-a-day. We’ll also add comments by some of our Insider subscribers from The Chompions Club premium message board.

No. 10

Derek Tyson's pick: RB Ryan Green (St. Petersburg, Fla./Catholic)

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ESPN 150 running back Ryan Green (St. Petersburg, Fla./St. Pete Catholic) did not have much time in between sports this spring.

Green finished up his track season this past weekend and by Tuesday he was back on the gridiron preparing for his final spring with the Barons.

The 5-foot-9, 175-pound junior received his latest offer Thursday when Oregon stopped by the school before practice. Notre Dame and Vanderbilt are supposed to be on campus Friday.

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On Tuesday, ESPN 150 running back Ryan Green (St. Petersburg, Fla./St. Pete Catholic) added an offer from West Virginia, according to his father.

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ESPN 150 prospects Vernon Hargreaves III (Tampa, Fla./Wharton), Leon McQuay III (Seffner, Fla./Armwood) and Ryan Green (St. Petersburg, Fla./St. Pete Catholic) received invitations Sunday to participate in the Gridiron Kings.

The three prospects will play for Team Southeast and join fellow ESPN 150 prospects Reuben Foster (Auburn, Ala./Auburn), O.J. Howard (Prattville, Ala./Autauga Academy), Alvin Kamara (Norcross, Ga./Norcross) and Shaq Wiggins (Tyrone, Ga./Sandy Creek).

Four-star prospects Will Likely (Belle Glade, Fla./Glades Central) and Sojourn Shelton (Plantation, Fla./Plantation) are also on the Southeast squad.

Gridiron Kings will take place at the Wide World of Sports complex at Disney World on July 27-30.

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LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- The Florida Gators were well represented at the Orlando NFTC on Sunday. Six Florida verbal commits made the trip to ESPN's Wide World of Sports at Disney, and the group did not disappoint.

Four-star linebacker commit Quinton Powell led the way for the future Gators, as Powell earned MVP honors for linebackers and also received an invite to The Opening camp in Beaverton, Ore., July 5-8.

Powell said he was honored to receive an invite to the prestigious Nike camp.

"It's something that I've always dreamed about," Powell said. "I thank God for the opportunity. It's just an eye-opening experience."

Powell will be joined by a future Florida teammate, wide receiver Ahmad Fulwood, who also received an invitation. Powell said he looks forward to spending time with his future teammates.

"It seems like in everything I go to there is always somebody that committed to Florida there," Powell said. "This is just another opportunity to just get closer with those guys that committed."

Fulwood said he looks forward to facing some of the top competition in the country in Oregon.

"It's a blessing to be invited," Fulwood said. "Ever since I saw it last summer I knew I wanted to be one of the chosen ones for this year's camp. I'm ready to go to Oregon and compete with the best in the country."

Lane back in action

Four-star running back commit Adam Lane missed his junior year with a broken fibula, so Sunday was Lane's first physical contact since the injury. He was pleased.

"It held up good," Lane said. "It felt great for my first time getting some contact. If felt great."

Lane was concerned with how he would do in the pass-blocking drills due to the injury, but he said after a slow start he gained confidence in the leg.

"I had a couple of misses at first," Lane said, "but after I warmed up, I thought I did real well."

Despite being committed to Florida, Lane said he is still hearing from USF, Purdue, FSU, Alabama, LSU and South Carolina. Lane said he remains a solid commitment to the Gators.

Other news and notes

• The No. 64-ranked player in the country, Keanu Neal, a Florida safety commit, was in attendance but not able to participate due to a minor back injury he suffered while lifting weights. Neal said the injury should not keep him out of spring football.
• Florida defensive tackle commit Caleb Brantley did well during position and one-on-one drills, but Brantley said he was not happy with his performance overall. "I thought I did great," Brantley said, "but in my eyes I still underachieved."

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It's been hard to catch St. Pete Catholic (St. Petersburg, Fla.) running back Ryan Green this season because he's been running full speed with the track team.

But the 5-foot-10, 195-pound junior will slow down long enough to check out FSU's spring game this weekend according to Ryan's father, Vader Green.

"We're going to head up to Tallahassee after Ryan's track meet on Friday," said Vader Green. "There's been a lot of back-and-forth conversation between Ryan and the FSU coaches, so things are still good with them."

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- ESPNU 150 Watch List offensive linemen Cameron Dillard (Canton, Mich./Canton) admittedly grew up a fan of the Florida Gators. The 6-foot-3, 290-pound guard prospect will make the trip to Gainesville this Saturday to watch the annual spring game.

Dillard says he is most excited about walking on to Florida Field for the first time.

"Probably what I am looking forward to the most is simply being at The Swamp," Dillard said. "I have watched a number of games on television over the years as I was growing up in North Carolina before moving to Michigan, so it will be like a dream come true to step on the same field as many great Florida players did before me.

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Ryan Green, an ESPNU 150 Watch List running back from St. Petersburg, Fla., may have drawn an offer from Alabama on Tuesday, but he is still high on Notre Dame, where he’s visited twice, and two in-state schools -- Florida and Florida State.

On Notre Dame: “It’s an up-and-coming program. They have a great coaching staff, great facilities. It’s a great place to be, and it’s a fantastic school. I just feel like that could be a good fit for me because I go to a school similar to that right now.”

On Florida State: “I’ve always been a huge fan of Florida State since I was a child growing up because my sister and my aunt went there, and I just love the tradition they have as a football team. I like the staff as well.”

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