Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It’s time to dip into the GatorNation recruiting mailbag and answer your questions. Because of the amount of questions we’ve received, we won’t be able to get to all of them today -- but we encourage you to post your questions on our Insider fan forum, The Chompions Club.

kendallland1: Justin Thornton, should we count him as a soft commit to UF?

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Urban Meyer was at it again Wednesday with yet another offer to a defensive lineman.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It’s time to dip into the GatorNation recruiting mailbag and answer your questions. Because of the amount of questions we’ve received, we won’t be able to get to all of them today -- but we encourage you to post your questions on our Insider fan forum, The Chompions Club.

Scot5013: How seriously is top RB [Alex] Collins considering UF?

A: Very seriously. He had a great visit to Florida over the weekend and the Gators are at or near the top of his list. He still has an official visit to Miami to keep an eye on. Florida is also very tight on scholarships, so to me the question is will Florida have enough room to take three running backs? They would hate to miss out on one of the top running backs in the country, but they still need to add a defensive end, a receiver and possibly a corner. A lot will depend on if there is any more attrition.

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With just a few short months left until national signing day, Florida and Florida State, as always, have two of the best recruiting classes in the country. 2014 will be no different. Here's a look at some of the top prospects Florida and Florida State will battle for next year.

DE Andrew Williams (McDonough, Ga./Eagles Landing): The ESPN Watch List defensive end visited Florida over the summer and came away impressed with the Gators. Williams also visited FSU for its game against the Gators. Other schools will be heavily involved in Williams' recruitment, but these two schools are sure to be near his top schools throughout.

DE Denzel Ware (Crestview, Fla./Crestview): Ware has been committed to FSU since September, but the Gators continue to pursue the talented defensive end. Ware took an unofficial visit to Florida for a game this year and came away impressed. He remains firmly committed to FSU, but Florida is still lingering.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The Gators are currently holding down the No. 3-ranked recruiting class in the country for the 2013 class and have just a handful of spots remaining. Florida has also given its attention to a loaded 2014 class. With the talent in Florida next year, there will be plenty of prospects to chose from.

The state of Florida has an impressive 53 players on the ESPN Watch List. The Gators already have commitments from two players, defensive tackle Travonte Valentine (Palm Bay, Fla./Bayside) and wide receiver Ryeshene Bronson (Ft. Myers, Fla./Dunbar), and are heavily involved with several other top in-state prospects.

In addition to Bronson, the Gators are hoping to add a few more wide receivers from this list, and there are several good ones to chose from. Artavis Scott (Tarpon Springs, Fla./East Lake) and Johnnie Dixon (Palm Beach, Fla./Dwyer) are two of the top prospects on Florida's wide receiver board, but Corey Holmes (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas), FSU commit Jake McCary (Miami/Coral Reef) and Trevion Thompson (Durham, N.C./Hillside) are also in the mix.

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There are several things that stand out about the 53 2014 prospects from Florida included on the ESPN Watch List.

Right away it’s easy to see that Florida State has gotten off to a good head start in recruiting for its 2014 class. The commitments of running back Joseph Yearby (Miami/Miami Central) and wide receivers Jake McCrary (Miami/Coral Reef) and J.C. Jackson (Immokalee, Fla./Immokalee) give the Seminoles three future game-changers on offense.

Looking deeper into the class of 2014, there should be a good group of quarterback prospects in the state. Quinton Flowers (Miami/Miami Jackson) might be the state’s most exciting player at the position since Teddy Bridgewater. The questions about Flowers’ size (6-foot, 170 pounds) are legitimate, but no one can question how dynamic he is with the ball in his hands.

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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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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- With the help of five commitments in five days, the Florida Gators were able to move up to the No. 2 spot in the ESPN class rankings Thursday.

Five-star cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III started the onslaught of commitments last Thursday. Hargreaves is ranked the No. 4 player in the country. Four-star defensive ends Antonio Riles and Jordan Sherit committed Friday and Saturday, respectively. Defensive tackle Travonte Valentine, a 2014 prospect committed Sunday, and 2013 three-star wide receiver Chris Thompson committed to the Gators on Monday.

Ahmad Fulwood, the No. 7-ranked wide receiver in the country, says Florida is building a special class.

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Class of 2014 defensive tackle Travonte Valentine (Palm Bay, Fla./Bayside) was one of the many observers at Friday Night Lights this weekend at the University of Florida, and while the 6-foot-2, 285-pound prospect wasn't working out, he was taking mental notes.

"I had a chance to watch the defensive linemen closely and check out all what coach Bryant Young was doing with them," Valentine said. "It was a good to see how he coaches, and overall I enjoyed things."

Valentine committed to Louisville earlier in the summer and decommitted just a few days later. Since then he has taken visits to Miami and Florida State. While he wants to commit again sooner than later, he will not do so before looking at Auburn and Alabama.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- With several uncommitted prospects on hand at Florida's Friday Night Lights, it was two committed prospects, Daniel McMillian (Jacksonville, Fla./First Coast) and Marqui Hawkins (Columbus, Ga./Carver), who had the attention of the Gator Nation.

McMillian, a four-star linebacker, comes from a school that regularly sends players to Florida State. He also recently camped in Tallahassee and had some Florida fans worried about his commitment to the Gators. Like McMillian, Hawkins, a four-star wide receiver, has taken trips elsewhere this summer. Friday also happened to be Hawkins' first trip to Gainesville.

It appears that Florida fans can rest easy for both players.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Friday Night Lights, Florida's marquee recruiting event is set for Friday night at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The Gators will host several top prospects from all over the country. Here is a closer look at what to watch for on Friday night.

Last impression

Four-star defensive end Demarcus Walker (Jacksonville, Fla./Sandalwood) will be making the short trip over from Jacksonville. The No. 24-ranked player in the country seems to be wavering back and forth between Alabama and Florida with signs pointing to Alabama as the frontrunner. The Gators will have the final chance to impress Walker, as he is scheduled to announce his decision on Aug. 3.

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TAMPA, Fla. -- ESPN 300 defensive end Jordan Sherit (Tampa, Fla./Hillsborough) has been to Florida on several occasions, but the 6-foot-4, 238-pound athlete said he is looking forward to attending Florida's Friday Night Lights camp this week. Sherit views this as an opportunity to learn more about the program, not from the Florida coaching staff, but from the other Florida verbal commits.

"At The Opening, I really just enjoyed hanging out with the Florida commits," Sherit said at the Sling-n-Shoot 7-on-7 tournament at USF on Sunday. "They are awesome guys. I mean coach [Will] Muschamp and coach [Dan] Quinn are awesome guys, but they are going to say a lot of the same things, and you know what to expect when you are talking to them. But when you talk to the commits and current players, you get an understanding of what the program is really like.

"Just hanging out with the commits gives you an opportunity to see who they are recruiting. Just hanging out with Nick [Washington], Ahmad [Fulwood] and Tre' [Bell] -- just awesome guys with awesome character. They are funny dudes, too. I'm looking forward to Friday."

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