After maintaining his verbal commitment to the Gators for about seven months, Class of 2014 offense tackle Benjamin Knox opened up his options Tuesday night.
Knox’s reason for decommitting from Florida: He has not heard from the UF coaching staff since July.
“I read that they were backing off,” Knox said. “About a week after that, they hadn’t been talking to me.”
Knox, who stands at 6 feet, 6 inches and weighs 259 pounds, said his family, friends or DeLand High coaching staff did not influence his decision.
A three-star prospect, according to Rivals.com, Knox originally committed to Florida on Feb. 16 during the team’s first Junior Day of 2013.
“When I went there, I felt like I belonged,” Knox said of first visiting UF.
“At the same time, that was the first time I ever visited college.”
With Florida now out, Louisville and USF are Knox’s two leaders. He has also received offers from Utah, Marshall and Middle Tennessee State.
“I talk to Louisville on a regular-day basis,” Knox said.
“They check up on me. It’s like back to back, back to back.
“South Florida, the same. I checked South Florida out. It’s a good school, a good educational school, too. …
“I think more schools are going to come. I’m just going to wait it out.”
Although he primarily plays at offensive tackle, Knox has also lined up at defensive end for DeLand.
“At UF, if I didn’t work at offensive tackle, I would have played at defensive end,” Knox said.
“I’m comfortable at both. I’m just more comfortable at tackle.”
Including Knox, five former verbal commits have decommitted from the Gators since February.
Florida’s 2014 class now includes only 14 commitments, seven of whom rank among Rivals.com’s top 250 prospects.
Nine of UF’s verbal commits are prospects sporting four-star rankings.
The other five are three-star recruits. Florida’s 2014 class is currently ranked No. 17 by Rivals.com.
With Knox out of the mix, Florida has only three 2014 offensive line commits — four-star offensive tackle Nolan Kelleher and three-star guards Dontae Angus and Travaris Dorsey.
Among the offensive linemen currently considering Florida are four-star guard Damien Mama (Bellflower, Calif.) and four-star tackle Roderick Johnson (Florissant, Mo.).
Also on the Gators’ radar is David Sharpe.
The 6-foot-8, 275-pound offensive tackle attends Providence School of Jacksonville.
Sharpe is listed as a three-star offensive tackle on Rivals.com but as the No. 15 overall player in ESPN’s Class of 2014 rankings.
Follow Landon Watnick on Twitter @LandonWatnick.
