Florida has landed its second commitment in as many days, this time a 2016 commitment in wide receiver Rick Wells.
Wells (6-foot, 187 pounds, Raines High School, Jacksonville) is unranked on Rivals.com but should be added soon. He says his journey to Florida began months ago.
“It started last fall when coach (Will) Muschamp was there they had offered me then and I was in the process of committing but there was a little controversy going on with coach Muschamp so I was holding out on the commitment,” Wells told alligatorSports Monday night. “So coach (Jim McElwain) got in and started coming by the school all last week and coach (Tim Skipper) came by today and told me I had an offer and said he wanted me to be a Gator and all that.”
Wells finished his junior year at Jacksonville Raines High with 749 receiving yards and six touchdowns on 29 catches, according to MaxPreps.com.
Wells said he was told by McElwain that he could come in immediately and play as a freshman.
Upon learning of his commitment, UF’s new head coach was “very excited,” Wells said. McElwain has plans to make him an edge receiver and told Wells he would fit nicely in the new pro-style offensive system he’s trying to put in place.
McElwain isn’t the only coach on the new staff to endear himself to Wells. Wells sees Skipper as a personable guy that’s easy to get along with.
“I mean he’s a really cool person,” he said. “I mean you can open up to him, tell him what you like, he’s gonna keep it real with you, he’s a cool person.”
Wells is not shutting the recruiting process down. He said he will visit North Carolina and Wake Forest for junior days later this spring and also plans to come to Gainesville for a visit sometime in February.
Wells is the third oral commitment in UF’s 2016 class.
He joins three-star defensive back Tre Jackson and four-star athlete Tyler Byrd.
Follow Richard Johnson on Twitter @RagjUF
New head football coach Jim McElwain speaks at his introductory press conference in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
