The Florida football team is losing its top-rated recruit.
Four-star cornerback Chris Steele entered the NCAA Transfer Portal on Thursday, according to multiple reports.
Steele’s transfer comes just days after another four-star prospect, quarterback Jalon Jones, entered the transfer portal after he was accused of sexual assault by two UF students.
According to a report from the Gainesville Sun, which Steele has retweeted, the cornerback decided to transfer because he was uncomfortable living in the same dorm as Jones. Steele, who enrolled at UF for the spring semester, made a request to switch dorms during his first month on campus. The Florida staff, however, did not intend on making the switch until the summer, which upset Steele and his family.
Steele’s transfer is another huge loss for coach Dan Mullen. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Los Angeles native recorded 135 tackles in his high school career and led his St. John Bosco team to the state championship game last year.
Steele was Florida’s highest rated recruit by 247Sports since 2016 and originally chose UF over schools like Alabama, Florida State, LSU and USC, among others.
“For me the main selling point was the tradition, especially at my position. It's DBU for a reason – we produce defensive backs here,” Steele told Floridagators.com in February. “I just wanted the opportunity to be next up and make a name for myself and everybody back home.”
Despite never playing in an official game for the Gators, Steele did make an appearance in the Orange and Blue Game, registering one tackle and two pass breakups.
Steele will not be able to play for his new team until the 2020 season due to NCAA transfer rules.
Follow Sam Campisano on Twitter @samcampisano. Contact him at scampisano@alligator.org.
Florida's top-rated recruit is entering the NCAA Transfer Portal before ever playing a down with the Gators.
