With Early Signing Day coming to a close, Billy Napier and the Florida Gators are set to bring in the No. 11 recruiting class in the nation, according to 247Sports.
A class that once ranked outside the top 50 was brought to life by a flurry of recruitment flips in favor of the Gators that started following the program’s big win over LSU.
All 23 of the class’s recruits put pen to paper today, signing their letter of intent to play for the Gators. Of those 23, Napier announced in Wednesday's press conference that he expects 18 of the recruits to enroll early and be on campus in the spring.
Napier got one more commitment on the day from four-star safety Lagonzo Hayward, who had been previously committed to Tennessee. Hayward is the No. 72 player and the No. 9 safety in the nation, according to 247Sports composite rankings. He became the third defensive back signee in the top 100, joining recent flip Hylton Stubbs and long-time legacy commit Ben Hanks Jr.
Another Volunteer, four-star cornerback recruit Onis Konanbanny, delayed his signing until National Signing Day in February despite a late push from Napier to get him to flip his commitment.
UF lost one player from its class today, composite four-star wide receiver Tae’shaun Gelsey, who flipped his commitment to Florida State.
Napier and the Gators were looking to make an early splash on the day, as they were trending heavily for five-star wide receiver Dallas Wilson, who has been committed to Oregon since January of 2023 and even got multiple predictions to flip Wilson. Wilson would have joined fellow five-star wide receiver Vernell Brown lll in the Gators class but ultimately decided to stick with his original commitment and signed with the Ducks.
Napier said in his Wednesday press conference that the Gators will look to add more talented players at the right spots through the transfer portal.
Contact Chandler Hawkes at chawkes@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @HawkesChandler.
