LAKE BUENA VISTA — Florida coach Will Muschamp may have retained Stan Drayton as the Gators’ recruiting coordinator, but at this week’s Under Armour All-America events, UF commits Jeff Driskel and A.C. Leonard have been coordinating some recruiting of their own.
The two four-star prospects, according to Rivals.com, are enrolling at UF for the Spring semester and working on swaying a handful of players to come join them.
After Monday’s practice, Driskel said he’s been working on convincing Tampa Alonso four-star defensive end Anthony Chickillo to commit to UF. Chickillo is currently orally committed to Miami, but that hasn’t stopped Driskel, or Muschamp for that matter, from pursuing him.
“Coach Muschamp came to my house the day after he got the job, and that meant a lot to me,” Chickillo said. “He told me out of everybody he’s judged, I’m the No. 1 guy he wants.”
Leonard, who is ranked as the nation’s No. 5 tight end by Rivals.com, likes the Gators’ chances of landing Chickillo.
“I think he’s going to be our next commit,” Leonard said. “He said he liked (UF), so we’ve just been working on him. He’s a competitor — he’s great, strong, physical and fast.”
Along with Chickillo, who will visit UF on Friday, Driskel said he’s been trying to get four-star safety Jabari Gorman of Miami Monsignor Pace High and four-star cornerback Marcus Roberson from Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas.
“Jeff has been recruiting me for almost two months,” Gorman said. “Jeff’s my guy, though. Me and him have been friends. But whether I go to Florida or not, we’re still going to be friends.”
Gorman said he will announce his decision during the Under Armour All-America game on ESPN. It’s down to Florida, Miami and Ohio State for the No. 10 safety in the class of 2011.
As for Roberson, Florida and Auburn are the leaders for his services, though no decision is imminent for the nation’s No. 2 cornerback.
“It’s important to me, but it’s important to the team, in general,” Driskel said of trying to get more recruits to UF. “[You] got to have big-time players and those are some big-time guys, so we’d all love to have them aboard.”
Story, Hounshell wavering: Despite still being committed to Florida, two recruits are weighing their options before National Signing Day.
Brooksville Nature Coast High four-star wide receiver Ja’Juan Story, an Under Armour All-American, is very interested in Oregon after taking a visit to the campus last month. Though he has yet to receive an offer from the Ducks, he said he talks to the coaches all the time.
“Oregon is real nice, though,” Story said. “Everything is top quality — the fans, the coaches and Eugene itself.”
Three-star Kirtland (Ohio) Lake Catholic High offensive lineman Chase Hounshell is also having second thoughts after the coaching changes at Florida. Hounshell originally planned to enroll at UF this month as an early enrollee, but posted Monday on Twitter that he didn’t want to rush the decision.
Hounshell, one of three offensive linemen orally committed to UF, is also considering an offer from Notre Dame.
