Rivals national recruiting analyst John Garcia Jr. is joined by Jason Higdon of 1stAndTenFlorida.com, Pat Burnham of TheOsceola.com and Marcus Benjamin of CanesCounty.com to tackle three topics and determine whether they believe each statement is FACT or FICTION.
MORE FACT OR FICTION: UCF will sign a top-20 class in 2025
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1. Two-sport star Cornelius Ingram II will suit up for the Florida football team in college.
Higdon: FICTION. On Thursday, Cornelius Ingram II decided to follow in his father's footsteps and continue his athletic career at the University of Florida. Like his father, who played for the Gators, the younger Ingram will take a different path in Gainesville with head basketball coach Todd Golden. The 6-foot-6, 200-pound Ingram has yet to begin to scratch the surface of his true basketball potential and will not play football in The Swamp. Ingram is a tremendous athlete, but his long-term ceiling is through the roof on the basketball court.
Garcia: FICTION. Late last year and even into the offseason, the 6-foot-6 prospect was talking up potentially playing both basketball and football at the next level. But as Ingram committed to UF on Monday, it was clear that it was a basketball-first move. Shooting up hoops recruiting boards after a banner AAU season, he looks like the type of big guard or wing prospect who could make an immediate impact on the hardwood. In football, the high school quarterback would have to change positions, most likely to wide receiver, and begin an entirely new journey at the SEC level. Whether because of the transition or because of the increasing trajectory in hoops, the major scholarship offers for Ingram became very one-sided this year. He picked the Gators over Kansas, Michigan, Georgetown and many others on that front.
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2. With the season set to start, the recruiting drama around five-star Solomon Thomas is now behind us.
Burnham: FACT. While we all know it's never over until a prospect's letter of intent has been signed in December, I do believe the drama surrounding Solomon Thomas' recruitment is over. Thomas spent his final weekend of his summer in Tallahassee at the end of July to spend time around other Florida State commits and potential commits at the Seminoles' Elite Camp on July 27. He also spent the next day in Tallahassee watching FSU practice and shadowed the offensive line group throughout the day. Thomas told me before he headed back home for the start of his own preseason camp that he thought it was important that he spend some time on FSU's campus with other committed players like CJ Wiley, Tramell Jones and Brady Smigiel, who were also in Tallahassee.
Thomas seemed more at ease than I can ever remember during his recruiting process. He seemed relieved to have put his recruitment behind and begin concentrating on his own senior season.
Garcia: FICTION. Define drama. And while we're at it, define when a recruitment is really "over." The answer is that it never really is until pen meets paper. Now, Thomas is most likely to stick with the Seminoles at this point, especially after that last return trip in July, but the season itself could justify how open that potential flip door remains. Even if there's a small chance for LSU or Florida, long thought to be the two primary flip destinations should Thomas have a change of heart, the season could go a long way toward dictating the final flip potential ahead of the Early Signing Period. This is especially true for Billy Napier and Florida with what lies ahead on the 2024 schedule, where most expect a good showing to have direct recruiting results against the start to the cycle that has been underwhelming relative to Gator standards.
I suspect it will be quiet on this front until Thomas shows up on another campus for a game day.
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3. Miami is more than the in-state dark horse for five-star wide receiver Jaime Ffrench.
Benjamin: FACT. The recently minted five-star has been on quite a journey in his recruitment process. Multiple programs, including Ohio State and Florida State, have shown interest since Jaime Ffrench's decommitment from Alabama in January. However, Tennessee, Texas, LSU and Miami made his top four going into his Aug. 30 commitment. Many believe that Miami is a dark horse to land Ffrench, but the crafty route-runner visited two programs multiple times in the summer: Miami and LSU. Miami got the last visit, and Ffrench came away thoroughly impressed. The Jacksonville native has a tight bond with Miami wide receivers coach Kevin Beard and seemingly connected with Miami 2025 quarterback commit Luke Nickel during his last visit to Coral Gables. Miami does not have many uncommitted options left on its wide receiver board, so the Canes will likely focus all their efforts on landing Ffrench. I wouldn't be surprised to see Ffrench choose Miami.
Garcia: FACT. At one point, Miami was the trendy program to remind folks to not discredit in the Ffrench recruitment, lining up with dark horse status some. But as the summer visits wrapped up with the return to Coral Gables, the chips Miami has in this race seem to be more impressive than most originally considered. Coming out of the trip, Ffrench cited the need to have a family feel, something the in-state Hurricanes have long been able to provide alongside LSU, where he still has family nearby. Digging deeper, Miami has long held a quiet confidence in this race, especially relative to turning down more local wide receivers on the board. Several UM recruits have echoed even more buzz toward keeping the five-star in-state since. Texas is probably still the Hurricanes' top threat, where there too has been long standing confidence ahead of Aug. 30.
