Mitchell makes announcement
City College of San Francisco linebacker Lance Mitchell hasn't officially told any school no yet, but he wants to do that through the Internet. So he gave Rivals100.com an exclusive interview, allowing the rest of the world and the other schools where he’s going to college at.
"Well, here's the deal," Mitchell said. "I committed to Florida and that's where I'm singing with tomorrow. But I didn't really tell the other schools no today because it was just too hard for me to do.
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"I had established some great relationships with the coaches and it was too hard to tell them no. So, I'm telling you, so you can tell everybody on the Internet and the coaches that I'm going to Florida."
Mitchell said he came to a final decision yesterday and then talked again with coaches about his pick today. The more he said he thought about it the more he said he liked it.
"I'll have a great chance to come in and play early," Mitchell, who picked Florida over Oklahoma, Texas, Washington, USC and numerous others, said.
"That's what stood out about Florida. The opportunity to play early was about the same as it was at Oklahoma, but the level of competition wasn't the same at Oklahoma as it was at Florida.
"They say if you want to go to the NFL, you go play in the SEC. And that's what I'm doing."
Mitchell said he re-confirmed his commitment to the Gators earlier today by talking with UF assistants.
"I talked to coach Collins and coach Odom," Mitchell said. "They were really excited and ready to get me to sign tomorrow."
Mitchell said he's going to sign the national letter-of-intent tomorrow morning at his house. He doesn't have any plans for a special signing party or anything unique.
"This whole process was unique enough," Mitchell, who is a five-star selection, said. "I report to Gainesville on Jan. 4. I'm ready to go now."