Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney is ranking the 10 best states when it comes to star power in the 2022 and 2023 classes. Coming in at No. 2 is Florida.
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RANKING THE STATES: No. 10 Pennsylvania | No. 9 Virginia | No. 8 Ohio | No. 7 Tennessee | No. 6 Louisiana | No. 5 Alabama | No. 4 California | No. 3 Georgia
CLASS OF 2022 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2023 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
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RIVALS CAMP SERIES: Info/coverage on 2021 camp series
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OVERVIEW
In many ways, Florida is ground zero for college football recruiting. Every national powerhouse - and those schools that aren’t - raid the state. That is no different in the 2022 and 2023 classes, even though neither class is loaded with five-star prospects yet.
What’s also unique about Florida is that the top five prospects in the 2022 class remain uncommitted and the only five-star in 2023, WR Brandon Inniss, has already pledged to Oklahoma.
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RECRUITING
Five-star offensive tackle Julian Armella from Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas is the No. 1 prospect in the state and his recruitment still has some interesting twists and turns. LSU and Florida State seem to have the biggest edge right now with Alabama and Miami also involved. His father, Enzo, played for the Seminoles and Armella visited there this summer. But he’s had his eye on playing in the SEC and loves the staff in Baton Rouge as well.
The other five-star in the 2022 class is Jacksonville (Fla.) Riverside’s Jaheim Singletary, who did not transfer schools but there was a name change to his high school. The former Ohio State commit visits Florida this weekend for the season opener and then Georgia and Miami are definitely high on the list as well. Lots of visits could happen before a decision.
There are also elite four-stars in the state led by Bradenton IMG Academy’s Kamari Wilson, who has Georgia high on his list but Florida, Florida State, LSU and others are involved. Four-star defensive end Shemar Stewart recently narrowed his choices to Clemson, Texas A&M, Georgia, Miami and Ohio State. Four-star DT Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy has Oklahoma and Texas A&M as his two frontrunners.
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SOME THOUGHTS
... It feels like there are too many outstanding prospects in the state of Florida this recruiting cycle to have only two five-stars. The handful of players in the state rankings below Armella and Singletary very talented. Four-star defensive end Marvin Jones Jr., should be in the discussion, Niceville four-star athlete Azareyeh Thomas is a physical specimen with outstanding length and four-star offensive tackle Tyler Booker might be getting vastly undervalued here. Things can definitely change through the all-star events but this is a state loaded with talent for sure.
... The top of the 2023 class in Florida is outstanding led by Inniss, who has proven to be unguardable for most of his career. Edge Malik Bryant is outstanding and IMG four-star offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa could be the best player at that position over the long term. He has played on both sides of the line and is now focused on playing offense.
... There could be a lot of changes especially at wide receiver in the 2023 rankings when it comes to Florida prospects. I don’t see Inniss moving off the No. 1 spot unless it’s warranted later on but IMG four-star receiver Carnell Tate has been so good early on that it’s going to be difficult not to move him up. Hykeem Williams and Jalen Brown are also in that discussion so it will be interesting to see how that shakes out in the coming months.
