Southeast Spotlight: Surprising recent developments
National recruiting analyst John Garcia Jr. reports from the Southeast region with four surprising recruiting developments, including Florida's impressive run of commitments.
MORE REGIONAL SPOTLIGHTS: Mid-South
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RELATED: Florida making a recruiting impact in Mississippi
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1. FLORIDA'S COMMITMENT ERUPTION
It’s not just about how hot Florida is, having added nine of the program’s 16 verbal commitments in the month of June, but it's also the climate in which some of these battles were won. UF has gone into Mississippi for the state’s premier edge talent in landing Jamonta Waller, it went into the Atlanta-area for a true Georgia target in landing interior defender Michai Borieau and even brought in more beef in the trenches.
Florida has also seen many top commitments still being pursued by others, including running back Kahnen Daniels, announce that their recruitments are shut down. Daniels, for example, took an official visit to Michigan State earlier in the month. UF was victim to two big flips earlier in the month, Rivals100 running back Chauncey Bowens and reclassified quarterback Austin Simmons, and it looks like Billy Napier and company are drawing a line in the sand with current pledges while also adding pledges in droves in the process.
RELATED: Florida's 2024 commitment list
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2. KJ LACEY TO TEXAS
This surprise and strong development still feels fresh, even though a few weeks have gone by. Steve Sarkisian and company went into the state of Alabama and landed the state champion, mobile and modern quarterback drawing comparisons to Bryce Young. That’s twice now that Sark has gone head to head with Nick Saban for a top QB and won in the last 12 months. Arch Manning was of course the first.
Now the game becomes a double-edged sword for both programs. Does Alabama push for Lacey more consistently despite his Texas decision? Can Texas withstand that rush, especially with 18 months to go between a commitment and the ability for Lacey to actually sign with UT? Can Lacey bring more Alabamians to Austin like Manning did for Louisianans?
This back and forth has the chance to be fascinating for more than a year, and the ramifications will spill both ways with Saarland High School being as loaded as it is. Ryan Williams, No. 1 wideout in the 2025 class and reigning Mr. Football in Alabama, is Lacey’s teammate.
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3. RECLASSIFICATION SEASON
Not only have few in the industry never seen a prospect jump two classes, but the mere idea seemed more fit for a punchline than reality until the last few weeks for Austin Simmons. The lefty quarterback, who also pitches and plans to play both sports in college, just jumped up from the class of 2025 all the way to 2023. In making that move, he flipped his commitment from Florida to Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss, joining arguably the most talented quarterback room in the sport in the process.
That two-class reclassification will be tough to duplicate for others, especially from a timing and academic standpoint, but the more common jump up in one class is popping up more as the offseason rolls on. Simmons’ teammate at Pahokee (Fla.) High School, Hardley Gilmore, just made the move from the 2025 class up to 2024. The long-discussed expectation is for quarterback Cutter Boley, a Kentucky commitment, to do the same. Rumors of many other prospects looking into the possibility on their own end are increasing, too.
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4. UCF’S SUMMER SLIDE
Gus Malzahn’s program at UCF is not one that has relied on high school recruiting volume, with the transfer portal providing a strong supplement in the meantime, but this offseason’s run there is slower by even their own standards. There are just five commitments as of Wednesday evening, following a pair of prospects departing the class over the last 24 hours in Sincere Edwards and Samarian Robinson. The latter flipped his pledge to Rutgers while the former has a new top five with a lot of visits ahead to other programs.
Further question marks rely within the region of the remaining five pledges, with not one from the Orlando area (Edwards is local and is still considering the program) despite it being a successful focus as a base for talent acquisition. Even with a national name on board among the five in Rivals250 running back Stacy Gage, the limited numbers in Orlando are glaring to date. Every other Power Five and FBS program in the Sunshine State has more pledges on board publicly, with the other Power Five program into the double digits.
RELATED: UCF's 2024 commitment list