Sting Factor: Isaiah Bond's decommitment from Florida
When a major program loses a key recruit, Rivals.com takes a look at how big of a blow it is to the respective school, analyzing it from a local and national level. To quantify the “sting” of each decommitment, we assign a score from one to 10, with one being no big deal and 10 being a catastrophic hit.
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THE STORYLINE
When Isaiah Bond committed to Florida in May, his decision gave the Gators a speedy receiver who could do special things in space.
It was one of the dream offers for Bond, a four-star athlete from Buford, Ga., who has backed off his pledge since Dan Mullen was fired as coach.
Since that time just days ago, Bond has received new offers from Auburn and LSU. Alabama has been a school to watch throughout Bond’s recruitment even when he was committed to the Gators. Other SEC schools could also get in the mix for the four-star standout.
Florida has other talented receivers left in its class but Bond was the lone prospect in the Rivals100 before the 2022 class rankings are readjusted in a couple weeks. Losing Bond definitely hurts as the Florida coaching search gets kicked up even more.
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LOCAL REACTION
Although the Gators already have multiple four-star receivers committed, losing your top-ranked commit is always a difficult pill to swallow. It's even a worse blow considering UF is going through a transition and not going to land five-star prospect Evan Stewart, either.
When scanning UF's commitment list several weeks back, Bond was a prospect I thought could eventually reopen his recruitment, even if the Gators opted to keep Dan Mullen. So, this recent development did not come out of the blue, but it's definitely still a stinger now that it's official. – Corey Bender, GatorsTerritory.com
Sting factor: 8
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NATIONAL REACTION
Whenever there is a coaching change, there will be some movement in the recruiting class. But losing the only prospect so far in the Rivals100 definitely hurts even though four-stars Jayden Gibson and CJ Smith remain committed at this point. Both will look at other programs and losing either would hurt very much and only add on to having Bond back on the market.
What’s more problematic with Bond’s decision is that it’s likely he ends up at an SEC rival. His speed and playmaking ability is special and for the next few years it’s likely the Gators will now have to game-plan to slow him down. That’s a tough pill to swallow. – Adam Gorney, Rivals National Recruiting Director
Sting factor: 7