"Currently Brutus is ranked 65th in the class of 2026, and the 20th ranked player in the state of Florida, which speaks to just how strong the state is when it comes to talent in 2026. Look for the Gators to continue to recruit the state hard, particularly for these types of wing talents." Wow, mind blowing if you ask me. 65th in the Class of 2026 and 20th in the state. Good grief, Florida must have the best H.S. talent in the country given that stat. I guess the basketball factories in Florida are bringing them in from all over.
For all practical purposes, Montverde, IMG, and some other similar schools are not Florida high schools when it comes to the Gators recruiting those kids.
But with NIL and Florida having no state income tax, have things changed? Point being that when you are the third largest state in the union in population, attract professional talent across the board to train/live, and have excellent training facilities, we should get our share. I think Golden is/will get it done. It is a business, and we have a lot to offer.
I disagree. Montverde is an hour-and-a-half from Gainesville. CTG and a couple of assistants can hop in a car after practice and zip down there to watch a Montverde home game and schmooze the coaches and a dozen high D-1 players, and be back in Gainesville on half a tank of gas. I call that a very practical purpose.
I think Tampa means the kids at those schools aren't necessarily "Florida" kids because many of them have only been in the state a couple, two, tree years. So the coaches don't have the local ability to start building early relationships and, perhaps more importantly, the kids won't have the local connection to UF. Edit to add: still a great thing to have so much talent nearby while we're looking good and on the rise.
Brutus will have to start eating his spinach (and Olives Oil) if he wants to get bigger than 180 lbs.