Florida is, and you know this by now, the single richest land for football recruits. Scores of players from the state graduate from high school and head to high-major colleges to continue their football careers.
The state churns out so many elite prospects, in fact, that we’ve decided to break it in half for our State of Recruiting feature. Today, we look at players in “North Florida,” or roughly from Tampa northward. There are several national recruits from this area, and almost all of them hold some sort of ACC offer. We might miss a few names, but here are most of the dominant recruiting storylines for this region. Get access to the rest of this article and unlimited access to the rest of ACCSports.com when you upgrade to Premium Access! Click on the button below to view all the benefits of becoming a Premium Access member.Get the rest of the story right now with Premium Access!
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Florida is, and you know this by now, the single richest land for football recruits. Scores of players from the state graduate from high school and head to high-major colleges to continue their football careers.
The state churns out so many elite prospects, in fact, that we’ve decided to break it in half for our State of Recruiting feature. Today, we look at players in “North Florida,” or roughly from Tampa northward. There are several national recruits from this area, and almost all of them hold some sort of ACC offer. We might miss a few names, but here are most of the dominant recruiting storylines for this region.
•One of the most coveted players in the entire country is Tampa Catholic wide receiver Nate Craig-Myers. The 5-star recruit has been committed to Auburn since July, but his recruitment is far from over. He took in Florida State’s junior day in late February, and he’s been in talks with the Seminole coaching staff for months. Craig-Myers has said publicly that he’s firm in his commitment to Auburn, but he’s the top wide receiver prospect on Florida State’s board, and if anyone is going to steal him from the Tigers, it’s probably the Seminoles.
•The IMG Academy sits just south of Tampa in Bradenton, and it could run out the most talented team in the history of high school football next season. There are no fewer than a dozen IMG recruits who will sign with Power 5 programs this coming Signing Day. A few of them are already committed to ACC schools. Quarterback Malik Henry and tight end Isaac Nauta have pledged to Florida State. Wide receiver T.J. Chase is a Clemson commitment. Running back Tony Jones recently joined Notre Dame’s class.
There should be several more IMG kids who end up with ACC schools. Five-star linebacker Rahshaun Smith is expected to commit to Clemson this week. Shavar Manuel, a 5-star defensive end, is leaning toward Florida State, Miami or Alabama, and the Seminoles are the perceived front-runner in his recruitment. Florida State is also one of four favorites — alongside three SEC schools — for four-star cornerback Khalil Ladler. Defensive end Malik Barrow is still early in his recruitment, but schools such as Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Boston College and Georgia Tech are in the running for him.
The IMG haul is impressive, and nearly every ACC school has made an attempt to get its foot in the door there. You can safely expect about a half-dozen IMG recruits to sign with ACC schools in February.
•Florida State has already secured commitments from several North Florida prospects. In addition to Henry and Nauta, the IMG prospects, the Seminoles have pledges from Panama City defensive end Janarius Robinson, Tampa-area offensive lineman Baveon Johnson, Tallahassee defensive tackle Cedric Wood and Crawfordville wide receiver Keith Gavin. The Seminoles haven’t been overly successful in the Miami area, but they’re cleaning up in the rest of the state.
•Miami, on the other hand, has focused on the South Florida area much more prominently. The Hurricanes have commitments from 13 players who are ranked in the Rivals Florida Top 100, and all but two of them are from the greater Miami area. Four-star linebacker Shaquille Quarterman and 3-star linebacker Mike Pinckney, both of the Jacksonville area, are the only North Florida recruits in the Hurricanes’ class at this time. Miami has made an effort to go after Gainesville-area wide receiver Freddie Swain, and he has both Florida and Miami near the top of his list at this time.
•Viera 4-star wide receiver Tre Nixon has drawn interest from an array of national programs, including several from the ACC. Nixon has been bashful to name any teams that are sticking out in his recruitment, but among the schools considered to be in serious consideration are Duke, Notre Dame and Miami. He also has offers from Louisville, NC State, Pittsburgh and Wake Forest, and he said that he’s willing to give anybody a shot at this point in his recruitment.
•Korey Charles, a 3-star athlete from Tallahassee took in junior day at Florida State in February, and he has the Seminoles high on his list. There’s some ACC company in that group, too. He’s taken two visits to Clemson since receiving an offer form the Tigers in May. There’s also high mutual interest between Charles and North Carolina. Mississippi State is also in the running for the 5-11 speedster, but those three ACC schools probably have the best chances at landing him.
•One of the fastest-rising quarterbacks in the 2016 class is Xavier Gaines, a 4-star recruit from Lake Wales in the heart of Florida. He has offers from programs all across the nation. He was once almost expected to commit to Florida State until the Seminoles took Malik Henry and shut down their quarterback recruiting for the class. Some of the schools in a good position in his recruitment are Clemson, Virginia Tech, Auburn, Michigan State and Texas.
•Four-star offensive lineman Julian Santos, who’s from Tarpon Springs near Tampa, has several ACC schools interested. Miami, Duke and North Carolina are among them. Santos holds offers from SEC programs Auburn and Tennessee, as well as others. It’s early in Santos’ recruitment, but those three aforementioned ACC programs are in good shape so far.