Re: [gatortalk] [gatornews] [SUN]: Trinity Christian Super 11 lineman Austin Barber commits to Florida

There's a story behind this story, but I am not sure what it is.

3 of our 5 OL verbals did not sign in the early signing period. One even held a signing ceremony, but UF has not acknowledged him as a signee. 

I hear that we pushed them back into the regular signing period. They did not sign elsewhere, and our competition on these three did not seem that impressive (i.e. UAB, Maryland).

I hear grades may be an issue. I also hear that we might be trying to upgrade at the position. I also heard that Mullen has been burned by accepting LOIs from players that didn't make their grades, and losing out on other prospects as a result.

We had 6 empty slots after Wednesday, now it looks like 5. This player looks like a fine prospect, but not especially better than the ones that we pushed back into the regular signing period. Perhaps grades are not an issue for Austin.

I think that we are in the hunt against Oklahoma for an elite 5* lineman, and are holding a spot for him. Tristan Leigh is supposed to announce at an all-star game on 1/2.

Perhaps someone else knows more, strange OL recruiting this year.

-Zeb

On Dec 18, 2020, at 11:00 AM, 'Oliver Barry REALTRACS' via GatorTalk <gatortalk@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Good news! While Miami is a fertile recruiting ground, one must not forget our own back yard in the Jacksonville High Schools. 

We should always have the elite players from there.

This kid looks like a monster, too!