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Commitment Puts Gators Near Top Of Class

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Carter Gaddis

Published: February 3, 2008

The addition of DE/LB William Green to the Gators' list of verbal commitments this past Wednesday nudged Florida back to the top of Rivals.com's recruiting class rankings a week before National Signing Day.

Green, out of Hoover (Ala.) Spain High, is a Rivals four-star prospect and ranked 83rd in the Rivals100. Although he was considered the seventh-best outside linebacker in the country, he was recruited by the Gators primarily to play defensive end.

Green became the 13th four-star prospect out of 22 commitments, along with four five-star players — Armwood OL/DL Matt Patchan; Buford, Ga., DT Omar Hunter; Jersey City, N.J., athlete Will Hill; and junior college WR Carl Moore (who already has signed).

Signing day is Wednesday, and the Gators — whose group of commitments also is ranked No.1 by Scouts Inc. and ESPN's Tom Luginbill — are virtually assured a third consecutive top three recruiting class. Rivals.com ranked Florida No. 1 last year and No. 2 in 2006.

ONE TO GO: Lakeland Kathleen WR T.J. Lawrence will announce his choice of schools Wednesday on ESPN. Lawrence lists Florida, Michigan, South Carolina and Virginia Tech as his four finalists, with no clear favorite among them.

Lawrence is ranked 21st in the country among receivers, according to Rivals.com. He visited Gainesville on Jan. 11, Columbia, S.C., on Jan. 18 and Ann Arbor, Mich., on Jan. 25.

UNDECIDED?: Melbourne Palm Bay DB Ramon Buchanan and Lakeland Lake Gibson OL Ricky Barnum, who both verbally committed to Florida in January, reportedly took official visits over the weekend to Miami and Michigan, respectively.

Buchanan had committed to UM before changing to Florida, leading to speculation that he was having another change of heart. Barnum was recruited by new Wolverines coach Rich Rodriguez while Rodriguez was the coach of West Virginia.

It's common for verbally committed players to make scheduled trips after committing. At the same time, the strongest commitments generally cancel their subsequent trips after making public their decisions.

LONG SHOTS: Jeannette (Pa.) High QB Terrelle Pryor, Rivals.com's No. 1-ranked prospect, still lists Florida among his possible schools. He also lists six other schools, with Michigan and Ohio State believe to be the favorites.

Foley (Ala.) High WR Julio Jones also lists Florida, along with five other schools. Alabama and Oklahoma are believed to be the favorites. Jones is ranked No. 4 in the Rivals100.

They'll both make their announcements Wednesday on ESPN.

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