Saturday night was one of the biggest Florida Gators recruiting events of the year as the Gators visitor’s list was loaded for the game against Florida State.
Tight end Nick Eubanks (6-6, 208, Plantation, FL American Heritage) was one of those guys on the Florida Gators recruiting visitor’s list and he enjoyed the atmosphere in the Swamp.
“This was my first game visit to Florida,” Eubanks said. “It exceeded my expectations. The atmosphere was very good; it was a wonderful atmosphere to be in. Just the game itself was good to be at even though they didn’t come out on top.”
A lot of fans were worried about the reaction of recruits on Saturday night, but Eubanks said that he sees the Gators are a work in progress.
“I see opportunities here at Florida,” he said. “Rome wasn’t built in one day, so I believe this team is going upwards, as coach says. I believe him and I take his word for that.”
After the game was over Eubanks met with the Gators’ coaching staff and he says their message was a positive one.
“They were upbeat about it,” Eubanks said of Florida’s message to him. “They said you have an opportunity to become something great and come be a playmaker here and I believe that.”
Over the last several weeks Eubanks has started talking to Florida a lot and he talks mainly to head coach Jim McElwain about how the Gators will use him.
“I’ve been talking to the tight ends coach and the head coach a lot,” he said. “They said that I can be a playmaker at the tight position and that I can catch all of these balls. They just talk to me about that stuff. That sticks very well with me because I’m looking at teams that use the tight ends a lot.”
The Florida Gators recruiting board is pretty empty at tight end, but the Gators got good news on Saturday when Eubanks spoke highly of his interest in the Gators.
“I would say UF is in front right now,” he said. “USC follows, then Alabama, then Oregon, and then LSU. The way Florida uses its tight ends is what has them up there. I believe this program fits well for me, so we will see how it goes.
Next up for Eubanks in his recruitment will be his five official visits and he says he has three of them set up and another in the works.
“I have one scheduled with USC, well I have the next three scheduled,” he said. “I have one set up for USC, Alabama and LSU in January. I don’t have one set up to Florida yet, but there definitely will be one. USC is going to be on January 20.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Eubanks is one of the top tight ends in the country and the Gators have his attention. Right now it’s safe to say Florida is the team to beat and I struggle to come up with the team that is running second right now.