Four-star cornerback Joshua Shaw (Palmdale, CA) has announced that he will officially commit to a university of his choosing Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 10 a.m. (PST). One of the best at his position in the country, Shaw has received scholarship offers from many top programs including the Florida Gators, LSU Tigers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Ohio State Buckeyes, USC Trojans and Washington Huskies. He has visited (either officially or unofficially) all of these schools (and more) and just got back from Gainesville, FL, after visiting for the Vanderbilt Commodores game this past weekend.

“I was going to wait until Christmas and then go public at the [Under Armor] Game, but I just want to get it over with,” Shaw said. “I’ve done a lot of traveling, and I’m pretty tired with the process now so I want to end it. I have some great options, and I really enjoyed the whole process. I don’t want to narrow it down to two or three or anything, I’m just going to pick one school. Of course I have a school in mind right now, but I’m going to take the next week to let everything sink in and then I’ll be ready.”

Nothing can be predicted at the moment, but Gators fans have good reason to feel confident. Shaw traveled across the country to see Florida on an unofficial visit (meaning he paid his own way) less than two months after taking his official visit on Sept. 18. That he is ready to make a decision so soon after returning could be indicative that Shaw’s weekend visit helped him make up his mind. There had previously been speculation that the Gators had already passed the Buckeyes as the leader for his services.

OGGOA will have an update on Shaw’s status as soon as he makes the announcement.

Tags: Joshua Shaw, Palmdale

Five-star Florida Gators safety commitment Matt Elam called himself only “85 percent committed” to the team on Tuesday, one day after telling a reporter from Rivals that the Gators had nothing to worry about in regard to his commitment.

“Though I made a verbal commitment to Florida last year to take the pressure off me, my brother [Cleveland Browns safety Abram Elam] thought it would be a good idea to take some visits anyway, just in case,” Elam said in a blog entry on his brother’s Web site. “So the recruitment is still going on, and I’m getting attention from a lot of different schools. Other schools I’m looking at are Tennessee, West Virginia and Georgia.”

While this blog entry comes straight for Elam, I am taking his comments with a grain of salt at this point. Especially considering just a day or two ago, Elam told Rivals that “[Florida] don’t have any reason to worry. I’m going to Florida.” Elam has reaffirmed his commitment on numerous occasions, including again today on his facebook page (“I AM GOING TO UF! I love to have p[eo]pl[e] thinking!”), that backing away from the Gators at this point is simply not likely. Couple that with his family’s relationship with head coach Urban Meyer, and Elam is all for the Gators as far as I am concerned. The “85 percent” statement may rub some (including the Florida coaching staff) the wrong way, but let’s be honest: Who is really 100 percent sure about anything as an 18-year-old high school student?

Photo Credit: Jim Rassol, Sun-Sentinel

Tags: Abram Elam, Cleveland Browns, Matt Elam, Urban Meyer

A top five player in the country, five-star defensive end Ronald Powell (Moreno Valley, CA) got his SAT results back last week and is now academically qualified to play at schools such as the University of Florida. Scoring a 900 on the test to go along with his improved 2.9 GPA, Powell is still deciding between the Florida Gators and USC Trojans. ESPN’s Greg Biggins says the Gators “have been heavy leaders for some time now for Powell and that remains the case,” going on to say “it will be a pretty big surprise if the talented lineman ends up anywhere other than Gainesville next fall.” That is surprising news considering Powell had previously been 50-50 on his decision, at least publicly. Already visiting Florida a couple times on his own dime, Powell plans to return soon for an official visit before giving USC a shot at his services.

Going hard after five-star linebacker Jeff Luc (Port St. Lucie, FL) and for good reason…he’s the best at his position in the entire country. Luc visited the Gators unofficially this past weekend and came away impressed. However, the key to signing Luc may rest on whether or not defensive coordinator Charlie Strong takes a head coaching job after this season. “As long as Charlie Strong is there, Florida is a strong player,” Jeff’s brother Alex Luc told Rivals. “They have a strong relationship. He calls him his uncle. I could believe anybody that meets him will have a strong relationship with him because of who he is. He’s a well-mannered person who carries himself the right way, he’s really down-to-earth, he takes care of business but he’s a nice guy.” Luc remains undecided, and an official visit to Florida in December will give the Gators a good shot at landing this prized recruit. First, however, he will travel to visit the Georgia Bulldogs next weekend; Luc has already visited the Tennessee Volunteers and USC and plans to check out the LSU Tigers as well.

More recruiting news on Chaz Green and John Fulton after the jump…
Continue Reading » Gators lead for Powell? More: Luc, Green, Fulton

Tags: Charlie Strong, Chaz Green, Florida State Seminoles, Georgia Bulldogs, Jeff Luc, John Fulton, LSU Tigers, Ronald Powell, South Carolina Gamecocks, Tennessee Volunteers, University of Florida, USC Trojans

Search “Matt Elam“ on OGGOA and you will come up with a number of stories about the five-star safety questioning his commitment to the Florida Gators and then re-affirming it soon after. Making his fourth unofficial visit to Gainesville, FL, this season on Saturday, Elam once again declared his desire to wear Orange & Blue in the spring.

“[Florida] don’t have any reason to worry. I’m going to Florida,” Elam told Rivals. “I can’t wait to get this over with. Florida is going to be my last visit. I’m going to take my official visit for either the Florida State game or when they come back from the SEC Championship game.”

Vanderbilt Commodores weekend was the second straight Gators home game Elam attended. Although he has taken visits to the Tennessee Volunteers, Georgia Bulldogs and Florida State Seminoles (which has irked some Florida coaches), the Florida coaching staff keeps reiterating their desire to have him in the fold come January. “They tell me basically the same thing all the time – how much they want me.”

Tags: Florida State Seminoles, Georgia Bulldogs, Matt Elam, Tennessee Volunteers, Vanderbilt Commodores

Four-star cornerback John Fulton (Manning, SC) will be taking a trip to the University of Florida for an official visit this Saturday when the Florida Gators take on the Vanderbilt Commodores. Fulton is currently favoring his hometown South Carolina Gamecocks and Alabama Crimson Tide. With Florida already having a plethora of cornerback commitments, he may just be doing his due diligence.

More football, basketball and volleyball recruiting news after the jump…
Continue Reading » Recruiting visits for Vandy, update on Knight

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, Berkley Whaley, Brandon Knight, Connecticut Huskies, Ian Silberman, Jaylen Watkins, Jeff Luc, John Fulton, Joshua Shaw, Kansas Jayhawks, Kentucky Wildcats, LSU Tigers, Miami Hurricanes, Michael McFarland, Ohio State Buckeyes, South Carolina Gamecocks, Trey Burton, University of Florida, Vanderbilt Commodores, volleyball

Almost exactly one month ago, OGGOA reported on Florida Gators basketball’s prized 2011 commitment, 5-star combo guard Austin Rivers, who was considering other options while making his decision whether or not to join the Orange & Blue in two years. While Rivers said he remained orally committed to the Gators then and holds the same contention now, he has begun to give heavy consideration to the Duke Blue Devils, who have been courting him for some time.

“I still love Florida so much,” Rivers told the Orlando Sentinel. “I fell in love with that campus and that program the minute I saw it. But it doesn’t help recruiting for the Gators at all when people take the words out of my mouth and put it out there that I’m undecided.”

There is much more to this story – read it after the jump…
Continue Reading » Duke closing in on Rivers, but doing it right way

Tags: Austin Rivers, Billy Donovan, Doc Rivers, Duke Blue Devils, John Calipari, Kentucky Wildcats, Mike Krzyzewski

Rather than write you a long, worthless introduction, just go ahead and make the jump for a ton of recruiting news on the following recruits: Matt Elam, Jeff Luc, Chaz Green, Christian Green, Chris Dunkley, Kardon Boone, James Louis, Cody Riggs, Lamarcus Joyner, Sharrif Floyd and Ronald Powell.

Continue Reading » Status updates for UF’s top recruiting prospects

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, Chaz Green, Chris Dunkley, Christian Green, Cody Riggs, Florida State Seminoles, Georgia Bulldogs, James Louis, Jeff Luc, Kardon Boone, Lamarcus Joyner, Lane Kiffin, Matt Elam, North Carolina Tar Heels, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Ohio State Buckeyes, Penn State Nittany Lions, Ronald Powell, Sharrif Floyd, South Carolina Gamecocks, Texas Tech Red Raiders, University of Florida, Urban Meyer, USC Trojans

From time to time, OGGOA will come across tidbits and small news items we want to share with our readers. In those instances, we will be present a special post: Gator Bites. Enjoy.

- Florida Gators head coach Urban Meyer said Thursday that senior middle linebacker Brandon Spikes is “50-50″ (questionable) for Saturday vs. Mississippi State Bulldogs. Meyer also said junior defensive lineman Justin Trattou is officially out.

- Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen is campaigning for a record attendance at Scott Field on Saturday. He also told reporters that he spoke with Florida senior quarterback Tim Tebow by text message Thursday afternoon.

- According to Rivals, quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler “spent almost an entire day last week” scouting four-star dual-threat QB recruit Devin Gardner – a Michigan Wolverines commitment.

- Five-star offensive lineman recruit Seantrel Henderson, the No. 1 prospect in the nation, has delayed his visit to the University of Florida until December because of scheduling difficulties. Florida is one of six top programs vying for his services. (Rivals)

- Freshman wide receiver T.J. Lawrence is expected to miss a few weeks after having his meniscus scoped Thursday. “[Lawrence] is getting close,” Meyer said. “He had a couple good weeks.”

- The Gators coaching staff are big fans of four-star safety recruit Tony Jefferson, who wishes to visit Gainesville, FL, for the Florida State Seminoles game in November. However, Florida is reluctant and most likely will not have Jefferson visit because they want to satiate five-star S commit Matt Elam. (Rivals)

Tags: Brandon Spikes, Devin Gardner, Florida State Seminoles, Justin Trattou, Matt Elam, Michigan Wolverines, Mississippi State Bulldogs, Scot Loeffler, Seantrel Henderson, T.J. Lawrence, Tim Tebow, Tony Jefferson, University of Florida, Urban Meyer