Florida signee ATH D’Anfernee McGriff enrolls in prep school, plans to join Gators in spring

By Adam Silverstein
August 4, 2015

Despite decommitting from Auburn and signing with the Florida Gators on National Signing Day, four-star 2015 athlete D’Anfernee McGriff (Tallahassee, FL) knew it would be difficult to get academically cleared to enroll in school and that he may have to attend another institution before joining the top-tier collegiate program.

McGriff seemingly gave it his best shot, but his grades and test scores fell short of the threshold to enroll in Florida. As such, he was faced with an option – go to a junior college for two years and eventually reopen his recruitment or attend a preparatory school for a semester and attempt to join the Gators in the spring.

Tuesday night, McGriff announced his decision on Twitter, and it was good news for UF.


“I am currently at Jireh prep. A 4 month program working my ass off to get back to my dream,my home,my love. THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA,” he began. “Good Luck to my boys this season.. I would also like to thank everybody for standing by me through this process. MUCH LOVE.”

McGriff chose Jireh Preparatory Academy, which is located in Matthews, North Carolina, over an offer to attend East Arizona Community College. As a prep school attendee, McGriff will have the opportunity to qualify for Florida’s spring semester; had he gone to EACC, McGriff would have needed to attend for two seasons and likely would have reopened his recruitment.

Auburn wanted McGriff in its 2015 class and the feeling was mutual with the athlete; however, his academic standing and the Tigers’ large signing class made a separation a good decision for both parties. The Gators, which had space available in their class, were able to sign McGriff without wasting a spot for another player.

It appears as if that is now a chance that was worth taking for Florida, as McGriff is at least planning to honor his verbal pledge to the program this spring.

A talented and versatile prospect who the Gators are likely to try out on offense first, McGriff (6-foot-1, 230 pounds) was rated as the No. 273 overall player in the nation and 21st best running back, according to the 247Sports Composite.

8 Comments

  1. Ken (CA) says:

    does coach think he is still at CSU instead of UF? nice to fill the recruiting classes up, and ceartainly filling needs but I hope he has judged all these 3 stwars and expects and will get more from them. we should be gg 4 and 5 star players, not 2 and 3….we aren’t CSU who could only hope for those.

    I think he is on the right path, and believe he is doing a great job, but I am sure I am sharing otheroncerns about how competitive wil the team be in the SEC if we just target 3* and below?

    • NYC Gator says:

      I’m pretty sure McGriff was a consensus 4 star recruit last year and every major program was after him. As for the current recruiting class, we are still in play for a lot of 4 and 5 star talent, but they’re not going to pull the trigger until they see us in action this fall. We have a lot of open spots to fill and McElwain is recruiting people who want to be Gators. If he deems them good enough for our program (and he certainly knows what it takes after 4 years at Bama), then I can care less what 247 or Rivals has to say about it.

  2. cline says:

    well isn’t this guy a 4 star?

  3. Jeremy says:

    Ken,
    What are you referring to? McGriff is a consensus 4-star prospect.

    • Ken (CA) says:

      Meant to post that on the article about the 3* DB that just committed. So far in the 2016 class there just doesn’t seem to be any elite talent. Granted a lot of them won’t officially commit until much closer to signing day, but it just feels a bit weak so far and not a lot of rumors about any elite talent leaning our direction.

      • G2 says:

        I agree its a little unsettling but think thats where we are right now. When your picked 5th in the East that says it all.

        Some of these guys will end up 4* but who knows. When WM took over the team was loaded with 4* players and look what happened with the exception of 2012.

        Think good coaching has to be the difference or else we’re in deep doo.

  4. Blind Willie says:

    Gilbert Johnson, a receiver from Florida, tried to go this same route after signing with Georgia last year. He then signed with Texas this year. But he still failed to qualify for admission to Texas. I bring this up to temper the expectation that McGriff will ever get into Florida. McGriff was told to take a hike by Auburn because of his academics and UF took a gamble on him because they had the space to do so. We’ll see if he made a mistake by going to prep school instead of the JUCO route. As Dirty Harry said: “A man’s got to know his limitations.” We’ll find out if McGriff understands his.

  5. Sroode21 says:

    This kid wants to be a Gator, and is trying to bust his ass to become one. All these armchair coaches and experts that sit in there parents basements have all the answers.

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