Florida football recruiting: Top 50 RB Davian Groce commits to Gators in surprise decision

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Image Credit: @GatorsFB / Twitter

While the Florida Gators stood as a finalist for four-star running back Davin Groce (Frisco, TX), the expectation leading into his commitment ceremony was that he would choose to continue his playing career with another program. Instead, to the surprise of many, the Gators landed the talented rusher by earning his verbal pledge Monday night.

Groce (6-foot-1, 190 pounds) committed to Florida primarily over Oklahoma, which was long considered the leader for his services, along with Baylor and Houston. He is listed No. 47 overall in the 247Sports Composite and No. 83 overall by 247Sports’ internal rankings.

The second straight top 100 player to join the Gators’ Class of 2026 from the Lone Star State, Groce links with four-star EDGE KJ Ford (Duncanville, TX), who committed to Florida exactly one month earlier on July 11. Ford (6-foot-4, 245 pounds) is ranked 100th overall by 247Sports.

This pair of extremely talented pledges comes from a state in Texas that has not regularly been a bastion of top talent acquisition for Florida. Of course, UF snagged sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway, a five-star prospect, from Willis, Texas, as the chief signee in the Class of 2024, but given the competition in the area, such high-level signees have historically been few and far between.

With Groce in tow, the Gators moved up two spots to No. 13 in the 247Sports team rankings. Now holding 19 commitments, Florida has fewer names set to join the program in 2026 than 10 of the 12 teams ahead of it. The top four teams in the 247Sports team rankings all have 27 or more pledges at this juncture.