FLORIDA RECRUITING: Looking Back at the Success of the June Bloom

Billy Napier has been killing it on the recruiting path for Florida. That's evident. But it's often forgotten where the foundation is built that leads to these commitments. For a handful of Gator commits, the foundation was built in Gainesville during the weekend of June 16.

The Florida staff hosted 13 prospects for their official visits to campus over the course of three days. Two months later, 11 of those 13 have committed to the Gators. The conversation rate from that weekend is unprecedented and the impact is massive. Half of the current 2024 Florida recruiting class was in Gainesville that weekend.

This past week on the Buddy Martin Show, we talked about the 'now' versus the future and that while there is momentum with the 2024 class, we need to start to see some form of progress this year. That is true, but at the end of the day, this is all the 'now.'

Each member of the 2024 group Napier and company have rounded up sees something special brewing in Gainesville and we are reminded weekly by commits including DJ Lagway who are vocal on social media about their excitement. That is stuff happening now. And it matters. Despite the fact that we don't get to see Lagway and the rest of the '24s on the field until the future, their commitments have come from everything they see right now.

What happens if the Gators only win six or seven games this season? Does Florida lose a chunk of its 2024 class? They might lose one or two, but this group of the future views themselves as a program changing class. Lagway has been pressing for commits who have the potential to be stars on the field. That has been his largest pitch to Ohio State commit Jeremiah Smith: that the duo of Lagway and Smith can be program altering.

To Buddy's point, there's been a lot of talk on the future, but it is time to see progress now. Regardless, a major culture shift has occurred since the end of the Mullen era and the June 16 weekend is a prime example of the direction Napier is moving this program.