Friday Night Lights Burn Brightly As Gators Rack Up Recruits: Jean, Jackson, Mizell And Castell

GRAPHIC BY UAA

By KYLE CURTIS

GatorBaitMedia.com

What a difference a weekend, good food and a night under the lights can make, as the Florida Gators found out. They landed four prized four-star recruits. Here is what you need to know about the four additional commitments scored by Billy Napier and his staff.

Ja’Keem Jackson, Four-Star Cornerback

The first commit of the weekend, Jackson joined fellow commits Sharif Denson and Aaron Gates as the third four-star corner committed to the Gators.

Jackson was drawn to Florida because of Coach Corey Raymond his resume of turning his defensive backs into NFL talent. His resume speaks for itself.

“He’s developed good DBs in the league and he’s willing to coach for the future,” Jackson told AllGators.com, “So, very excited about that.”

The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Jackson is the 19th cornerback in the nation and will look to contribute to a stacked defensive back room.

Aidan Mizell, Four-Star Wide Receiver

An electric wide receiver, 6-foot-2, 180 pounds from Orlando, Mizell made his commitment in style. In one of the more memorable ways in recent history, Mizell chose the orange and blue by bringing out a pair of real-life baby gators to help support his decision.

It brought life to the weekend, some badly needed hype around the Gator Nation culture and huge social media boost.

Both of Mizell’s parents ran track at UF, therefore he grew up as a Gator fan.

“It’s really just the coaching staff,” Mizell said to 247 Sports. “They are all really cool and they have created a great environment. I really like what Coach Napier is doing and I can see him getting the program back to competing for national championships.”

With Mizell’s commitment, the Gators began putting together one of the strongest wide receiver classes in the country.

Jordan Castell, Four-Star Safety

Jordan Castell, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound safety from Winter Garden committed to Florida Saturday morning over the likes of Alabama and Auburn.

Like Jackson, Castell was impressed with the coaching staff and what they bring to the table.

“It was great, they’re great dudes,” Castell said. “You know their history and what they did at their other programs. Especially Coach Raymond, DBU.”

Castell’s mom even commented on the commitment of her son.

“I’m down like four flat tires,” Castell’s mom told 247Sports.

There was one more: Andy Jean

Running back commit Treyaun Webb tweeted Saturday morning after the commitment of Castell, “What if I told y’all there is more?”

On that note, four-star wide receiver target Andy Jean of Miami Northwestern, currently in Gainesville, announced his commitment to the Gators.

With the addition of those four, the Gators have now 16 commits in the class of 2023 -- 14 of them 4-stars -- and are now ranked #12 nationally with hopes of moving into that top 10 by the end of the weekend.