Lagway had everything to do with UF landing WR Joshua Moore

DJ Lagway was heavily involved in recruiting WR Joshua Moore (Photo by Chris Spears)

A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning:

You want further proof that Billy Napier is sitting on one of those cooling gel seats and there is no blow torch fired up and taking aim with his posterior? What’s going on in recruiting will tell you everything you need to know.

Wednesday, wide receiver Justin Moore (6-4, 205, Pembroke Pines, FL West Broward) chose the Gators over Florida State, Miami, Arkansas, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State, Michigan and Ole Miss among others. In 21 varsity football games, Moore has 1,868 receiving yards and has caught 20 touchdown passes. A 4-star talent like Moore doesn’t make commitments to schools where the coach is in serious jeopardy of losing his job. Moore knows all about the brutal schedule the Gators will be playing in the fall, but he is (a) convinced Billy Napier has the program going in the right direction; (b) he’s a good fit in the offense; (c) Napier isn’t going anywhere at least unless there is some sort of meltdown in the program in 2025; and (d) he’ll be catching passes from DJ Lagway when he is a freshman.

Moore told On3 and Gators Online recruiting analyst Keith Neibuhr that Lagway played a major role in his recruitment.

Moore said, “They’ve got a general. He’s a quarterback and I’ve seen him practice. I know he’s the real deal.”

Moore went on to say that Florida probably wouldn’t have landed his commitment if not for Lagway. That’s another reason to know Billy Napier’s job is safe this season. To fire Napier, as some so-called experts think could happen, would likely mean Lagway transfers. The Gators will be better than expected in 2024, then Lagway takes over in 2025. The people in charge of the athletic department at UF know how valuable this kid is and how committed he is to Napier and UF. They will not risk him bolting for another school by canning the head coach.

Moore is the seventh commitment to the Florida 2025 class. The number lags way behind the 19 already committed to Ohio State and Alabama or the 16 committed to Georgia, but Napier has gone about recruiting with rather systematic efficiency. He has signed a solid number of high school recruits in the last two years while added 10 or more from the portal. Florida has 20 players whose eligibility will expire after this season and you can figure another 10 or so will transfer. Expect a recruiting class of 15-20 high school kids and another 10-15 from the portal.

Commitments: DL Jalen Wiggins (6-5, 235, Tallahassee, FL Rickards); WR Joshua Moore (6-4, 205, Pembroke Pines, FL West Broward); RB Waltez Clark (6-1, 190, Tampa, FL Plant); DL Jeremiah McCloud (6-3, 285, Havana, FL Gadsden County); TE Micah Jones (6-4, 250, Madison, MS Madison Central); RB Chad Gasper (5-11, 195, Fulshear, TX Katy Jordan); P Hayden Craig (6-2, 190, North Bridgton, ME Bridgton Academy)

UF BASEBALL: Final college baseball rankings

The Gators made everybody’s top eight because they were one of the last eight teams standing. Even though they finished in a tie for third, two polls had them sixth and one eighth.

USA TODAY COACHES TOP 25: 1. Tennessee 60-13; 2. Texas A&M 53-15; 3. Kentucky 46-16; 4. Florida State 49-17; 5. North Carolina 48-16; 6. FLORIDA 36-30; 7. Virginia 46-17; 8. North Carolina State 38-23; 9. Clemson 44-16; 10. Georgia 43-17; 11. Oregon State 45-16; 12. Arkansas 44-16; 13. Oregon 40-20; 14. Oklahoma State 42-19; 15. Oklahoma 40-21; 16. East Carolina 46-17; 17. West Virginia 36-24; 18. Duke 40-20; 19. UConn 35-26; 20. Mississippi State 40-23; 21. Kansas State 35-26; 22. UC-Santa Barbara 44-14; 23. Evansville 39-26; 24. LSU 43-23; 25. UC-Irvine 45-14

BASEBALL AMERICA TOP 25: 1. Tennessee 60-13; 2. Texas A&M 53-15; 3. Kentucky 46-14; 3. North Carolina 48-16; 5. Florida State 49-17; 6. FLORIDA 36-30; 7. North Carolina State 38-23; 8. Virginia 45-17; 9. Oregon State 45-16; 10. Georgia 43-17; 11. Clemson 46-16; 12. Oregon 40-20; 13. West Virginia 36-24; 14. UConn 35-26; 15. Arkansas 44-16; 16. East Carolina 46-17; 17. Mississippi State 40-23; 18. Oklahoma State 42-19; 19. Oklahoma 40-21; 20. UC-Santa Barbara 44-14; 21. Arizona 36-23; 22. Kansas State 35-26; 23. Evansville 39-26; 24. Duke 40-20; 25. UC-Irvine 45-14

D1BASEBALL TOP 25: 1. Tennessee 60-13; 2. Texas A&M 53-15; 3. Kentucky 46-16; 4. Florida State 49-17; 5. North Carolina 48-16; 6. North Carolina State 38-23; 7. Virginia 46-17; 8. FLORIDA 36-30; 9. Clemson 44-16; 10. Oregon State 45-16; 11. Georgia 43-17; 12. Oregon 40-20; 13. West Virginia 36-24; 14. Kansas State 35-26; 15. UConn 35-26; 16. Evansville 39-26; 17. Arkansas 44-16; 18. Oklahoma 40-21; 19. UC-Santa Barbara 44-14; 20. East Carolina 46-17; 21. Oklahoma State 42-19; 22. Mississippi State 40-23; 23. UC-Irvine 45-14; 24. Duke 40-20; 25. Arizona 36-23

UF SOFTBALL: Gators add transfer from Washington

Tim Walton added a third transfer Wednesday when Washington infielder Rylee Holtorf committed to the Gators. Holftorf, who has played shortstop and third base, hit .336 for the Huskies in 2024 with 11 homers and 25 RBI. She is a career .293 hitter with 17 homers and 56 RBI.

Holtorf joins former UNC-Wilmington pitcher Kara Hammock and former Alabama shortstop Kenleigh Cahalan as the newest Gators, joining the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation of RHP Katelynn Oxley (Bartow, FL); OF Townsen Thomas (Humble, TX/Houston, TX Houston Episcopal); CF Taylor Shumaker (Fullerton, CA Esperanza); SS Gabi Cormia (St. John, IN Hanover Central) and SS/3B Layla Lamar (Cary, NC Panther Creek).

Final softball polls

ESPN/USA SOFTBALL top 25: 1. Oklahoma 59-7; 2. Texas 55-10; 3. FLORIDA 54-15; 4. Stanford 50-17; 5. UCLA 43-12; 6. Alabama 39-20; 7. Oklahoma State 49-12; 8. Duke 52-9; 9. Tennessee 44-12; 10. Texas A&M 44-15; 11. LSU 44-17; 12. Missouri 46-18; 13. Georgia 43-19; 14. Florida State 46-16; 15. Arizona 37-18-1; 16. Baylor 36-23; 17. Arkansas 37-18; 18. Virginia Tech 40-14-1; 19. Louisiana 45-19; 20. Oregon 30-21; 21. Washington 32-15; 22. Mississippi State 34-20; 23. Northwestern 35-13; 24. Clemson 35-19; 25. Texas State 47-15

USA TODAY/NFCA COACHES top 25: 1. Oklahoma 59-7; 2. Texas 55-10; 3. FLORIDA 54-15; 4. Stanford 50-17; 5. UCLA 43-12; 6. Oklahoma State 49-12; 7. Duke 52-9; 8. Alabama 39-20; 9. Tennessee 44-12; 10. Texas A&M 44-15; 11. Missouri 46-18; 12. LSU 44-17; 13. Florida State 46-16; 14. Georgia 43-19; 15. Arizona 37-18-1; 16. Washington 32-15; 17. Virginia Tech 40-14-1; 18. Arkansas 37-18; 19. Louisiana 45-19; 20. Baylor 36-23; 21. Mississippi State 34-20; 22. Boston University 53-6-1; 24. Oregon 30-21; 25. California 37-19

D1SOFTBALL top 25: 1. Oklahoma 59-7; 2. Texas 55-10; 3. FLORIDA 54-15; 4. Stanford 50-17; 5. UCLA 43-12; 6. Oklahoma State 49-12; 7. Duke 52-9; 8. Alabama 39-20; 9. Tennessee 44-12; 10. LSU 44-17; 11. Texas A&M 44-15; 12. Baylor 36-20; 13. Missouri 46-18; 14. Florida State 46-16; 15. Georgia 43-19; 16. Arizona 37-18-1; 17.  Washington 32-15; 18. Louisiana 45-19; 19. Virginia Tech 40-14-1; 20. Oregon 30-21; 21. Boston University 53-6-1; 22. Arkansas 37-18; 23. Liberty 38-25; 24. Northwestern 35-13; 25. Texas State 47-15

SOFTBALL AMERICA top 25: 1. Oklahoma 59-7; 2. Texas 55-10; 3. FLORIDA 54-15; 4. Stanford 50-17; 5. UCLA 43-12; 6. Alabama 39-20; 7. Oklahoma State 49-12; 8. Duke 52-9; 9. Missouri 48-18; 10. Tennessee 44-12; 11. Texas A&M 44-15; 12. LSU 44-17; 13. Georgia 43-19; 14. Baylor 36-23; 15. Florida State 46-16; 16. Arizona 37-18-1; 17. Louisiana 45-19; 18. Arkansas 37-18; 19. Texas State 47-15; 20. Oregon 30-21; 21. Omaha 43-15; 22. Virginia 34-20; 23. Northwestern 35-13; 24. Washington 32-15; 25. Liberty 38-25

SCHLOSSNAGLE AND THE AFTERMATH

Monday night after Texas A&M lost to Tennessee in the championship game at the College World Series in Omaha, Jim Schlossnagle all but swore up and down he was an Aggie for life. Less than 24 hours later, the Aggie for life was a Texas Longhorn.

It’s one thing to swear allegiance for a lifetime to the school you just took to the precipice of its first national championship in baseball. It’s another thing altogether different to not only leave the next morning but leave for a rival so bitter and intensely hated that the school fight song starts out with the lyrics “Good bye to Texas University.” Later on the same fight song says “The Eyes of Texas” is a song every Longhorn knows so well and it “sounds like hell.” Aggie fans would probably tell you they would cheer for an all-star team from Iran before they would cheer for Texas.

But now Jim Schlossnagle is a Longhorn and it’s likely he’ll be paid more than Vanderbilt pays Tim Corbin ($2.317 million), which will set off a wave of coach inflation around the country. Not to be outdone, the Aggies, who have more money than anyone in the world except God and the Longhorns, will not stand by idly. They will figure the best revenge is to hire a better coach than Schlossnagle and bring him to College Station where there are plans to make Blue Bell Park into the palace of the SEC.

You have to figure that Aggie athletic director Trev Alberts will at least make courtesy calls to Corbin, Florida’s Kevin O’Sullivan, Tennessee’s Tony Vitello and Kentucky’s Mark Mingione. The name that keeps showing up on all the lists Aggie experts are putting out there is Mingione.

Within 24 hours of Schlossnagle departing 11 Aggies had their names in the transfer portal. Five of the departing Aggies are starters: All-American outfielder Jace Laviolette (.305, 29 HR, 78 RBI); 3B Gavin Grahovac (.298, 23 HR, 68 RBI); SS Ali Camarillo (.288 7 HR, 36 RBI); 2B Kaeden Kent (.327, 4 HR, 28 RBI) and LF Caden Sorrell (.275, 11 HR, 43 RBI). How many of them follow Schlossnagle to Texas and how many go elsewhere remains to be seen.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Bruce Feldman of The Athletic has unveiled his top ten rankings of the toughest places to play in college football. Here is the list with my commentary.

1. LSU: They start drinking on Wednesday, sober between midnight and noon on Saturday, then start drinking again so they can be loud and mean Saturday night. Day games are actually a piece of cake.

2. Alabama: When Bama beat Florida in 2005, it ranked with the five loudest stadiums I’ve ever been to. They were trying to impress Tim Tebow who was there on an official visit. Nick Saban made it tough to play there.

3. Penn State: When they have a white out game, it’s really loud. Otherwise, no louder than South Carolina.

4. Ohio State: Yeah, it gets loud when Michigan comes to town. It’s a tough place to play because the Buckeyes usually have a really good team.

5. Virginia Tech: “Enter Sandman” is a very cool entry song. Then the Hokies play and lose a lot and it’s not nearly as loud.

6. FLORIDA: The FSU game in 1991 – before the stadium expanded – was so loud that my ears hurt even when I had my hands covering them. It’s a rowdy place when it’s a game into the fourth quarter. Unless it’s close, fans start leaving in the fourth quarter and it becomes a graveyard.

7. Tennessee: Very loud and a tough place to play when the Vols are good, not nearly so loud or so tough when they’re not.

8. Oregon: The loudest stadium that seats fewer than 60,000 in the country. It’s Oregon. What else are they going to do on a Saturday in Eugene?

9. Georgia: It’s a beautiful stadium and now that the Poodles are winning they’re loud. I remember when Steve Spurrier decided to “hang half a hundred” on them. It was pretty quiet then.

10. Texas A&M:The best part about Kyle Field is when the Aggie band does its halftime show. That’s pretty spectacular. The football? They have yet to win an SEC and now that Texas and Oklahoma are in the league it could be light years before they pull it off. Well, at least they have halftime