Florida Gators Lose Out on OT Tyler Booker to Alabama

The Florida Gators have missed out on one of the top targets on their 2022 recruiting board: Offensive tackle Tyler Booker.

Photo: Tyler Booker; Credit: Zach Goodall

Editors note: This story has been corrected to correctly identify Tyler Booker’s top five schools before his commitment.

The top offensive tackle and one of the best overall players on the Florida Gators' recruiting board is now off the market: IMG Academy (Fla.) lineman Tyler Booker has committed to Alabama over UF, Georgia, Ohio State, and Oregon, he shared via social media on Friday.

SI Exclusive: Top 2022 OL Tyler Booker (@iamtylerbooker) reveals his college decision 👀

🏈: https://t.co/02S2irKHlj pic.twitter.com/QdCf4L5zmx

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) July 16, 2021

This could go down as the biggest recruiting miss of the cycle for the Gators, given offensive line coach John Hevesy's desperate need to add blue-chip talent at the offensive tackle position and Booker's well-documented interest in Florida over the past year and a half. Booker had been in regular communication with Gators head coach Dan Mullen for months before his commitment.

Playing high school ball less than three hours from UF, an easy trip up I-75, Booker officially visited Florida during the first weekend of in-person recruiting in over 15 months this past June. On the final weekend of visits before the coronavirus pandemic broke out in March 2020, Booker had also taken an unofficial trek to UF's campus, where the Gators' coaching staff began to take his recruitment to the next level.

Simply put, these are the types of recruiting battles the Gators are supposed to win. 

Now, the Gators will need to focus their efforts on other tackles from across the state of Florida and the nation. St. Thomas Aquinas' (Fla.) Julian Armella, Miami Central's (Fla.) Daughtry Robinson, Boone's (Fla.) Leyton Nelson, Hillsboro's (Tenn.) Jacob Hood and Allen's (Texas) Neto Umeozulu remain available, among other prospects.

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