Maryland First to Contact Florida Wide Receiver
West Orange (FL) wide receiver Jayden Gibson added his first offer back on January 29 when wide receiver coach Joker Phillips stopped by his school, so it made sense who the first school was to reach out to the 6-foot-5, 185-pound wide receiver.
“Maryland. They texted me first and sent me that edit, they have my number,” Gibson told All Terrapins. “Then I woke up and talked to Florida, Purdue, Wake Forest, Cincinnati. I talked to a lot of people from Cincinnati, I talked to [head] coach [Luke] Fickell. I talked to Middle Tennessee, Memphis, Ohio, Kentucky, UCF hit me up this morning, UT-Martin, Rutgers, Florida State and Marshall.”
The familiarity between the two sides gives Gibson a strong impression on his Big Ten suitor.
“I remember when he came to the school, they did a cool thing. My coach had a laptop out and told me to look at his computer and it had my name and next to it, it said offered. That’s how I found out I got the offer, so I told him I really appreciate it and he said he likes big receivers, likes how I catch the ball with my hands and he likes how I play and he’s heard good things about me from multiple people. You know how word gets around in Orlando. He told me when the time is right, I can come up for a visit, so I’m trying to call him to set a visit up, ask how he’s doing and learn more about the school in-depth.”
UT-Martin is the lone school outside of the Terps to pull the trigger on an offer, but for Gibson, the added attention on Tuesday gives him motivation ahead of his junior season.
“I take everything with a grain of salt. Of course I’m grateful for it all and I worked so hard and go hard every day to put myself in this position, but at the same time, I see people with less than me that makes me grateful and I see people with more than me that makes me hungry. I want to be the top in the country.”
His development this offseason has been aided by the opportunity to shine in a feature role. After playing alongside Duke receiver Darrell Harding and Missouri freshman Jaylon Carlies as an underclassman, Gibson knows the opportunity that sits ahead.
“This is the first to show my true ability and true skill. I’m big, I’m really tall so the more elite I can be in getting in and out of my breaks will make me better. I’m good at it, but a big receiver like a Julio Jones who has really good hands and is tall and physical, working on my breaks and being able to change speed, I’ll be more elite.”
