UCF Recruiting Has Changed, Now Power 5 Level
UCF Knights head coach Gus Malzahn has often used words like and/or similar to “goldmine” when discussing how the Knights have access to tremendous prospects in Florida, as well as some surrounding states as well.
He’s been right. While the level of talent is still readily available, what has changed would be UCF being able to land more truly top-notch talent with more consistency than at any other time in the program’s history. Here are a few facts about the additional offers that the 14-player recruiting class had before signing with the Knights.
Kaven Call, defensive end, Apopka (Fla.) High School – Camped at Georgia in 2021 and earned an offer from his efforts. Georgia has the most talented roster in college football, top to bottom. They seemingly pick prospects instead of recruiting them. Call also had offers from Penn State, Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi State, just to a name a few.
John Walker, defensive tackle, Kissimmee (Fla.) Osceola – One of the nation’s premier players regardless of position. Has been a dominant player for at least the last three years of his high school career. Walker has been heavily recruited since he entered high school with offers from across the country. He could have picked just about any program he wanted.
Braeden Marshall, cornerback, Lake Mary (Fla.) High School – Clemson and Auburn are a couple of the programs that came after Marshall during the recruiting process. He still chose the Knights over them and several others.
Isaiah Nixon, defensive end, St. Petersburg (Fla.) Lakewood – Another player with numerous Power 5 offers including Florida and Georgia among others. In fact, the Knights flipped him on National Signing Day from the Gators.
BOOM!! Knight Nation let’s officially welcome @IsaiahNixon06!!#BOUNCEHOU23 #ChargeOn pic.twitter.com/mRpBvc69Cz
— Coach Gus Malzahn (@CoachGusMalzahn) December 21, 2022
Troy Ford, Jr., linebacker, Savannah (Ga.) Calvary Day School – Mississippi State, Missouri, Arkansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Notre Dame, Duke, and other Power 5 programs pursued Ford but he picked UCF early and stuck with the Knights throughout the recruiting process.
Johnathan Cline, offensive line, Cartersville (Ga.) High School – Spurned Miami, North Carolina State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Missouri, Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Indiana among others.
Andrew Rumph, defensive line, Palmetto (Fla.) High School – Another player that turned down Miami, and also had offers from Nebraska, Kentucky, Iowa State, Colorado, Maryland, and Indiana.
Ja’Maric Morris, cornerback, Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College – Not nearly as much information about this young man’s recruitment has been publicized, but he did have offers from Houston, East Carolina, Washington State, Arkansas State and Appalachian State among others.
Tyree Patterson, wide receiver, Eustis (Fla.) High School – Arguably the state’s most underrated recruit. Still, he became the first wide receiver to commit to the Gators this year. Many schools will eventually regret not recruiting this young man. Remember that.
Randy Pittman, tight end, Panama City (Fla.) Mosley – This was a long battle primarily between Florida State and UCF. Pittman has lived just an hour from the FSU campus for a long time. That made flipping him from the Noles to the Knights even sweeter. He also had offers from Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Mississippi State from the SEC.
Jason Duclona, cornerback, Estero (Fla.) High School – Another player like Patterson that was not recruited as heavily as he should have been, but still several Power 5 offers came about. Missouri, Mississippi State, Louisville, Kansas, Illinois, Ole Miss, Northwestern, Duke, Boston College, and Minnesota were some of his bigger offers before signing with UCF.
Dylan Rizk, quarterback, Delray Beach (Fla.) Cardinal Gibbons – Indiana and Kentucky offered him, but UCF had established a relationship with Rizk and won his recruitment anyway.
Keyon Cox, offensive line, Phenix City (Ala.) Central – Boston College, Syracuse, and Mississippi State all extended offers to the prospect that has a tremendous amount of upside.
Grant Reddick, kicker, Orlando (Fla.) Boone – Earned an early offer and picked his dream school before the recruiting process really could have sent many programs his way. Air Force was another offer.
Some recruiting notes with regards to the above prospects that signed with UCF:
* 12 of the 14 signees held offers from at least one SEC program.
* UCF beat Florida for three players head-to-head with Walker, Patterson and Nixon.
* The Knights signed eight defensive prospects, seven of them held offers from the SEC.
* 10 recruits come from the Sunshine State, two from Georgia, one from Alabama, and while Morris played in Kansas during his time at Hutchinson, he’s from South Carolina.
Overall, UCF football recruiting has shown it’s capable of moving up the ladder prior to entering the Big 12 Conference. With even more television exposure and increased revenue to do things to attract recruits, there’s no question an additional level of recruiting can be had.
Wow…that is all I can say #GoKnights #ChargeOn #blessed 🙏🏽🙏🏽 @UCF_Football pic.twitter.com/Q17NVkny3r
— Kaven Call (@Kavencall7) December 22, 2022
It starts with the local players like Call, and then Malzahn and his staff can find a couple of other talented prospects in states like Georgia and Alabama as well. It’s a great formula.
UCF football recruiting had great success with its 2023 class and more is expected in the upcoming years.
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