Gators Pick Up Nice Early Commit

News of the 2008 football recruiting season has gotten off to an extremely slow start for the Florida Gators, as only one commit (Earl Okine out of Gainesville HS) stayed on the board for quite some time.  Today brought very good news, however, as Dee Finley, the No. 1 defensive prospect on the '08 ESPN Watch List, committed to Florida.

Finley happens to be out of Auburn, Alabama, so news of this verbal commit doesn't exactly tell us that he'll be on the Gators' signee board come NSD.  I'm sure that the Tigers and Crimson Tide will be pushing hard to change his mind over the next several months.  Several other schools (including LSU) will more than likely be contacting him -- a guy that highly rated is going to be showered with attention, no matter what school has received his verbal commitment.

LSU and Auburn were said to be the other two schools in his top-three.

Finley is listed a safety prospect by Scout, but comes in at a size that may translate into being a linebacker in college.  He is listed at 6-3, 205 by the nationwide recruiting site.  In high school he also returned kicks and played a little wide receiver on offense.

The relatively slow start to this recruiting season has not worried me too much; I have full faith in Coach Meyer and his staff on bringing another good recruiting class to Gainesville for 2008 after two great classes.  Today's news out of Auburn seems to be a great starting point for a surge in bringing in talented verbal commits from around the country.

Go Gators!