Shortly after the decommitment of Rodney Adams, Will Muschamp finally decided to extend an offer to Armwood receiver Alvin Bailey. After receiving that offer, Bailey let Muschamp and the Gators wait ... until now: Bailey publicly committed to Florida on Saturday night after an Armwood game, as first reported by a handful of people on Twitter. (Here are some premium links to Luke Stampini at 247 Sports and Corey Long at ESPN.)
Bailey's recruitment has been curious, to say the least. Probably one of the most controversial recruits in recent memory in terms of message board chatter, Bailey claimed a Florida offer on different occasions despite not actually having one. And as the country's top schools began to covet him, Bailey, who grew up a Florida fan, got the cold shoulder from the Gators. He was expected to participate in Florida's Friday Night Lights camp and try and earn an offer, but didn't show up, then competed in a 7-on-7 tournament the next day.
But while his recruitment has been a long and winding saga, Bailey, who checks in at No. 187 of 247Sports' composite rankings, tends to get from point A to point B with alacrity. 247 lists him a shade under 5'11" and 175 pounds, not exactly Muschamp's prototypical frame for a receiver, but Bailey makes up for it with speed. He's a playmaker in the open field, as evidenced by his sophomore highlights, in which he plays QB and mostly runs the ball (although he does have a few nice throws in there, too). If he never pans out as a reliable target at receiver, he can at least have a decent career as a KR/PR.
Bailey joins Ahmad Fulwood, Marqui Hawkins and Chris Thompson as Florida's receiver commits, and the Gators could certainly look to add a fifth, especially with the transfer of Ja'Juan Story. Florida remains in pursuit of Laquon Treadwell and Clemson commit Demarcus Robinson.
Lance Davis contributed to this post.