The Gators have ten recruits for the 2011 season. Of the group, UF has top-rated QB Jeff Driskel and three future wide receivers, all of who are four-stars according to most scouting sites. Florida's best recruit might be Jeoffrey Pagan, a DE prospect at 6-foot-3, 260 pounds.

I have not written at all about those ten players because; 1. It was Baseball season. 2. Recruiting gives me the creeps. Between the message boards and unemployed guys harassing high school kids on Facebook and Twitter, recruiting has never appealed to me. During the Fall it deserves coverage, but I don't see how much faith you can put in a player before their most important season. It's like UF accepting a high school junior before their SATs scores are released. 

That said, when Tampa product James Wilder supposedly picked UF Wednesday night, it was a big deal to me. Not only did Wilder dominate for a very good Plant team, he is wanted by nearly every UF rival. But the story unraveled as quickly as it got wound up. Wilder was on a trip to Georgia and Georgia Tech, not Facebooking his committment to UF. Someone thought it would be fun to impersonate a high school student on Facebook and email a reporter. Or, someone was trying to deliberately throw off schools from recruiting Wilder. 

The covertness of recruiting is nothing new. Remember, Nu'Keese Richardson never told anyone he was visiting Tennessee. What is new is the influence of fanbases and message boards on recruits. Not only does the recruit have his high school or neighbors asking him where he will go, he has thousands online. A private decision has become a public one.

The result is what we saw with Matt Elam. Rather than taking his time, he made quick decisions, trying to please everyone by doing so. In Elam's case, his final choice of UF was one that was approved by his mother and brother. His week flirtation with FSU was swayed by FSU coaches and online whispers of Urban Meyer's health. It was a clear example of message board rumor and influence being pushed as fact. (Just because something is on the internet, does not make it true.)

The problem is that this is the business we have chosen. We watch Armwood-Plant on Sun Sports or ESPNU high school basketball games. Not because we went to those schools, but because we want to see who will be our player next season. As fans, we also want more and more information. If we can get that by paying $30 a month to fat old men who go to football practices? Great. But much better if we could find those kids on Facebook and talk to them ourselves. The further we go, the closer we get to crossing an ethical line in the sand. Maybe someone faking James Wilder will finally be that line.

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!

Chas Henry (K/P)
Dallas, GA (East Paulding)
6-4, 200
Scout Ranking: 4* Rivals Ranking: 3*

Gatorzone:

Major Wright
Ft. Lauderdale, FL (St. Thomas Aquinas)
6-1, 204 - 4.5 40
Scout.com Ranking: 5* Rivals Ranking: 4*

Gatorzone:

Jerimy Finch
Indianapolis, IN (Warren Central)
6-2, 200 - 4.6 40
Scout Ranking: 4* Rivals Ranking: 4*

Gatorzone:

Ahmad Black
Lakeland, FL (Lakeland Senior)
5-10, 170 - 4.5 40
Scout Ranking: 4* Rivals Ranking: 4*

Gatorzone:

Moses Jenkins
Lauderdale Lakes, FL (Boyd H. Anderson)
6-2, 175 - 4.5 40
Scout Ranking: 3* Rivals Ranking: 3*

Gatorzone:

Steven Wilks
Lakeland, FL (Lakeland Senior)
6-2, 195 - 4.7 40
Scout Ranking: 3* Rivals Ranking: 3*

Gatorzone:

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With all the losses in the secondary from 2006, the Gators needed a strong recruiting class in this area.  Well, it looks as if the mission was accomplished, picking up big time commits from Major Wright and Jerimy Finch.  They also picked up players in Black, Jenkins and Wilks who can play anywhere in the secondary if called upon.

Lorenzo Edwards
Orlando, FL (Edgewater)
6-2, 221
Scout Ranking: 5* Rivals Ranking: 4*

Gatorzone:

Brandon Hicks
Jacksonville, FL (Nathan Bedford Forrest)
6-2, 205
Scout Ranking: 4* Rivals Ranking: 4*

Gatorzone:

John Jones
Sarasota, FL (Booker)
6-3, 205
Scout Ranking: 4* Rivals Ranking: 3*

Gatorzone:

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LB was a position that the Gators needed to stock up on this recruiting season because of the losses from the 2006 campaign.  I'd expect to see any of these three seeing playing time next season due to the loss of Siler, Crum, Everett and Demps in 2007.

Edwards is the prize recruit in this LB class, having participated in the Army All-American game and putting up some pretty absurd defensive numbers in HS.  To go along with Edwards the Gators picked up two LBs in Jones and Hicks that were able to produce results on the offensive side of the ball as well.

Torrey Davis (DT)
Seffner, FL (Armwood)
6-4, 285
Scout Ranking: 5* Rivals Ranking: 5*

Gatorzone:

John Brown (DT)
Lakeland, FL (Lakeland Senior)
6-1, 285
Scout Ranking: 5* Rivals Ranking: 4*

Gatorzone:

Justin Trattou (DE)
Ramsey, NJ (Don Bosco Prep)
6-4, 250
Scout Ranking: 5* Rivals Ranking: 4*

Gatorzone:

Carlos Dunlap (DE)
Fort Dorchester, SC (Fort Dorchester)
6-6, 240
Scout Ranking: 5* Rivals Ranking: 5*

Gatorzone:

Duke Lemmens (DE)
Westlake Village, CA (Oaks Christian)
6-5, 238
Scout Ranking: 4* Rivals Ranking: 3*

Gatorzone:

Jerry Howard (DE)
Orlando, FL (Jones)
6-5, 230
Scout Ranking: 3* Rivals Ranking: 4*

Gatorzone:

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Very good defensive line class, filling in at positions that were severely depleted with departures this season.  Florida once again stocked up with tall, athletic ends (Dunlap ran back kicks!) and big defensive tackles.  This is a great trend considering the success of the D-Line over the last couple of years.

This is the strength of the class, and I'm looking forward to every one of them in action for the Gators.

James Wilson
St. Augustine, FL (Nease)
6-5, 305
Scout Ranking: 5* Rivals Ranking: 5*

Gatorzone:

James Pouncey
Lakeland, FL (Lakeland Senior)
6-5, 298
Scout Ranking: 4* Rivals Ranking: 4*

Gatorzone:

LaShawn Pouncey
Lakeland, FL (Lakeland Senior)
6-4, 287
Scout Ranking: 4* Rivals Ranking: 4*

Gatorzone:

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The offensive line class got a huge boost from the commitment of James Wilson, who had previously been committed to USC before changing his decision to Florida.  The Pouncey Twins were both recruited heavily, but chose Florida very early in the recruiting process.  They both blocked for Gators RB commit Chris Rainey at Lakeland Senior HS.

Deonte Thompson
Belle Glade, FL (Glade Central)
5-11, 186 - 4.28 40
Scout Ranking: 5* Rivals Ranking: 4*

Gatorzone:

Paul Wilson
Lakeland, FL (Lakeland Senior)
6-1, 175 - 4.45 40
Scout Ranking: 3* Rivals Ranking: 3*

Gatorzone:

Joe Haden***
Fort Washington, MD (Friendly)
5-11, 195 - 4.4 40
Scout Ranking: 4* Rivals Ranking: 4*

Gatorzone:

Aaron Hernandez
Bristol, CT (Bristol Central)
6-4, 235 - 4.57 40
Scout Ranking: 5* Rivals Ranking: 4*

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The WR class was an up and down one rumors-wise this recruiting season, as much speculation had the likes of Terrance Toliver and Ahmad Paige committing to UF.  As it turns out, those two things did not happen, but overall everything was fine in the end.  Late in the day on NSD Deonte Thompson faxed in his LOI, announcing that he was attending UF -- a move that just put the icing on the cake for this season recruiting class.

The Gators will be adding even more explosiveness to their WR core with this group, as Haden, Thompson, Wilson and Hernandez (TE) use a combination of speed and agility to make things happen on the field.  Also, as you can see, Haden can be lined up at QB and not miss a beat -- similar to what we see from Jarred Fayson and maybe Cameron Newton in the future.

***: Rivals.com has Haden listed as an ATH, as opposed to a pure WR.