Name: Austin Hardin
Position: K
Height: 5’11"
Weight: 200
High School: Marist (Atlanta, GA)
Status: Verbally committed to Florida

Last Wednesday, Lorenzo Phillips became the twelfth member of Florida’s 2012 recruiting class. This Wednesday, Austin Hardin became lucky number 13 when he committed to the Gators immediately following a scholarship offer from Will Muschamp.

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We’ll get to the others that have been committed for a while, but for now we’re going with freshness.

Name: Lorenzo Phillips
Position: LB
Height: 6’1"
Weight: 200
High School: Patterson (Patterson, LA)
Status: Verbally committed to Florida

On Wednesday, Phillips became the 12th member of Florida’s 2012 recruiting class and the second linebacker – joining Jeremi Powell. According to Rivals, Phillips is the no. 15 outside linebacker in the nation and the no. 146 overall player. Although he has mentioned leaving the state of Louisiana before, it’s still big for a school to pull a talented prospect away from LSU. At the moment, Phillips says he doesn’t intend to take any additional visits and is fully committed to the Gators.

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As the newest commitment, Poole gets priority when it comes to the recruit reports. All was quiet on the recruiting front before his announcement came along to brighten all of our moods.

Name: Brian Poole
Position: Cornerback
Height: 5’11"
Weight: 187
High School: Southeast (Bradenton, FL)
Status: Verbally committed to Florida

Poole is one of the higher-ranked cornerbacks in the nation. According to Rivals, he is the nation’s No. 8 CB and No. 75 prospect overall. With his commitment, he becomes the second-highest rated recruit on Florida’s list behind only no. 49 Jessamen Dunker.

The first set of highlights is from Poole’s junior year and mixes in offense with defense. I’ll ignore the offensive side of the ball for now since Poole is coming to college as a defensive back. Who knows where he could be playing three years from now, but at the moment think CB. Feel free to watch the entire video, but be warned that after the first three minutes, it’s mostly Poole on offense. The second video is from his sophomore year, but shows more of his defensive prowess. 

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Late Monday, Florida recruiting got a shot in the arm: Bradenton cornerback Brian Poole became the Gators' 11th commitment for the Class of 2012. It's been a little while since Will Muschamp has gotten a new commitment, but Poole is well worth the wait, by most accounts.

Poole is a four-star prospect, the eighth-ranked defensive back, and the 75th-ranked prospect in the Class of 2012, according to Rivals; ESPNU rates Poole as a four-star prospect, the ninth-best cornerback in the country, and the 139th-ranked prospect overall. And Tomahawk Nation's Bud Elliott, as dedicated an observer of recruiting as anyone in the country, grudgingly noted that Poole is a good get on Twitter.

Poole chose Florida over Florida State, Auburn, Alabama, LSU, and Miami, and joins Hallandale defensive back Willie Bailey as Florida's second commitment in the secondary for the Class of 2012. Florida defensive backs coach Travaris Robinson and Muschamp are doing work to shore up a unit that looks to be, deep, young, promising and largely unproven in the next few years.

The Florida Gators have the #5 ranked recruiting class by way of ESPN's initial 2012 list. So far, it appears that Will Muschamp hasn't skipped a beat and has picked up exactly where Urban Meyer left off and will bring in (even though it is a long way away) a top ranked recruiting class.

As discussed already, the Gators have four players on ESPNU's 2012 Top 150 list and are in the running for quite a few more.

So say hello to your #5 ranked class (of course based on verbal commitments) as of right now:

The list is from Rivals.com. Also make sure to note that Thompson, Dunker, Phillips, and Pittman are all ranked within the Top 150.

As usual, for those keeping track:

FSU is #2
Alabama is #3
Miami is #8
LSU is #9
Georgia is #23
Vanderbilt is #24
South Carolina is #25

And yes, I double checked that twice as well. Vanderbilt is #24.

Name: Matt Jones
Position: Running Back
Height: 6’2"
Weight: 200
High School: Armwood (Seffner, FL)
Status: Verbally committed to Florida
Other Schools in Play: Georgia

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And the classic quotes keep coming. Will Muschamp on recruiting, via the Orlando Sentinel's Rachel George:

New one from Will Muschamp: "Recruiting's kind of like shaving. If you don't do it every day, you look like a bum."

That is, of course, exactly right! Also, if you cut it too close, you can end up bleeding, and if you go without doing it for too long, things get hairy. 

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Top-ranked high school linebacker Noor Davis has committed to Stanford. Davis, of Oxford, Fla./The Villages Charter School, made his college decision known just minutes ago in a small presentation at his high school (which is really nice), and wrapping up his recruiting experience, at least for now, before his junior year of high school is even over.

Davis chose Stanford over Florida, Notre Dame, USC, and Alabama, and cited academics as a reason for doing so. 

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