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Florida football recruiting: Jalen Julius decommits from Gators

One of the two cornerbacks in Florida's 2015 class decommitted on Sunday.

By Andy Hutchins
Huge fan of using this pic.
Huge fan of using this pic.
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

West Orange cornerback Jalen Julius, a three-star prospect, decommitted from Florida on Sunday, making the news public with this tweet:

Julius is a three-star prospect in the 247Sports Composite, rated as the No. 448 player — ha, funny, 4-8, get it? — in the 2015 class, and the No. 37 cornerback.

But Julius had been a curious pickup for Florida since his April 30 commitment. He was mostly off the recruiting radar until that point, and his commitment to Florida was linked by many — myself included — to the Gators' pursuit of his teammate and best friend, Miami commit Dexter Williams.

Both Julius and Williams showed up at Florida's Friday Night Lights camp on Friday, but neither worked out. And while Williams was hedging toward Miami...

...Julius has been hedging away from Florida almost since he committed, notably on Twitter, where he has repeatedly mentioned his interest in playing offense at the collegiate level, something that likely did not jibe with Florida's interest in taking him as a cornerback.

And Williams told 247Sports's Luke Stampini on Sunday that Julius decommiting has no impact on his own recruitment; if true, it likely means Florida is no worse for wear in its pursuit of Williams for no longer counting Julius among its commits.

Julius's decommitment dropped Florida to just eight commitments for the class of 2015, but it, like the decommitments of Deontai Williams and Tristan Payton before it, actually improved Florida's "average," which remained among the nation's top 10 despite losing Julius.

The problem, though, was that it left Florida with just one cornerback, Maryland native Marcus Lewis, in the fold. And he wouldn't remain there for long.

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