Carter spent his visit weekend recruiting for Florida
Tampa (Fla.) Hillsborough Rivals100 defensive end Zachary Carter was one of six Florida commits to officially visit campus over the weekend. The four-star defender has been a regular in Gainesville since pledging to the Gators, but still had his official visit exceed his expectations.
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“It was a great visit and actually went better than I expected,” said Carter of the visit. “Mainly the big part of the visit was spending time with the guys in my class that are committed and recruiting guys that were uncommitted. We hung out with players too and that was really fun. I give the visit a ten out of ten.”
So what was the highlight from the weekend for Carter?
“They played all of our highlights or like clips of them in the meeting room. It was like a big deal with all the coaches, some of the players, and our parents. They had music on each highlight and introduced us like it was a boxing match or something. It was pretty cool.”
Carter’s player host for the weekend was freshman defensive end Jordan Smith. The two know each other from Carter’s past visits to Florida, but were able to forge a much better bond.
“It was pretty cool being around him and he pretty much gave me some advice about things I need to know about coming next year. I know him from visiting in the past, so we had met before but this weekend he made me feel like I was already part of the family. All of the players treated me like family already.”
While on campus, Carter also was able to spend a lot of face time with position coach Chris Rumph. With Carter’s recruitment over, the message from Rumph was more about his future in Gainesville.
“They know I am solid so the recruiting part is really over,” said Carter. “Now the message is more about me being prepared for everything that is to come. I learned everything that will be coming next year. During my one-on-one meeting with Coach [Chris] Rumph he put up the film and went over some stuff. I know they have a strong-side end and a RUSH but Coach Rumph said I would be playing end.”
This weekend was not only filled with committed visitors but also targets Elijah Conliffe, CJ Henderson, Nicholas Smith, and Tedarrell Slaton. In the past Carter has been incredibly vocal when recruiting others to Florida – and he was up to his old tricks while in Gainesville.
“I think we are going to get all four of the guys that visited,” said Carter with a laugh. “I am predicating Nick Smith, T.J. Slaton, Elijah [Conliffe], and I think we are getting CJ Henderson. So I think we are getting all four of them. I feel like they are just waiting. I actually think we get like 10 guys total on signing day, so it should be a good day.”
Carter’s recruiting efforts have not gone unnoticed, as head coach Jim McElwain also could see Carter working hard to expand Florida’s recruiting class.
“He said he appreciates everything I do recruiting wise for them,” said Carter. “He noticed that when we sat down for dinner this weekend I usually sat with guys that were uncommitted because I like to talk to those guys.”
Over the last few months, Carter has picked up new offers from Alabama and Oregon. At one point Carter was contemplating possible visits to both, but after his weekend in Gainesville, the 6-foot-4, 250-pounder says Florida will be his only trip.
“I am shutting it down,” said Carter, “I feel like I found the right fit for me. I know it would be fun to visit some other places but it’s not a big deal to me like that.”
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Join us in the Alley for Blake's Insider Take on what Carter had to tell him about possible silent commitments. Get The Inside Scoop by clicking HERE
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