Gators strike gold again as Davis goes public with pledge
Inclement weather caused a cancellation of his Friday night high school football season opener, thus ruining his planned post-game college announcement. However, in the end nothing else changed except the day and time of him publicly announcing what he has known for awhile now.
Though it was later then expected, on Saturday afternoon Florida landed their second pledge in the last two days and their 16th commitment in the Class of 2017 when Miami (Fla.) Southridge cornerback Shawn Davis finally went public by pulling the trigger for the Gators.
The three-star south Florida defender had been a lean to Florida for some time now, and felt Saturday was the perfect time to make his verbal pledge known to the public by releasing a video on his Twitter account picking the Gators over Miami.
-----
* Florida now 11th in team recruiting rankings
* Talk recruiting with Florida fans in the Alley
-----
Inside the Gators caught up with the three-star defender earlier this week for more on why he felt Florida was the perfect fit for him.
“I always knew I wanted to commit, I was waiting on time for my parents to visit,” stated Davis. “Coach Mac [Jim McElwain] talks about having a great class and getting other players on board with us. I wanted to start recruiting others. The academics at Florida is second to none and being a UF grad and having that Gator brand is special. Growing up it was always my dream school. All players they have in the NFL and with coach [Torrian] Gray's track record I think he can develop me into an NFL player. I get the benefit of going away to college, but it’s not too far away and my parents can see me play often.”
Florida is in a position of needing to badly restock their secondary this recruiting cycle and with Davis now in the fold he joins fellow cornerback commits Elijah Blades and Marco Wilson to form one of the better defensive back classes in the nation.
The message the Gators staff has for these defensive backs is come in prepared to compete because early playing time is available.
Davis has taken their words to heart.
“It’s great situation to come into,” said Davis. “They could possibly lose players and the likelihood of playing early is there. They are telling me about the future and how they plan on using me. I know I will have a chance to play early and it’s the SEC and I like the defensive coaches' track record.”
With his commitment now in the books, the 6-foot-1, 195-pounder says he will actively recruit others to join him in the Swamp.
“[I plan on going after] CJ Henderson [Miami commit Christopher Henderson], and few of my teammates that I want to join if they get offers.”
Despite ending his recruitment the South Florida defender could still possibly take visits down the road if the Florida coaching staff gives it their blessing. Back in July Davis mentioned possible official visits to campuses such as Tennessee, Alabama, Syracuse and Auburn, and still could still take those visits down road despite his commitment to the Gators.
“My commitment is solid and I plan on enrolling early,” said Davis. “I will probably take visits during the season if it’s cool with Coach Mac."
