In Davis Florida finally getting a home run threat
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Over the weekend Tampa (Fla.) Jesuit Florida commit Malik Davis took his official visit to the University of Florida. The four-star running back, who committed to the Gators back in the fall, enjoyed getting to see the inner workings of the life of a student athlete at Florida.
“It was great,” said Davis. “I got to see things more behind the scenes. I hung out with the players to see how they live and how things are at Florida. It was good to hear that from the players and see their side. I think that was my favorite part was seeing the players point of view, it just makes you feel that much more comfortable about going there. I really enjoyed it and thought the visit was one of the best weekends of my life. I give the trip a ten out of ten for sure.”
Davis' player host was freshman running back LaMical Perine. It was a successful first season in Gainesville for Perine as he finished the season in the top five in Florida freshman rushing yardage.
Hearing the trials and tribulations of Perine's freshman year was an important factor for Davis.
“He told me if I come in and work hard then I will play and that was pretty much it. He said to stay focused on the field and off the field in the classroom and everything will fall into place.”
One thing in particular that stuck out to the 5-foot-11, 187-pounder was the time he spent with running backs coach Tim Skipper, and hearing the plan the staff has for him in their offense.
“He told me he feels I am different from the other running backs and to just come in and work hard. He showed me some film of plays they run. He was saying that if I get in the open field to make guys miss, he thinks I do that well. He said he wants a guy that can be a home-run threat.”
Another coach that was around Davis a lot this weekend was head coach Jim McElwain, who Davis expressed his fondness for.
“He was around us the whole weekend not just a little bit of the time, literally the whole time. He is so funny and down to earth and he is just a great person to be around and just likes to have fun. Sometimes a head coach can be uncomfortable to be around, but not him, he is cool and down to earth.”
Another part of the visit that stuck out to Davis was getting to be around many of Florida’s 2017 commits who were on campus for their official visits.
“We all have a group chat so we all have been talking in it for a while now,” said Davis. “A lot of these guys though, it was putting a face to the name. I liked hanging out with everyone. We had a great time together and I am excited about getting up there.”
Like many of the other Florida commits that were on campus this weekend, Davis also was in the ear of the four uncommitted targets that were onhand.
“I think we have a great chance with all the guys that visited,” said Davis. “I would say some things to them and the would just smile. They didn’t say much but we had a great time together and I don’t think they will have a better official visit than they did at Florida. I think Elijah [Conliffe] is a guy that we have a pretty great chance to land. We all had fun and I could tell he was having a great time.”
Coming off the visit Davis maintains his commitment to Florida is rock solid.
Even with that being the case, there have been a few failed attempts by other programs to reach out to him as Signing Day closes in.
“A few coaches tried to come by my school to see me and my head coach just sent them away and tells them I am 100-percent committed.”
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