Joseph decides to stay local and be a Gator

The Florida Gators reeled in a hometown kid yesterday when Alachua (Fla.) Santa Fe's Linval Joseph gave Urban Meyer his verbal commitment. Since Joseph moved to the Gainesville area from the U.S. Virgin Islands in third grade, his goal has been to play football for the Gators.

"I started to shake when coach Meyer offered me," Joseph said. " But I've been thinking about it for a long time, since coach Hevesy talked to me about a possible offer during my spring practice. It took me a long time to get this far, and I really want to go to UF. That was my goal, so when it happened I was in shock and was thinking, 'wow, this is happening to me right now.'"

Joseph said he has developed a strong relationship with his recruiting coordinator, coach Hevesy, and it is that relationship that drew him to the Gators.

"He always talks to me about school and everything," Joseph said. "He showed me a lot that he wanted me to be Gator."

It was after he took his tour during Junior Day on Saturday that Hevesy approached Joseph and told him that coach Meyer wanted to see him in his office.

"I just felt like I was home," Joseph said. "It was real to me."

Joseph was also interested in Auburn, Georgia and LSU mainly because all the schools offered the major he would like to pursue – animal sciences. He was supposed to attend a camp at the University of Georgia earlier this summer, but it was rained out, so Friday Night Lights is the only camp he has attended. He said learning how to break down game film was the biggest thing he took away from Friday night.

"I learned how to watch film and understand what to look for," Joseph said. "Before, I just watched and looked at the big plays and stuff, but now I know how to watch it and how to break it down. They also should us how the Gators do their workouts and how they break their practices up into the different sessions."

Joseph hopes to bring that knowledge back to Santa Fe High School to help improve a 2-8 record from last season.

"My goals with Santa Fe are to come together and win some more games," Joseph said. "I'd also like to break the school record with the bench press. I want to press 500-pounds. I'm at 460-pounds right now."

And Joseph wants to leave the same kind of name for himself at Santa Fe that NFL players Adrian and Mike Peterson have left before him.

"I just want to make them proud," Joseph said. "They still can't believe how much I've changed and improved since my freshman year. It's a good environment there just like at UF. It's a good school to go to. I want to make my school proud. I want Santa Fe to be known for how great they are because they have helped me so much in life."

Joseph is originally from the island of St. Croix. His father still lives there and he usually spends the summers there, although he did not go this year.

"St. Croix is good for visiting," Joseph said. "It has great deep-sea fishing, nice beaches, nice restaurants and things to do like scuba diving. When I go, I'll go fishing, go to the rainforest and pick mangos and other tropical fruit and hang out my with my dad."