Kamar Wilcoxson reclassifies to the Class of 2020, will enroll at UF soon

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Kamar Wilcoxson has been ready to put the stress of the recruiting process behind him for quite some time.

Today, a somewhat unexpected announcement occurred as Wilcoxson told GatorsTerritory that he will be officially ending his recruitment and is going to enroll at the University of Florida later this month.

"I feel as if I don't have nothing else to prove at the high school level," Wilcoxson told GT. "I feel I could go in and make an impact as a 17-year-old on a college level, so why not? I live for challenges, so it's something I'm excited about.

"[The virus] did," Wilcoxson added when asked if the pandemic influenced his decision. "It's an uncertainty with high school and football. So I'm like, if I don't know if I'm going to be playing football, I'd rather be somewhere getting developed and learning the playbook, versus just sitting around, waiting to see if we're going to play or not."

Florida’s secondary will be returning key players like Kaiir Elam and Marco Wilson this upcoming season, but adding more depth to the group is significant. Wilcoxson spent a majority of his junior campaign at the safety position, though he will be transitioning to cornerback at the next level.

"I'm just going to be able to play where I'm most comfortable at and compete every play, which is what I like to do," Wilcoxson said. "Honestly, I only played safety in the games. In practice, I was playing corner. Training, I'm doing cornerback training. I was the best athlete on the team and I was the most smart, so I had to play over the top of the field to make sure everybody was good.

"I'm going to be able to get in the playbook, and I'm going to be able to be trained and developed by the best strength coach in the country, coach [Nick] Savage," Wilcoxson added. "I can't wait to get coached by coach [Torrian] Gray. To me, that's the best DB coach in the country. He played safety, so I know he can coach. But, at the same time, he's an elite cornerback developer.

For Wilcoxson, this decision gives him the ability to eliminate all the stress associated with being a coveted high school prospect and begin a new chapter in his football career. He had previously committed twice to Florida – once on Nov. 3, 2018, and another on July, 27, 2019 – before verbally pledging to Tennessee earlier this year in April.

Ultimately, however, Wilcoxson decided just over a month ago that he was ready to be 100 percent locked in with UF, which he has referred to as his “dream school” in the past.

“Honestly, it's just going to be funny seeing all the fans that said I wasn't going to sign," Wilcoxson said. "I want to see what they've got to say when this paperwork gets faxed over."

Looking ahead to the future, Wilcoxson has big expectations for the Gators in their 2019-2020 campaign. The Rivals250 prospect says the team's coaching on both sides of the ball can propel them to achieve their national championship aspirations.

"I feel like we can win a natty," Wilcoxson said of UF's upcoming season. "It's all dependent on us. It's really the combination of [our offense and defense]. And then with the pandemic going on and so many restrictions... to me, we have a top-four quarterback returning, best in the SEC. So, that's a huge advantage.

"And then, on top of that, coach Mullen is a top-two offensive mind in the game of college football. And then everybody knows what's good with coach Grantham. He just has to get his guys on the field, which I feel he's going to be able to do that. So, stuff is going to get scary."

Switching over to the recruiting implications of Wilcoxson enrolling at Florida, a couple of dominoes have fallen.

First of all, the Gators will not have any commits at IMG Academy during the powerhouse program’s 2020 season. Alabama pledge J.C. Latham and Georgia commit Lovasea Carroll are no longer options for them, but Dan Mullen’s staff was hoping to have Wilcoxson be in the ear of five-star pass rusher Tunmise Adeleye for the fall.

Wilcoxson will probably still be in touch with the Ohio State pledge, but not seeing him on a daily basis definitely could have an impact on UF’s pursuit of Adeleye. We’ll see if they’re able to host him for an official visit down the line.

Also, Florida will now have an extra spot in their 2021 class, which is important as they still have several priority targets on both sides of the football. In case anyone was wondering, the Gators fall to sixth in the Rivals Team Rankings as they were leapfrogged by Alabama and are now just one point ahead of the Michigan Wolverines.

UF fans, be sure to check out Wilcoxson’s junior season highlight reel by clicking on the video below.

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