No. 1 athlete in 2023 class includes Florida in top five

A handful of schools are sitting out front for Alex Styles, a five-star prospect and the top-ranked athlete in the 2023 class. He is also the brother of Notre Dame wide receiver, Lorenzo Styles Jr.

A product of Pickerington (Ohio) Central, the 6-foot-5, 216-pound Styles has released a top five of Florida, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Clemson and Ole Miss. Each of those programs are recruiting him to play defense as well, with the Gators envisioning him in the back end at safety.

While proximity certainly favors the Fighting Irish and Buckeyes, Styles has already made the trek down to Gainesville for an up-close look at the program. He attended the season opener against FAU and received an in-depth tour of campus during his brief stay as well.

"It was great. It was a great experience for me," Styles previously told GT. "What caught my attention was not really the defense, but actually the wide receivers and how big they were; they had some really big wide receivers. The defense looked pretty good and they were aggressive. (The staff) kind of told me to watch No. 0 (Trey Dean) a little bit.

"I thought it was pretty nice. We got to see most of the campus. I think something that really stood out to me was the educational part. I never knew they had such a great education that comes with going to Florida. They are like sixth in the country out of public schools, so that's phenomenal."

While in Gainesville, the top-10 prospect made sure to spend as much time with Dan Mullen as well.

"It was pretty good. He is straightforward and talked about if I came here, I would be pushed and work hard every day," Styles said. "The dudes there really love it and are going to get pushed every day. He said, 'Go everywhere in the country, and I want you to go to as many schools as you can, and if you find a better school, come back and tell me (laughter).'"

In addition to the aforementioned schools, Styles holds offers from Alabama, LSU, Texas, Oregon, Tennessee, Michigan and Florida State among others.

While Styles is nowhere near the finish line, the Gators certainly have to be pleased with where they stand this early in the process. With just five schools under consideration, it's safe to say UF will eventually receive an official visit as well.

"I think Florida's in a really good place for me right now," Styles said. "Like I said earlier, what really helped was the educational part. I never knew there was such great education going to Florida, so that's definitely something that is going to stick with me."

Stay tuned to Gators Territory.