Unknown, but not unwanted

No, you haven't seen Fort Myers (Fla.) Dunbar cornerback Markihe Anderson's name doesn't appear on recruiting lists. Just because a prospect isn't on an early list, that doesn't mean that he isn't a known commodity to those who depend on being in the know for a living. Coaches from throughout the southeast have been in contact and like what they've seen from the 5-foot-10, 172 pounder.

These early lists omit prospects every once in a while. Such is the case of Anderson, who is very well known to college staffs, especially the Gator staff to which he has committed.

According to his head coach Gregory Baloga several colleges were after him, but Florida was where he wanted to go from the start.

"Miami, Auburn, South Carolina and Florida State were recruiting him, but with it being his childhood dream to play at Florida, combined with their situation at cornerback he believes he has a chance to see the field early."

Baloga went into more detail about the qualities Anderson possesses.

"He has blazing speed and tremendous talent. He's been under the radar. For some reason he hasn't shown up on the different recruiting sites, but he's one of the top overall athletes I've been around.

"He primarily played wide receiver last year, but a lot of schools, including Florida, recruited him as a corner."

Maybe the most amazing thing in this whole scenario is that Anderson earned his offer at cornerback despite never lining up at the position during a regular season game.

"He has zero experience at defensive back. He was a backup corner but we were set back there, so we kept him on offense until over the spring. We were fairly loaded in the secondary last year so there was no need to play him there," said Baloga. "He showed over the spring and at the Miami and Florida camps that he is a natural at the cornerback position. He jams well and is blazing fast.

"He ran a 4.47 on grass at Florida and a 4.51 at Miami."

With that camp performance he was able to land an offer from the Gators.

"Florida offered him this past Friday evening. They were very interested in him and he's kept in touch with them. He spoke to coach Meyer and coach Addazio and committed to them over the phone on Friday.

"He had a lot of other schools on him, but Florida was always his childhood dream. It was the perfect fit."

As a junior he had 350 yards receiving and 7 touchdowns. He also returned 2 punts for touchdowns.