Visiting Recruits React to Gators Win Over Ole Miss

Tuesday night, a group of players with the Showtime Hoops AAU program -- Junior David Nickelberry, Sophomore Ronaldo Segu and freshmen Niven Glover and Maurice Goolsby -- visited Florida unofficially to see the Gators face Ole Miss at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.

The four players found themselves soaking in the atmosphere around them and cheering the Gators on in a 77-72 win over the Rebels, while allowing themselves to imaging playing at Florida.

"The game was awesome," said Nickelberry a 6-foot-7 wing at Windermere Prep. "I loved how each player on the court played hard and with heart. The atmosphere was insane when the crowd got into the game the players got into the game. You can tell that the players were pumped for this game. I enjoyed going to the game and seeing that this is the type of atmosphere I would play in at the next level. I left hungry wanting to play at this level so now I just need to keep working my butt off to compete with these players."

Nickelberry, the No. 124 ranked player in the 2017 class, picked up an offer from Georgia last Thursday and also holds offers from FIU, George Mason, Georgia, Memphis, Miami, Murray State, Stephen F. Austin, Stetson, Tulane and UCF.

Florida has yet to offer Nickelberry, a lefty with a high basketball IQ who can shoot it with range, facilitate and who plays all three perimeter positions in high school.

Segu, the starting point guard for Olympia High School in Orlando, has been on campus for the Gators elite camp last June and for other games, but was still impressed by what he saw Tuesday night.

"The game was awesome," Segu said. "It was good competition and I had a great experience at the game. Then we went to the locker room to see some of the players. I had a fun time."

This was the first time that Segu, known as Rondo to his teammates, visited Gainesville without his AAU teammate Nassir Little. The two players have a tight bond and reportedly want to play at the same college.

Dunnellon, Florida isn't known for churning out high major basketball talent, but there's a big time buzz surrounding 6-foot-5 freshman guard Goolsby.

Goolsby has a high release on his jump shot and range well beyond the arc. He also plays wide receiver for the Dunnellon football team and holds a football scholarship offer from the Gators. Tuesday night was Goolsby's first visit to Florida for a basketball game.

"I really enjoyed the game," Goolsby said. "There were a lot of great plays and the crowd was good. I plan on coming back because I enjoyed the family atmosphere."

Goolsby went on to tell ITG that he is making plans to come to the game against Kentucky.

We were unable to catch up to Glover at publication time due to issues with his phone.

Glover is a 6-foot-4 freshman shooting guard at Orlando Oak Ridge, who impressed scouts at the annual Hoop Exchange Fall Festival. He has flown below the radar because he played on the Oak Ridge junior varsity squad.

WORDS FROM THEIR COACH: Showtime Hoops 15U coach Brad Augustine brought Glover, Nickelberry and Segu to the game while Dunnellon assistant coach brought Goolsby. We caught up with Coach Augustine the morning after the visit to get his thoughts.

"Mike White and his staff have done a great job of coming into the state and building genuine relationships with our players. The passion and new culture he's brought to the program are contagious. (Sophomore) Nassir Little (Jacksonville Oakleaf) loves the program, style of play, and staff at UF.

"UF is a school Nas is high on. David Nickelberry sees UF as a good fit for his abilities and skill set. He loves the up-tempo pace of play Ronaldo Segu enjoyed his time in Gainesville. He liked seeing how Coach White uses Kasey and Chris in the offense. Definitely could see himself and Nassir running the floor together there. Maurice (Goolsby) took his first college visit accompanied by his Coach Adiener Feliciano. He loved the atmosphere and will be a high-priority target in 2019."

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Russ Wood is a contributing national basketball recruiting analyst for Rivals.com and InsideTheGators.com click here to follow him on Twitter