UCF Football: The Official June 11 Visitors List is Insane
June 1 is the day that recruits can set foot on campus’ again. For a whole year, colleges were at a disadvantage by not being able to have recruits set foot onto campus. Most of the recruiting was done through phone calls and zoom meetings because the self imposed “Dead Period” that the NCAA had instituted. Well now that dead period will come to an end June and Gus Malzahn has begun to capitalize on this. The June 11th list of official visitors is a whose who of recruits for UCF. Obviously the one to watch is Jeremiah Alexander the five star prospect from Alabama. Getting Alexander on campus is huge for the program. But there are others that are scheduled to visit that can forever shape this UCF program. Gus Malzahn said that UCF would see a new type of recruit and he is living up to this.
There is a buzz about this incoming set of visitors. They are a mixture of local phenomenons and nationally touted prospects. The fact that Jeremiah Alexander is coming to campus is huge for the knights. It’s a pipe dream to think that Alexander is going to commit to UCF not with the likes of Bama circling around him. But it’s what Alexander coming to visit UCF symbolizes for the Knights. UCF is attracting national prospects to the campus. Huge prospects that even the likes of Bama want. This is what Knights fans envisioned after the undefeated season. Of course Josh Heupel was too stupid and inept to capitalize on the success from that season. He couldn’t get kids like Jeremiah onto the campus. Gus doesn’t have that problem. Gus has the balls to go out and go after kids like Jeremiah Alexander. Sure the chances of getting Jeremiah to commit to UCF are very low, but this shows Gus is not scared to go after the big fish. And who knows, maybe just maybe, Gus can work his recruiting magic.
But Jeremiah Alexander is not the only big visitor coming to Orlando on June 11th. Jarrell Stinson, a shut down cornerback who is committed to Auburn, is going to visit. Many in the auburn community believe that Stinson will flip to UCF. T-Will was his primary recruiter at Auburn and he has been a force trying to get Stinson to flip. Yes, UF is also involved, but many feel like Stinson will flip to UCF. There is also Jordan Phillips who is being heavily courted by Michigan. However, UCF has a leg up on Phillips in the form of Kenny Martin. Martin is from Ocoee just like Phillips. Martin, according to insiders, has been a miracle worker in convincing Phillips to come visit UCF both officially and unofficially. Josh Heupel’s staff had completely ignored Phillips and the rest of Ocoee. So Gus and his staff had to do work to even get Jordan on campus, but Kenny Martin has been remarkable on trying to get Phillips to visit. Well so far UCF is the only school that Phillips is taking an official visit to. This will be huge.
I believe there are three prospects that will for sure commit to UCF after visiting the campus. The first is Marcus Peterson. Peterson is the idle wide receiver for the Malzahn system. He is big at 6’4 and athletic. He is the hoss that the Knights need from the receiver position. Peterson is only being really recruited by Pitt so I don’t see why he wouldn’t choose to play at UCF with an offense that fits his style. Keahnist Thompson would be the real prize of the visitors. Thompson has been on the Gus Malzahn radar since he arrived in Orlando. In fact Gus offered the Lakeland High School product when he was at Auburn. Needless to say Gus has a good relationship with Thompson. This has continued at UCF. T-Will, Gus, and the Kennys have done a marvelous job of reaching out to Thompson and his coaches. Gus is making inroads into Lakeland which is huge. From every indication, Thompson is a UCF lock. I would also put Phillips is this category as well.
Two other names to watch in terms of commitments from the visit. The first is Tyler Griffin an athlete from Georgia. Griffin has not been talked about much in UCF recruiting circles, but he is very talented. In fact he’s a composite 88 on 247 and rising. There’s not a lot of competition for Griffin outside of Ole Miss, but Ole Miss might have moved on according to Old Miss insiders. The other schools are Nebraska and Tennessee which yeah aren’t competition for the Knights. UVA and GT could be competition, but Geoff Collins might be fired this year so I don’t see Griffin risking going to Georgia Tech for a coach that is probably going to be out. This gives UCF the lead for him. Tyrus Washington is another interesting visitor. UCF has some stiffer competition for him and it will be interesting to see if UCF lands. Peterson if UCF pursues Washington. This is one to really watch. Let’s see where UCF stands after these two visit.
This June 11th set of visitors to UCF is loaded with talent. Again we have a friggan five star coming to visit UCF. That was impossible with Heupel. The thought of a five star coming to visit Orlando was ludicrous. Yet now thanks to Gus Malzahn we have this incredible group coming to visit. It’s impressive by any standards. This is something to look forward to to get us through the dead period.
