Florida coach Will Muschamp landed his highest ranked recruit in his short time as the Gators’ coach in Vernon Hargreaves III, the fourth-rated best player in the country.
A five-star prospect, Hargreaves tweeted: “I can officially say I am committed to THE University of Florida ! #GoGators CHOMP CHOMP”.
The 5-foot-11, 185-pound defensive back chose Florida over Clemson, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame and Miami.
Hargreaves, who has already committed to play in the Under Armour All-America game in January, becomes the highest-ranked Florida commit. Seventeen of Florida’s 18 verbal commits are rated four-star prospects or higher, and 12 are listed on the ESPN 300.
In his junior season, Hargreaves had 49 tackles, two interceptions and a sack on defense, while adding 13 receptions for 313 yards and three touchdowns for a Wharton program that finished the season with a record of 5-6 after advancing to the FHSAA Class 8A state playoffs in 2011.
The son of Vernon Hargreaves, Jr., an assistant under Skip Holtz at South Florida, he gave his father’s school some consideration. At the same time, his sister, Karina, attends Florida, and she was definitely pro-Gator. “All day. Whenever she texts or calls me, it’s ‘come to Florida,’” Hargreaves said. “It’s funny, though.” Asked who recruited him harder, his dad or his older sister, Hargreaves answered without hesitation.
“My sister, definitely,” he said.
It also helped Florida that Hargreaves gained an affection for Florida assistant Travaris Robinson, who was in charge of recruiting him.
“He’s a good guy, he’s funny, energetic and he’s telling me the truth about Florida,” Hargreaves said. “He’s not telling me lies – not saying I’m going to come in and start or anything crazy like that.”
Although Hargreaves continues to be on pace to graduate from high school early, he revealed on Saturday afternoon that it was not certain he would actually enroll in college for the spring semester at this time.