National signing day: Live updates on USF, Florida Gators, FSU and more

5:10 p.m. update: Florida Gators coach Billy Napier was asked, repeatedly, about the Jaden Rashada saga during his news conference. You can read our separate story on that here.

4 p.m. update: The signatures for the day should be just about done. The Gators signed their lone expected new recruit, four-star offensive tackle Caden Jones. He’s a top-400 national recruit from Louisiana.

The state’s top unsigned prospect is no longer unsigned. Lakeland High five-star cornerback Cormani McClain is formally headed to Colorado and coach Deion Sanders. McClain was a one-time Florida lean who initially committed to Miami but chose not to sign with the Hurricanes in December.

Barring news, this will be our final update on this post for the day.

2 p.m. update: USF’s recruiting class is complete. The Bulls added five high school recruits today: three-star quarterback Izzy Carter, three-star tight end Gerard Edimo, receiver Tyree Kelly, three-star offensive tackle Drew Perez and three-star receiver JeyQuan Smith.

Coach Alex Golesh’s first class sits 86th in the 247Sports composite team rankings. That’s up seven spots from Tuesday afternoon.

12:15 update: USF has secured its quarterback in the 2023 recruiting class, signing three-star prospect Izzy Carter. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound California native is the No. 628 overall recruit and No. 33 quarterback in the class, according to the 247Sports composite.

Carter committed to Arizona State in April, but the Bulls pushed for him soon after they hired Alex Golesh as head coach.

11:15 update: We have our first notable surprise of the day. Blue-chip quarterback Jaden Rashada, the former Florida signee at the center of a multimillion-dollar name, image and likeness saga, announced his commitment to Arizona State. The Sun Devils are coached by Kenny Dillingham, a former Florida State assistant under Mike Norvell.

Rashada wrote that he’s going to a school “where the Head Coach has always had my back!” You can read as much or as little into that as you want, given what happened with him and the Gators.

FSU announced the addition of three-star linebacker Dylan Brown-Turner from Dallas. He’s expected to be the Seminoles’ only signee today.

10:35 update: The Miami Hurricanes have announced two more transfer acquisitions. Cam McCormick was a three-star tight end at Oregon, coach Mario Cristobal’s former school. The other is Terry Roberts, a defensive back from Iowa. He was a valuable special-teams player in 2021 and a cornerback last season before an injury forced him to miss seven games.

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9:45 update: It has been, as expected, a quiet national signing day so far. USF’s first signee is Gerard Edimo, a three-star tight end from Texas who was also recruited by Texas State.

USF also added another Texas prospect, three-star offensive tackle Drew Perez. He’s from the Dallas-area powerhouse Southlake Carroll and is listed at 6-foot-8, 330 pounds.

The Bulls did, however, miss out on three-star Jacksonville athlete Desirrio Riles, who signed with Indiana.

Miami has announced the addition of two transfers: Purdue defensive tackle Branson Deen and UCF starting center Matthew Lee.

Our original story is below.

The traditional national signing day has arrived, and — at the risk of jinxing everything — don’t expect a crazy day in Florida.

That’s because almost every major recruit signed during December’s early period. There will, of course, be some exceptions. Here are a few things to monitor:

The nation’s top uncommitted recruit is Cormani McClain, a five-star cornerback from Lakeland High. McClain was expected to commit to Florida but instead chose Miami in the fall before opting not to sign with the Hurricanes after all. He has since committed to Deion Sanders at Colorado. We’ll see if that becomes official today.

USF has a chance to “make some noise of its own,” as 247Sports wrote Tuesday. The Bulls recently picked up a commitment from Gerard Edimo, a tight end from Texas, and earned a recent visit from three-star quarterback Israel Carter, an Arizona State commit. According to 247Sports, the Bulls also hosted three-star athletes Desirrio Riles and JeyQuan Smith in January, giving Alex Golesh a chance to snag a few promising prospects early in his tenure. The Bulls’ class was No. 93 nationally in the 247Sports composite rankings as of Tuesday afternoon.

Florida and Florida State are both expected to be quiet. The Seminoles’ lone unsigned commit is three-star Texas linebacker Dylan Brown-Turner. The Gators have one, too, in four-star Louisiana offensive lineman Caden Jones. Both programs have spent the last few weeks working hard on 2024 recruits.

One of the other top prospects on the board is blue-chip quarterback Jaden Rashada, the former Florida signee at the center of a multimillion-dollar name, image and likeness dispute. Arizona State, Washington, TCU and Cal are the programs most frequently linked to Rashada, and it’s possible — if not likely — he isn’t yet ready to sign with any of them.

We’ll update this post throughout the day as warranted, so check back for more.

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