While his official visit to the program ended a week ago, Florida Gators receiver target Evan Stewart out of Liberty High School in Frisco (Texas) made plenty of noise at this weekends Under Armour Future 50 event, an event dedicated to the best underclassmen in the nation and Under Armour All-America Game prospects.
As one of the top prospects in the nation at the receiver position, Stewart will have plenty of opportunities presented to him as far as where he will land. Following a visit to Florida last week, Stewart said the university "felt like home," a welcoming that he received during his first official visit of the recruiting season.
Now, following a highly competitive event on Saturday at IMG Academy, Stewart made his intentions even more clear, speaking about what Florida brings to the table and why they're so high up on his list for potential landing spots in 2022.
"Florida is just [the] best of both worlds, to be real," Stewart said when asked about why Florida remains so high on his list of top teams. "I mean, I really enjoyed it when I went out there because it was the only school I visited. And they showed me everything."
Florida has been known as one of the top programs in the country in both athletics and academics, something that's important for Stewart as he sets out to make his decision at some point.
Stewart has been a target for Florida for quite some time. The program originally offered the highly-rated receiver in March of 2020. He's currently being recruited by Florida receiver coach Billy Gonzalez and has met with head coach Dan Mullen during his time visiting the program last week.
According to Stewart, the Gators are among the six finalists for his services, including Texas, Texas A&M, USC, LSU and Alabama.
Another aspect of his potential recruitment will come down to brand-building. While not the highest priority, Stewart believes that building his brand and having the ability to make money as an athlete while in college is something of importance moving forward.
At Florida, he would be able to accomplish just that considering the new legislation regarding Name, Image and Likeness that will be enacted on July 1.
"That's definitely something I want to take outside of football," said Stewart."You know, when football's over having my brand just like Kobe and Jordan."
While those seem like lofty goals, plenty of NFL players have been able to do plenty in regards to their brand outside of football, and that will become something college athletes will finally be able to work towards during their collegiate careers, getting a head start.
For now, Stewart will continue his path to a collegiate program, and Florida certainly continues to look like one of the top schools of his choosing.
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