After once being a heralded recruit for Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes, things weren't trending in the right direction for five-star corner Cormani McClain.
He was put on blast by Sanders in his lone season with the team for being late to meetings, not understanding the playbook and also not watching film. McClain entered his name into the portal after 2023, and decided to walk-on at Florida, where he played sparingly in 2024.
However, despite his limited role this past season, McClain has been the talk of the offseason. Just days after it was reported that he was clocked at 23 miles per hour, Tyler Miles, UF's Director of Strength and Conditioning, told the media that McClain has gained 20 pounds of muscle.
"Cormani has been phenomenal," Miles said. "And not just putting on weight, like, he has conducted himself extremely well. I'm extremely proud of Cormani McClain. 'Yes sirs,' 'how can I get better?' You know, he's put on 20 pounds. And, you know, people always think that skinny is fast. I don't how it got out there already, but yes, he ran 23 miles an hour. He never ran that fast last year, and he weighs 20 pounds more and is running a whole mile per hour faster. And I think he's like the example now for, like, what building strength and muscle can do, and being skinny is not the answer, and he's just done a phenomenal job."
If McClain is able to put it all together and live up to his high school billing, there's a chance that he could end up working his way into discussions for one of the best corners in the sport. That could be a bit of a premature thought, but as the No. 1 corner in the class of 2023, the potenial was always there.
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