Gators Still Leading for 4-Star LB

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Already predicted to choose Florida, Lakeland (Fla.) four-star linebacker Malik Morris on Sunday named the Gators as his top school after leaving his official visit.

While he's not ready to make a final decision, Morris left his visit with the Gators ready to take the next step in his recruiting process.

"The visit was amazing," he said. "You know, coming to this program, I already knew what was going on. I felt comfortable with it, and now it's just a bigger step the next point of where we can go with this in the recruiting process."

Morris, the No. 8 linebacker in the class, plans on announcing his decision sometime in July. He is still heavily considering Miami and Texas A&M and has visits to Colorado (June 18) and Missouri (June 20) still on the schedule.

"I'm just being completely honest, those are just trips I'm taking for my family. I'm gonna take the opportunity to seize the moment, get see things they haven't seen," he said. "I've been in Colorado. My little brother haven't been in Colorado. So let them get that experience and meet Deion (Sanders)."

Still, the Gators seem like the team to beat, and Morris' official visit only solidified that sentiment.

A combination of the people within Florida's football program, Morris' relationships with position coach Robert Bala and defensive coordinator Ron Roberts, defensive scheme fit, opportunity to play early and the development of players were all reasons Morris mentioned as why the Gators stand out.

"(The visit) solidified everything. It solidified everything on why this place really stands with me," he said."I've already been here so many times. So I'm familiar with the whole staff."

Bala and Roberts are primarily recruiting Morris at the mike linebacker position, where Morris will have an opportunity to make an immediate impact as a true freshman. While the ability to play early as a freshman stands out, long-term development on and off the field is something Florida's staff has been selling to Morris.

"Only way I fail is me," he said of Florida's message to him. "Only person that can stop me is me. Everything here in this program is for the student athletes to succeed."

Overall, the Gators are in a strong spot for Morris to possibly be its first linebacker commit of the class since seeing Izayia Williams depart and flip to Ole Miss. A commitment from Morris would continue a recent string of strong recruiting for Florida, which added nine commits to the class since the summer official visit season began.

Three of them - four-star running back Carsyn Baker, four-star receiver Marquez Daniel and five-star edge rusher JaReylan McCoy - committed over the weekend on campus with Morris in attendance.

"Man, that shows you about the program right there," Morris said. "It's going back to the old Florida, where it used to be, where it's supposed to be."

Florida Gators on SI is tracking all of the Gators' major recruiting news, from commits to prospects of note to the official visit schedule, on our 2026 Recruiting Tracker.

More From Florida Gators on SI