National Signing Day in Florida high school football: Live updates on signings and flips
Early National Signing Day is upon us throughout the country and one of the hotbeds when it comes to college recruitment of high school football players is Florida.
Many high schoolers will ink their names onto their National Letters of Intent (NLI) and some may decide to flip on their earlier commitments at last minute to sign with another university or re-open their recruitment. It's one of the more exciting times for high school sports. Stay tuned to SBLive Sports and specifically this post for all the latest on Early Signing Day. SBLive Florida will be keep you updated on all the latest news and action.
(Refresh this post for the latest updates.)
Live Updates:
EARLY SIGNING DAY, DECEMBER 20TH
Jeremiah Smith signs with Ohio State
Ric'Darious "DayDay" Farmer flips from UCF to West Virginia
Ric'Darious "DayDay" Farmer, a speedy Four-Star wideout from Melbourne Central Catholic has made a Signing Day flip, opting to sign with West Virginia University over his original commitment, the University of Central Florida.
Aquinas' linebacker Nicholas Rodriguez officially signs with Missouri
St. Thomas Aquinas has made it official with Missouri, signing a National Letter of Intent on Wednesday morning to join the Tigers.
Rodriguez is rated as a Four-Star and stands 6-feet and weighs 195-pounds.
Report: Mainland’s LJ McCray not signing today
Tampa Catholic offensive lineman Eddy Pierre-Louis signs with Oklahoma
One of the Tampa Bay area’s top offensive linemen made it official that he’s headed to Midwest.
Tampa Catholic offensive lineman Eddy Pierre-Louis made it official and signed with the Oklahoma Sooners on Wednesday morning.
Report: High possibility Mainland’s LJ McCray doesn’t sign today
It could be a while longer until anyone knows where Mainland defensive lineman LJ McCray ends up going.
According to a report by On3’s Hayes Fawcett, there’s a high probability that the coveted defensive stalwart will not be signing today.
McCray has been committed to the Florida Gators, but rumors have swirled around the Florida State Seminoles making a hard push for the lineman.
Cardinal Mooney’s Teddy Foster makes it official with Florida
Fresh off a state championship celebration with his team on Tuesday night, Teddy Foster on Wednesday morning signed his NLI.
The Cardinal Mooney defensive back signed officially with the University of Florida.
Mandarin’s Deryc Plazz inks his name with Miami (FL)
Knowing the offensive line is Mario Cristobal’s specialty.
Seeing a good one and adding them on is his forte and Cristobal added a solid signee from Northeast Florida happened as Mandarin offensive lineman Deryc Plazz inked his name with the Miami Hurricanes.
Miami Central’s Lawayne McCoy signs with Florida State
The Florida State Seminoles 2024 class just continues to get better and better.
McCoy, an athlete that can play either wide receiver or defensive back, officially signed with the Seminoles on Wednesday morning.
Western’s Davi Belfort signs on the dotted line with Hokies
Undoubtedly one of the toughest quarterbacks in the state of Florida, Western quarterback Davi Belfort made it official where he’s headed.
The signal caller announced he’s signed officially with Virginia Tech Wednesday morning.
FSU High’s Ashton Hampton heading to Clemson
The Big Bend had some strong recruits in this 2024 class and FSU High had a few of ‘em.
One inked his name with the ACC rival of the Florida State Seminoles, with FSU High defensive back Ashton Hampton signing with Clemson.
Edgewater’s Cai Bates joins Lester, signing with Florida State
One thing Mike Norvell wants to make sure of is having a lockdown defensive backfield.
He’s certainly made that a priority with this 2024 class as the Seminoles signed Edgewater defensive back Cai Bates, adding him to what looked to be Norvell’s best signing class yet.
Blountstown defensive tackle Artavius Jones signs with Miami Hurricanes
The Miami Hurricanes' 2024 class continued to strengthen into Wednesday morning, getting one of the top interior defensive linemen in the Sunshine State.
Blountstown defensive tackle Artavius Jones made it official by signing with the Miami Hurricanes, adding another star-studded signee to Mario Cristobal's solid class.
Ole Miss' first snag of the day is CCC's Andy Jaffe
Rebels' head coach Lane Kiffin's first catch of the day came right out of the Tampa Bay area.
Ole Miss football announced their first signing of the day was Clearwater Central Catholic strong safety Andy Jaffe, who played recently in the Class 1M state championship.
Cardinal Gibbons tight end Colton Heinrich signs on at Georgia
Could Cardinal Gibbons' tight end Colton Heinrich become the latest to follow a long line of great pass catchers to come out of Athens?
Heinrich like many around the country made sure to leave no doubt on his destination and made it official, signing on officially with the Georgia Bulldogs Wednesday morning.
Mandarin cornerback Jon Mitchell headed to Happy Valley
One of Northeast Florida's top defensive backs stayed true to his commitment and will be heading to Pennsylvania.
Apart of Mandarin's Class 4M state finalist team, Mitchell made it official and signed on with Penn State on Wednesday morning.
Wharton's Booker Pickett heading to the Miami Hurricanes
No drama for one of the Tampa Bay area's top edge rushers early Wednesday morning.
The 4-star defensive end made it official signed on with the Miami Hurricanes, joining what is shaping up to be Mario Cristobal's best class of signees yet.
Buchholz's Kendall Jackson makes final decision to sign on with Texas A&M
It's been a crazy recruitment process for Buchholz edge rusher Kendall Jackson.
At one point, Jackson looked slated to remain home in Gainesville and become a Gator with fellow teammate Myles Graham. Then Jackson ended up flipping and committing to the Miami Hurricanes.
Finally, Jackson made a second flip and that would become the last. Jackson made it official and signed with the Aggies Wednesday morning.
Venice's Charles Lester signing with Florida State
What looked like a more confusing message, was made much more clear by Florida State: Lester will become a Seminole.
The Indians' defensive back announced today that he will be holding off on his official signing due to 'decision making' until Friday, via a post Lester made on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Lester committed to Florida State during the 2023 season and always seemed like a lock in heading to the Seminoles. Below is the post Lester made 18 minutes prior to Florida State's post of the defensive back.
Carrollwood Day’s Bredell Richardson decides to stay close to home and signs with UCF Knights
When it came to exactly where Carrollwood Day wide receiver Bredell Richardson would eventually call home, he decided right down Interstate 4 is where he will be headed.
The Patriots’ wide receiver made it official and signed with the UCF Knights on Wednesday morning. Richardson joined Stokes of Armwood as Tampa Bay Area receivers signing with the Knights.
Nebraska gets another steal in Miami Palmetto wide receiver Jacory Barney Jr.
After snatching the No. 1 quarterback of the 2024 class in Dylan Raiola of Buford (Georgia), the Nebraska Cornhuskers are looking to have a huge day.
They started off NSD 2024 with a bang, making it official with speedy South Florida wide receiver Jacory Barney Jr. of Miami Palmetto.
Armwood 3-star wide receiver Kason Stokes signs with UCF
One of the Tampa Bay area’s top receivers throughout the last two seasons, decided to have breakfast and make it official: He’s heading to Orlando.
Armwood wide receiver Kason Stokes, a 3-star rated wide receiver according to 247Sports, officially signed with the UCF Knights Wednesday morning.
Chaminade-Madonna’s Zaquan Patterson is signed, sealed and delivered
The Miami Hurricanes were busy bees early Wednesday morning to kickoff Early National Signing Day.
One of their coveted defensive back commitments didn’t allow for any potential drama when it came to where he might be heading.
Not far removed from helping Chaminade-Madonna win a Class 1M state championship, Patterson, rated a 5-star back, signed officially with the Miami Hurricanes.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19TH
Buchholz’s Kendall Jackson not signing with Miami anymore and flips to Texas A&M
- One of the state’s top prospects when it comes to the defensive end positions in Kendall Jackson was once set to remain in Gainesville and become a Florida Gator with fellow teammate Myles Graham.
Then Jackson flipped to another in-state school, Miami (FL), as his next destination.
It looks like that won’t be the case any longer as the 4-star edge rusher announced via X, formerly known as Twitter, that Jackson will not be signing with the Gators or Miami Hurricanes. Instead, the star defensive end will announce via Instagram today to see where exactly he will be heading.
Jackson ended up announcing his intentions to commit to Texas A&M over Florida and Miami.
Jackson this past season for the state semifinalist Bobcats had himself another strong campaign, notching 56 tackles, eight for a loss and six sacks.
Report: Schools "throwing all types of money" at Chaminade-Madonna's Jeremiah Smith
- A report from 247Sports Brandon Marcello states schools are "throwing all types of money" at Chaminade-Madonna wide receiver Jeremiah Smith in an attempt to get the nation's No. 1 receiver (and No. 2 overall player) to flip his commitment from Ohio State.
Smith has been committed to the Buckeyes since last December. Florida schools Florida, Florida State and Miami are apparently the most aggressive in their pursuit of Smith.
Earlier this month, following a playoff game, the same week that Miami offered Lions' quarterback Cederick Bailey, a North Carolina State commit, Smith fueled speculation that his commitment to Ohio State could be swayed. Smith told SBLive Sports' Joe Frisaro, "It would definitely be tempting," when asked about the possibility of flipping to the Hurricanes to play with Bailey and fellow Chaminade receiver Joshisa Trader, already a Miami commit.
St. Thomas Aquinas' Jordan Lyle flipping from Ohio State to Miami
- St. Thomas Aquinas running back Jordan Lyle, the No. 2 rated back in the class of 2024 has told On3.com's Hayes Fawcett that he has flipped his commitment from Ohio State, which he made in April, to Miami.
-- Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @sblivefl
