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UCF football: Artavius Jones, Brandon Jacob among four-star football recruits slated to visit this weekend

Chris Boyle
The Daytona Beach News-Journal
Gus Malzahn and his coaching staff will welcome many of UCF's top recruiting targets to Orlando this weekend.

UCF kicks off the month of June with its largest football recruiting event of the calendar year.

Bounce House Weekend officially begins Friday as the Knights welcome more than a dozen official visitors, including several of their top 2024 targets. Eleven consensus four-star recruits, according to 247Sports' composite rankings, are among the invites — 10 of whom are among the top 300 players in the country.

Gus Malzahn and his staff enter the summer with the 51st-ranked 2024 class and four commits on the board. Quality outweighs quantity for the time being, but UCF still sits behind new Big 12 rivals such as Iowa State and Oklahoma State, as well as a handful of Group of Five teams (Toledo, San Diego State and UNLV).

More:UCF makes the top-10 cut for Mainland defensive back Zavier Mincey

More:10 UCF 2024 recruiting targets from Orlando area high schools

Of course, plenty of time remains to get work done and push toward the top-25. Hometown heroes John Walker and Braeden Marshall attended UCF's festivities this time last year, and signed on the dotted line in December. By the time the fall rolls around, UCF will have a slew of Saturday dates to entertain prospects and demonstrate what Big 12 football will look and feel like in the Bounce House.

Let's take a look at the full, confirmed list of June visitors for UCF — as of Friday morning — and break down the group of potential Knights.

Commits

Bartram Trail QB Riley Trujillo (11) looks to pass during a game with Mainland at Daytona Stadium in Daytona Beach, Friday, Sept. 9, 2022.
  • Wekiva DL Sincere Edwards
  • Lincoln LB Sam Robinson
  • Bartram Trail QB Riley Trujillo
  • Armwood WR Kason Stokes

Buzz: Edwards will visit unofficially for Bounce House Weekend, and then return again from June 9-11. However, UCF will have a battle on its hands with Pittsburgh for the disruptive 6-foot-2, 240-pounder. Charlie Partridge, Pitt's assistant head coach and defensive line coach, stayed for Wekiva's entire spring game against Sanford Seminole, and the Panthers have a pedigree of sending shorter defensive linemen to the pros. Former NFL Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald and recent first-round pick Calijah Kancey come to mind.

Stokes recently qualified for the Class 4A FHSAA track and field championships with a personal-best 200-meter dash time of 21.59 seconds. Robinson quickly formed a bond with fellow Tallahassee native and first-year UCF linebackers coach Ernie Sims, announcing his verbal commitment in February. Trujillo, coming off a breakout junior campaign at Bartram Trail and earning Offensive MVP honors at the National Combine in San Antonio, chose the Knights in March during the early weeks of spring camp.

In-state targets

Naples Golden Eagles defensive back Kensley Faustin (3) reacts after the Dunbar Tigers score a touchdown during the first half of the Class 3S regional 4 final at Staver Field in Naples on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022. The Eagles fell 14-7 to the Tigers.
  • Blountstown DL Artavius Jones (4*, 0.9345, No. 19 DL)
  • Evans S Brandon Jacob (4*, 0.9327, No. 14 S)
  • Tampa Catholic IOL Eddy Pierre-Louis (4*, 0.9265, No. 12 IOL)
  • St. Thomas Aquinas RB Stacy Gage (4*, 0.9183, No. 17 RB)
  • Naples S Kensley Faustin (4*, 0.8923, No. 36 S)
  • Olympia S Jalon Thompson (3*, 0.8786, No. 59 S)
  • Hudson EDGE Elias Williams (3*, 0.8700, No. 54 EDGE)
Rockledge linebacker DJ McCormick will visit UCF the second weekend of June.
  • Rockledge LB DJ McCormick (3*, 0.8700, No. 73 LB)
  • Gaither ATH Andrew Brinson IV (3*, 0.8689, No. 88 ATH)
  • Calvary Christian IOL Joseph Ionata (3*, 0.8600, No. 64 IOL)
  • Dr. Phillips S Jashad Presley (3*, 0.8600, No. 86 LB)
  • Mainland CB Ezaiah Shine (3*, 0.8467, No. 101 CB)
  • Mainland IOL Elijah Walker (3*, 0.8419, No. 99 IOL)

Buzz: Jones is one of the more interesting prospects in Florida and is extremely athletic for his size. He also starts at tight end for Blountstown and is the highest-rated recruit planning to spend the opening weekend in June at UCF.

Gage also stands out on this list. The Under Armour All-American, who spent the previous two years at IMG Academy and Tampa Wharton, did not have the Knights among his initial top-eight in January.

A long-standing target at guard, Pierre-Louis confirmed his visit in an interview with Recruiting News Guru's Ryan Wright. The 6-foot-4, 315-pounder will head to Oklahoma next weekend, and he plans to visit both Georgia and Texas A&M in the near future.

Faustin attended UCF's spring game and told Rivals that the program was on "the come-up". He has a friend on the roster in true freshman Jason Duclona, who similarly hails from Southwest Florida (Estero).

Walker and McCormick are currently scheduled to join Edwards for official visits June 9-11. Thompson, Presley and Shine, a trio of local defensive backs, have lined up unofficial visits for this coming weekend.

Out-of-state targets

  • Loganville (Ga.) Grayson TE Kylan Fox (4*, 0.9204, No. 17 ATH)
  • Loganville (Ga.) Grayson IOL Waltclaire Flynn Jr. (4*, 0.9131, No. 16 IOL)
  • Jonesboro (Ark.) Valley View LB Brian Huff (4*, 0.9096, No. 25 LB)
  • Fairburn (Ga.) Langston Hughes S Jakob Gude (3*, 0.8889, No. 41 S)
  • Atlanta (Ga.) Westlake DB Christian Peterson (3*, 0.8869, No. 45 S)
  • Lilburn (Ga.) Parkview OT Jordan Floyd (3*, 0.8750, No. 55 OT)
  • Germantown (Tenn.) EDGE DJ Allen (3*, 0.8300, No. 89 EDGE)

Buzz: Athletic tight end Fox and bulldozing center Flynn, teammates at Georgia powerhouse Grayson High, are the Knights' top targets at their respective positions. Both plan to verbally commit the first weekend of July. Florida State is viewed as the early favorite for Fox, even after the Seminoles flipped Colquitt County's No. 1 tight end Landen Thomas from Georgia. Miami and Colorado remain in the running, as well.

Flynn has been a frequent visitor in Orlando and has spoken highly of UCF dating all the way back to last July. Due to visit Texas A&M in two weeks, Flynn would supplant Torrian Wilson (2010 recruiting class) as the highest-ranked offensive line commit in program history.

Peterson, who like Gude has been linked to Auburn this spring, attends the alma mater of UCF defensive coordinator Addison Williams. Allen will take trips to Louisville and Purdue before June draws to a close.

Floyd, a late confirmation Thursday night, is listed at 6-foot-7 and 300 pounds. He has official visits planned for Kentucky and Georgia Tech later this month as well. Huff made 92 tackles with seven TFLs and three fumble recoveries as a junior at Valley View, and he's also on the radar of Missouri and Notre Dame, among others.

Flip targets

  • Humble (Texas) Summer Creek LB Xavier Atkins (4*, 0.9163, No. 22 LB)
  • Fairburn (Ga.) Langston Hughes WR JoJo Stone (4*, 0.9130, No. 38 WR)
  • Lagrange (Ga.) Troup County LB Qua Birdsong (4*, 0.9055, No. 26 LB)
  • Miami Columbus EDGE Willis McGahee IV (3*, 0.8867, No. 43 LB)

Buzz: Perhaps it's a coincidence that two longstanding LSU commits are visiting UCF the same weekend; perhaps not. Stone was a teammate of Fox and Flynn at Grayson last season, but transferred to Langston Hughes and will link up with Ohio State QB commit Air Noland. Atkins recently moved into Big 12 country, but played the previous three years at Jonesboro-Hodge in Louisiana.

Birdsong listed the Knights in his top five near the end of March, but instead committed to rival Cincinnati after an unofficial visit less than a month later. This will be the Knights' first real chance to show the 6-foot-2, 195-pound Georgia native what they have to offer compared to one of their biggest rivals.

McGahee, son of the former Miami Hurricanes star and 11-year NFL veteran running back, committed to Nebraska in April. He attended UCF's spring game and is one of the Knights' top pass-rushing targets, following a 13-sack junior season at Columbus.