Florida NIL Booster Calls Out Rival SEC School for Overpaying 5-Star Recruit
The Florida Gators have been recruiting five-star edge rusher Trenton Henderson heavily, but things have taken a turn for the worse.
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Henderson is a five-star prospect in the 2026 class and the No. 4 edge rusher via 247Sports. On Sunday, predictions began to circulate that the LSU Tigers would land him.
Florida booster Hal Lewis sounded off on the Tigers via X by replying to an NSFW tweet.
Lewis claimed that LSU paid $750K for Henderson to commit to the school and discussed how it was a waste to pay that much to someone who had not played a snap for them yet.
Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier.© Matt Pendleton / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
"ANY team paying $750k to an incoming freshman DE who had never played a down of college football is stupid," Lewis exclaimed. "And the same team just overpayed Pyburn at the same position. UF is smart enough to use their funds on proven veterans like Banks Slaughter Barber."
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The booster then stated that LSU also overpaid three-star edge rusher Jack Pyburn, who has been committed to the program since December.
While it appears that Florida is no longer the frontrunner for Henderson, the Gators have been on the good end of some recent recruiting news regarding the 2026 class.
On3's Blake Alderman predicted that the program would land four-star defensive lineman Kendall Guervil. On3's Chad Simmons then reported that Florida was trending upwards for four-star cornerback CJ Hester.
Florida returns the likes of quarterback DJ Lagway, edge rusher Tyreak Sapp, center Jake Slaughter and defensive lineman Caleb Banks in 2025.
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The Gators take on Long Island in their season opener on August 30. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+ and SEC Network+.
Related: Florida Gaining Ground With No. 1 OT Recruit
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 30, 2025, where it first appeared.
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