Florida Gaining Ground With No. 1 OT Recruit
The Florida Gators have one commit already from the 2027 class and are looking to make it two.
On3's Corey Bender reported that Florida is impressing with five-star offensive tackle Kennedy Brown.
Advertisement
Brown is a native of Houston, Texas, out of Kingswood High School. He is listed at 6-foot-3.5, 285 pounds.
The Gators had Billy Napier's first winning season as head coach in 2024. Florida ended the year at 8-5 after also winning the first bowl game of Napier's tenure.
Since taking the Florida job in 2022, Napier has an overall record of 19-19. He has taken the program to two bowl games so far.
Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier. Matt Pendleton / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
'I've been keeping up with (co-offensive line) coach Jonathan Decoster, I've been keeping up with (assistant offensive line) coach (Kaleb) Johnson as well, so we've been talking,' Brown said. 'They're heavily recruiting me and stuff like that. We are having good conversations as well.'
Advertisement
Brown is the No. 3 overall prospect and No. 1 offensive tackle in the On3 Industry Rankings for the 2027 class.
The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine currently favors the Texas Longhorns, giving them a 28.4% chance of securing his commitment. The Texas A&M Aggies (13%) are in second place, followed by the Alabama Crimson Tide (11.2%) and the USC Trojans (9.3%).
Florida's lone commitment from the 2027 class is four-star athlete Tramond Collins.
The Gators are having success with other prospects outside of the 2027 class. Florida was named a finalist for five-star safety Jireh Edwards. Edwards is the No. 2 safety in the class.
Advertisement
Florida is also in the top five for four-star defensive lineman Nolan Wilson.
Napier's fourth year opens with Long Island on August 30. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+ and SEC Network+.
Related: Urban Meyer Makes Florida Gators Prediction Ahead of 2025
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 28, 2025, where it first appeared.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


New York Times
14 minutes ago
- New York Times
A fresh milestone for Clayton Kershaw tonight? Plus, Ken Rosenthal's All-Star picks
The Windup Newsletter ⚾ | This is The Athletic's MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup directly in your inbox. Clayton Kershaw is on the doorstep of an exclusive club — will he close the door behind him? Plus: Ken's All-Star squad, our Trade Deadline Urgency Index moves to version 2.0, and I sure hope those 24 baseballs were worth it, man. I'm Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal — welcome to The Windup! As old men of the game go, Clayton Kershaw is hardly in Rich Hill territory — Hill is 45 and on a minor-league deal with the Royals. But while time is the most inevitable source of wear and tear, there are others. How about innings pitched? Kershaw, 37, has pitched 2,781 1/3 (Hill is at 1,409). That total trails only Justin Verlander (3,483 1/3, 42 years old) and Max Scherzer (2,891, 40). It's the same order for active strikeout leaders — Verlander has 3,471 and Scherzer has 3,419. Kershaw, who will start tonight's game against the White Sox, currently sits at 2,997. Barring some catastrophe, No. 3,000 should come tonight. Sure, strikeout rates are significantly higher now than they were in the days of Nolan Ryan, Bob Gibson and others. But among the retired members of the 3,000-K club, here are some pertinent averages: Seasons: 21.53 Innings per season: 212.43 Last year, not a single big-league pitcher threw 212 innings — only four reached 200. And that's to say nothing of the fact that it's now borderline routine for starting pitchers to lose a full season to Tommy John surgery at some point in their career. Sure, it's a different game (more strikeouts) now. It's also a different game (fewer innings pitched). Is Kershaw *ahem* the last of his kind? From my latest column: I've picked my 64 All-Stars. As always, I'm adhering to the rule that every club must be represented and that each All-Star team must feature 20 position players and 12 pitchers, at least three of whom are relievers. Readers will howl over this injustice or that, but by now, everyone should know better. Advertisement Even the league's official announcement of the full rosters Sunday should only be considered a first draft. Players will bow out because of injuries, real and imagined, pitchers starts and other issues, real and imagined. A year ago, 77 players — nearly one-tenth of the league — were named All-Stars. If your favorite gets snubbed, just wait. He will still be only one phone call away from heading to Atlanta. In making my choices, I was largely governed by what I wrote a year ago: I'm something of an Entertainment Truther. Yes, I try to honor first-half performance. But let's not forget, this game is a promotional vehicle, not a declaration of WAR. I want the biggest names, the rising stars, the players most likely to evoke oohs and aahs. Of course some will find inconsistencies in my choices, but life is full of inconsistencies. I won't pretend this list is perfect. Consider it merely a starting point for whatever argument you want to make, about any player you want to make. My starters are denoted by asterisks. All statistics cited are through the end of June. As always, your vitriol is welcome in replies to this email or at my X handle, @Ken_Rosenthal. AMERICAN LEAGUE Starting pitchers *Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers Hunter Brown, Houston Astros Max Fried, New York Yankees Garret Crochet, Boston Red Sox Jacob deGrom, Texas Rangers Kris Bubic, Kansas City Royals Shane Smith, Chicago White Sox Notable omissions: Seth Lugo, Kansas City Royals; Drew Rasmussen, Tampa Bay Rays; Carlos Rodón, New York Yankees; Joe Ryan, Minnesota Twins; Framber Valdez, Houston Astros; Bryan Woo, Seattle Mariners. Rasmussen, who has overcome three major elbow surgeries to rank ninth in the AL in ERA, would be an inspired selection. But I chose Smith, a Rule 5 pick who was fantastic until his three most recent starts, over first baseman/third baseman Miguel Vargas, who recovered well from a difficult first month. Neither is particularly deserving, but every team must be represented, by golly, so here we are. See the rest of the list here. Public service announcement: The trade deadline is 29 days away. Today's Trade Deadline Urgency Index (2.0) takes a look at who needs what the most, and what's changed since version 1.0. A few notes: More deadline analysis: On Monday night in Arizona, a fan reached over the wall to swipe a (maybe?) home run hit by Giants third baseman Christian Koss. Initially ruled fan interference — resulting in an out call — replay review determined the fan had not actually touched Diamondbacks center fielder Tim Tawa. It was ruled a double. A home run would have tied the game. But the run never scored. The Giants lost 4-2. Advertisement Clips of the play made the rounds on social media, leading to the discovery that this was not the fan's first indiscretion at the outfield wall. The guy's name is Dave McCaskill, and apparently he has a reputation for doing this. From this story by Doug Haller and Andrew Baggarly: '(McCaskill) said he had caught 24 home run balls during his time as a Diamondbacks season ticket holder. Some of those have prompted umpire reviews for potential interference. Including Monday night, he said he had been ejected from the park twice …' One instance of over-exuberance is understandable. But c'mon, man. You can't keep doing that. McCaskill did apologize to team security as he was escorted from the field Monday. But the Diamondbacks had seen enough. 'This particular fan … is prohibited from returning to Chase Field for the remainder of 2025. This fan will have the opportunity to return to Chase Field in 2026 so long as he meets certain terms and abides by our Fan Code of Conduct.' Hope the baseballs were worth it? I love old baseball cards. So I absolutely loved this story by Michael Salfino about the case of the mystery missing baseball card — that didn't exist until customer demand forced it into existence. Jazz Chisholm Jr. is an above-average second baseman and a below-average third baseman. So why are the Yankees keeping him there to accommodate an ineffective DJ LeMahieu? Another bad-news day for the Astros: Days after Jeremy Peña suffered a rib fracture, Yordan Alvarez was supposed to ramp up his rehab process today. Instead, he's seeing a hand specialist after a setback. Yesterday, we told you about a bizarre Orioles-Rangers game that resulted in Jack Leiter taking an 11th-inning at-bat. Last night, I spoke to Leiter and manager Bruce Bochy about how that unexpected process played out. The Giants' struggles won't cost manager Bob Melvin his job: The team has exercised its option on his 2026 contract. Yesterday was Bobby Bonilla Day. Salutations to all who celebrate. Jenna West and Dan Shanoff explain the contract, why deferrals happen and tell us about a few other notable deferrals. Brooks Peck hands out some entertaining superlatives for the various bobblehead giveaways around baseball this year. Steve Soderstrom's big-league career lasted just 10 days with the Giants in 1996. It makes him appreciate his son Tyler's career with the A's even more. Advertisement On the pods: The 'Rates & Barrels' crew looks at the three division leaders in the NL and checks in on the Nats' rebuild. Most-clicked in our last newsletter: Evan Drellich's story on Rob Manfred's plan for CBA negotiations. 📫 Love The Windup? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters.
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
LeBron James And Austin Reaves Reportedly Don't Like Playing With Luka Doncic
LeBron James And Austin Reaves Reportedly Don't Like Playing With Luka Doncic originally appeared on Fadeaway World. Luka Doncic has gelled well on the court with LeBron James and Austin Reaves during their short time as teammates on the Los Angeles Lakers, but NBA insider John Gambadoro claims all is not well. On the latest episode of the Burns and Gambo Show, Gambadoro stated that James and Reaves do not like playing with Doncic. "LeBron does not like playing with Luka," Gambadoro said. "Reaves does not like playing with Luka. Reaves does not like getting the ball with two seconds left on the shot clock. LeBron is not fond of playing with Luka. The Lakers are going to turn their attention to build around Luka, not LeBron. "So, this is Luka's team now," Gambadoro added. "... He'll probably come back, but I wouldn't say it's a guaranteed no-brainer LeBron comes back to the Lakers because there are guys that don't like playing with Luka." Gambadoro also wondered if James is struggling to handle the fact that a teammate of his is now the top dog for the first time in his career. All of this is quite interesting considering we haven't heard anything prior to this about any sort of discontent between them. James has spoken glowingly of Doncic's game and has never really thrown shade at his teammate at any point. The 40-year-old has done that to others in the past, but not to him. As for Reaves, a deeper look at his numbers suggests he should have liked playing with Doncic. In the games he played without the Slovenian this past season, he averaged 19.8 points, 6.3 assists, 4.3 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game while shooting 45% from the field and 36.2% from beyond the arc. When Doncic was playing alongside him, Reaves averaged 21.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game. He was more efficient, too, shooting 47.9% from the field and 40.2% from beyond the arc. There were some concerns that Doncic's arrival might hurt Reaves on offense, but that hasn't been the case. The five-time All-Star has instead made life easier on the court for Reaves, as evidenced by those numbers. The only problem when it comes to these two playing together is that they're both not great defenders. The Minnesota Timberwolves repeatedly hunted them in the first round of the playoffs, and that contributed to the Lakers getting eliminated in five games. Reaves, however, dismissed those defensive concerns regarding himself and Doncic. He thinks the two of them, along with James, will create chaos next season. It's unclear if these three will be playing together in 2025-26, though. At first, there was talk about Reaves being traded this offseason as he could potentially hit free agency in 2026. It is expected that he will ask for a deal worth nearly $30 million per year, and that would be a significant financial commitment. That trade talk has died down a bit now, though, and James is now the one potentially headed to the exit door. NBA insider Shams Charania stated that he could leave the Lakers if he doesn't think they can compete for a title. Doncic looks to be the only one guaranteed to be with the Lakers long-term. The 26-year-old is widely expected to sign an extension in August, and the Lakers are making all their moves now with him in story was originally reported by Fadeaway World on Jul 2, 2025, where it first appeared.


Forbes
40 minutes ago
- Forbes
Boston Legacy FC Sign Midfielder Annie Karich As First Player
Annie Karich of Boston Legacy FC poses at View Boston as she signs to join the club in Boston, MA on ... More June 23, 2025. Photo by Adam Glanzman/Bolt Creative Group After recently hiring their first head coach, Boston Legacy FC has made moves in signing their first ever player, midfielder Annie Karich. Karich is currently on loan to a Liga MX Femenil club for the remainder of 2025 and will join Boston for NWSL preseason in January. The American midfielder signed a contract through the end of the 2027 season, with an option to renew for the 2028 NWSL season. 'We're very excited to welcome Annie Karich to Boston,' said general manager Domè Guasch. 'Annie is a midfielder that brings a unique blend of technical quality and tactical awareness. In her time at SC Freiburg, she has also proved her competitiveness and maturity on the field. Annie has the potential to make a real impact in our team. We're looking forward to supporting her development within our environment.' Karich's Player Impact Karich signed her first professional contract in 2023 with Frauen-Bundesliga club SC Freiburg as a free agent. She played as a defensive midfielder for two seasons and made 36 appearances. During her time at Santa Clara, Karich was named the West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2023 and was named to the First Team All-WCC and First Team All-West Region. 'I want to grow by developing my overall game as a player and by learning how to adapt again into a new city, new team, and everything, and I'm really excited to do that here in Boston,' said Karich. Free Agency Opens New Doors for Boston Legacy's Growth As the 15th franchise in the NWSL, the expansion side is building a key foundation as they are set to begin play in the 2026 NWSL season. The club announced the hiring of Filipa Patão as their first head coach. Now with the first piece of their roster set in motion, the club will continue to grow their momentum both on and off the field in their new chapter of reigniting soccer back to the city of Boston. With the Portuguese powerhouse of Patão at the helm, the club will continue building out its 22-player roster with an option of having a maximum of seven international roster spots. Alongside Boston, Denver is also building out their squad. During the one-month international break, the NWSL has announced a list of players eligible for the league's 2026 free agency period with over 100 players on the list. With the free agency window officially being open, teams are able to negotiate contract terms with any free agent. However, if a player does not receive a new offer, they then remain a free agent with their rights unassigned in the NWSL. Now with free agency on the table, both Boston and Denver now have access to more options for negotiations with free agents in the NWSL. The full list of free agents can be found here.