Florida flips ACC safety commit, will reclassify to 2025 class

Not too long ago, Florida football’s 2025 recruiting haul was anything but impressive. However, over the past month, things have been improving for the Gators in the upcoming class — thanks in large part to a series of recent coups.

On Wednesday, former Syracuse Orange commit and four-star safety Demetres Samuel Jr. out of Palm Bay (Florida) Heritage flipped to Billy Napier’s program. The announcement comes after an unofficial visit last weekend at Florida’s Grill in the Ville event.

The 6-foot, 185-pound defensive back was originally a member of the Class of 2026 but has instead chosen to enroll along with the 2025 group.

Why Samuel picked Florida over Syracuse

When push came to shove, the Orange and Blue simply had more to offer than just the Orange.

“I got family here. It’s like a DNA thing to me. I grew up in Florida. So why not?” Samuel rhetorically asked.

Billy Napier’s staff have focused strongly on a family approach to building its roster and that paradigm continued to shine with the recent commit.

“They’re always going to try to keep me home, so they are going to try to make everything feel good, and make me feel like I’m at home. I feel good because Coach Harris and Coach (Beyah Rasool) always going to make me feel at home because it’s Florida. It definitely feels good.”

On reclassifying to the 2025 class

As for the decision to move up to the Class of 2025, it took a bit of rumination on the thought before he came to his conclusion.

“It was a decision me, my parents, and coaches thought was a good decision,” Samuel said. “High school, I love high school and all, but sometimes you have to move on. I thought it was a better decision for me.”

Recapping Samuel’s most recent trip

“It was good getting to meet some new people, some new recruits, and some new commits and stuff, Samuel offered. “So that was good. Being able to connect with other people and other coaches and stuff.”

As far as what impressed him the most during the visit, Samuel had a difficult time picking just one thing out of the many cookout game challenges.

“I would probably say winning the whole thing. We won the whole thing. We did the rap battle, double dare, and the scavenger hunt. That rap battle was fun though. We got to make a little music video. It was cool.”

Recruiting Summary

Samuel is ranked No. 225 overall and No. 20 at his position nationally according to the 247Sports composite while the On3 industry ranking has him at Nos. 205 and 9, respectively.

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