Skip to main content
Join Now
Team Avatar
Florida State

4-star Florida commit Aaron Gates offered by rival Florida State

Wg0vf-nP_400x400by: Keegan Pope02/23/22bykeeganpope
On3 image
Chad Simmons/On3

Sharpsburg (Ga.) Trinity Christian School athlete Aaron Gates is Florida’s only commitment in the 2023 class, and he has been pledged to Gators for more than six months. But that hasn’t stopped other programs from making a run at him, including UF’s arch rival, Florida State.

The Seminoles extended Gates an offer on Wednesday morning.

The 6-foot, 180-pounder is the No. 264 prospect in the 2023 class, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He ranks as the nation’s No. 12 athlete and the No. 27 junior prospect in Georgia.

Gates committed in August to the Gators’ previous staff under Dan Mullen, but told On3’s Jeremy Johnson recently that he didn’t want to back off that pledge until he met Florida’s new coaches.

“When everything first started playing out, I really just didn’t want to rush into any decisions and just stayed committed to Florida,” Gates said. “I wanted to get down there and feel out the new staff. I feel like I committed to the university, not the coaching staff.”

In January, he took that trip. The new Florida staff led by Billy Napier pulled Gates even further back in.

“I was just going to see how I liked the new staff and if things worked out, I would stay committed,” Gates said. “That’s what happened. I really love the new coaching staff. I love coach Napier and coach Raymond. That’s the perfect fit for me.”

Aaron Gates still heavily pursued

In addition to the offer from Florida State, Gates has been pursued and contacted by Michigan, Cincinnati, Auburn and UCF, among others.

“I heard what they were saying, but I had really made up my mind that I wasn’t going to make any decision until I went down there and visited,” Gates said.

Gates still plans to take all five of his official visits and see how things shake out before signing. But he has yet to plan where or when those visits will be.