Arkansas commit transfers to Gaither (Fla.) from Lakeland (Fla.)

Gaither (Fla.) head football coach Kirk Karsen confirmed Wednesday morning that Arkansas commit Joaquin Kavouklis officially enrolled at the school earlier this week. Kavouklis was previously quarterbacking the 9-time state champion Lakeland Dreadnaughts recently before making the move to Hillsborough County.

Karsen said Kavouklis is not yet cleared to play sports at Gaither as the county’s district office is conducting normal processing procedures for transfers within Hillsborough before a determination is made on if he can take the field for the Cowboys.

Dreadnaughts head coach Marvin Frazier was reached by phone and said as of last week, from his knowledge Kavouklis was still enrolled at Lakeland, but said he wasn’t sure at the current moment of the quarterback’s status at the school.

The Arkansas pledge played in Lakeland’s first two games of the season against Auburndale (Fla.) and De La Salle (Calif.). The No. 17 ranked Dreadnaughts are coming off a 32-13 win over Lake Mary last week, with junior athlete Kelin Hendrix totaling 339 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns behind center.

This would be the fourth school in three years for Kavouklis, as the junior played for Clearwater Academy International in 2023 before the Knights shut down the football program. Kavouklis then landed at Tarpon Springs for the 2024 season and in the off-season transferred to Lakeland, playing in the spring game against Tampa Jesuit.

Kavouklis at the helm behind center for Tarpon Springs in 2024 led the team to a 6-5 finish and clinching a berth in the Class 2A playoffs. The future Arkansas Razorback finished his sophomore campaign completing 165-of-270 passes for 2,404 yards and 21 scores.

As a freshman in 2023, the signal caller threw for 1,608 yards and 13 touchdowns for Clearwater Academy International.

This isn’t the first big name quarterback in the state of Florida to make a move during the 2025 season as Howard commit Darryon Jones transferred from Chaminade-Madonna to Venice earlier in the week.

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