Exclusive: Cormani McClain commits to Florida with dedication to his mother
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Cormani McClain announced his commitment to the Gators on Wednesday, becoming the highest-ranked transfer in Florida’s 2024 class. He officially visited UF on Tuesday, marking his second trip to the school in five days.
McClain is the No. 2 cornerback and No. 22 overall transfer in the On3 Industry rankings, giving the Gators their third top-50 transfer, along with offensive lineman Jason Zandamela (28th overall) and defensive lineman Joey Slackman (39th).
This is McClain’s second time making a commitment to Florida, although he never went public the first time. McClain also pledged to the Gators in 2021 when he was a five-star recruit. I made the trip to Lakeland to shoot a commitment video for him that has never seen the light of day … until now.
In the video below, McClain commits to Florida with a dedication to his mother, Tikisha White. One of his former high school coaches, Nick Moody, also discussed McClain’s journey to become the No. 1 cornerback in the Class of 2023.
McClain played in nine games last season and made a total of four starts, finishing with 13 total tackles, six solo tackles, one tackle for loss and two pass deflections. He decided to enter the transfer portal on April 16.
McClain signed with Colorado over Florida, Miami and Alabama. He was pursued in the portal by LSU, Oklahoma, Texas, Auburn, Texas A&M, USC, UCF, USF, Georgia, UCLA and Oregon, per On3’s Hayes Fawcett.
Cormani McClain background
Cormani McClain was intended to be a star receiver in high school but an injury to a teammate forced him into action as a cornerback during his sophomore season. He thrived immediately and became a play-making cornerback with an interception in every game he started as a sophomore. That type of play allowed him to earn recognition as the region’s defensive player of the year. Videos of McClain’s efforts – both at receiver and defensive back – have gone viral multiple times on social media. Both of McClain’s parents – Cory McClain and Tikisha White – went to school at Florida State.
