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Four-star LB Malik Morris commits to Florida Gators

On3 imageby: Keith Niebuhr07/07/25On3Keith
Malik COMMITS

Malik Morris of Lakeland (Fla.), a 4-star recruit and one of the top linebacker prospects in the country, committed to the Florida Gators on Monday.

Morris, a top UF target, is the No. 13 linebacker and No. 209 overall recruit nationally in the On3 Industry Rankings for the class of 2026. He is the 30th-ranked player in the Sunshine State — and is the third highest-rated linebacker in Florida.

For Florida, landing Morris is another big get for a program that has been red hot lately on the recruiting trail. UF now has 16 commitments and a top-15 class. The Gators are plus-15 in commits since mid-May. You can find the Gators’ full commitment list HERE.

“Florida is just Florida to me, man,” Morris told Gators Online in the spring. “Just the feeling I get from the atmosphere they have at Florida is unexplainable. If you’ve ever been to a Florida game, it’s 90,000 people just in there rocking. It’s the crib. I’m from Florida, so it’s right here. It’s crazy there, honestly.”

The Gators beat out Miami and Texas A&M to land Morris, who is listed at 6-foot-1. He has made at least nine known visits to UF, including his official June 13 and an unofficial the following weekend. The Gators are the program Morris has visited more than any other. That has allowed him to build strong connections with a few different coaches on the staff.

“I have great conversations with Coach [Canon] Gibbs,” Morris told Gators Online in May. “He’s really good people. I’ve taken a lot of advice from the whole process. I can always take something from life anytime I talk to Coach [Ron] Roberts at Florida. [Florida assistant Robert Bala] is my boy. He’s doing good with me. We sat down and talked last time I went up there. We put names to faces, so that was nice.”

Meanwhile, head coach Billy Napier also has been hands on in the Morris recruitment.

“I call him Coach Kill Bill,” Morris said. “We talk a lot, and he’s always got good things to say. I talk with Coach Napier every other day. The fact that he’s checking up on me as much as he does tells me he wants to get to know me as a person, and not as a football player. We talk about life, so it’s not just all football with him.”

Following his official visit to UF in June, Morris talked about how well the Gators have recruited of late.

“That shows you about the program right now,” he said. “It’s going back to the old Florida. How it used to be, and how it’s supposed to be. So, that’s good.”

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