College Football Recruiting

Dalvin Cook’s grandmother says 5-star Florida commit will announce on ESPN

Dec 31, 2013, 5:02 PM UTC

USA TODAY Sports

Five-star running back recruit Dalvin Cook, of Miami (Fla.) Central, has been publicly solid in his commitment to the Florida Gators since his choice on April 6. But behind the scenes, the story has been very interesting, with Cook considering the Florida State Seminoles and the Miami Hurricanes.

The 5'11, 205-pound runner that some compare to C.J. Spiller has been communicative with all three staffs. And Cook has connections with all three schools. He is very close with Florida five-star receiver commitment Ermon Lane, played at the same high school as Florida State's star running back Devonta Freeman, and his brother plays basketball for Miami.

In the second week in December, Cook gave the following interesting quote about his recruitment.

“I’m 100 percent recruited until the Under Armour Game,” Cook said. As an early-enrollee, Cook will be at his new school for the spring semester shortly after he makes his choice.

Cook also did not take his planned official visit to Gainesville in December, and the last time he was on Florida’s campus was July.

Now, GatorCountry.com is reporting that Cook’s grandmother says he will indeed announce at halftime of the Under Armour All-America Game, Thursday, Jan. 2 at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN. As a January graduate, Cook will enroll at his school of choice next week to begin his college career.

Dalvin Cook's grandmother says that Dalvin will announce at halftime of the game
— Andrew Spivey (@AndrewSpiveyGC) December 31, 2013

This is newsworthy because there was some confusion as to whether ESPN would let Cook announce at the game if he was committed to a school, as all other prospects scheduled to announce are all currently uncommitted. ESPN has not confirmed the account of Cook’s grandmother.

Cook is currently Florida’s highest-rated commitment, and if he does flip, would become Florida State’s highest-rated commitment. Florida currently has 19 commitments, including nine from prospects rated four or five-stars. Florida State currently has 26 commitments, including 12 from prospects rated four or five-stars.

Florida already appears to be lining up contingency plans in case it does lose Cook, including securing a visit from four-star running back Jeff Jones, of Minnesota.