Marcell Harris, a safety prospect out of Dr. Phillips High School (FL), signed with the Florida Gators. Harris considered Texas and Florida State, among others, and he kept his announcement interesting back in November. He had some help from his brother, who came to the announcement wearing gear from three different schools.
Marcell Harris signs with Florida over Texas
Harris is staying in-state to play for Will Muschamp and the Florida Gators.
Bud Elliott (SB Nation)
For Florida football recruiting coverage, visit Alligator Army.
Harris is one of the top prospects in the class of 2013 -- Rivals considers him the eighth-best safety in the nation and No. 67 overall player. He is rated similarly by 247Sports.
He joins a Florida class that ranks among the nation’s best and could be the best in the SEC. The Gators added several highly-regarded players to their secondary with this class, including Vernon Hargreaves III, Keanu Neal and Nick Washington. All of those players are ranked as four-star prospects or better by Rivals.
Florida must replace safeties Josh Evans and Matt Elam, who finished the 2012 season first and second on the team in tackles. That gives Harris an opportunity to make an impact as a true freshman in 2013, though Alligator Army believes a few returnees are the leading candidates for those starting jobs:
Jabari Gorman, Valdez Showers, and Marcus Maye are the three front-runners for the two spots because of seniority alone, and Maye’s the most talented of those three players, followed by Gorman and Showers in short order. But Florida commits Marcell Harris, Keanu Neal, and Nick Washington may not be far off, and any one of them having a fantastic month of fall practice could reshuffle the deck, too.
Vitals: He’s 6’1, weighs 207 pounds and runs a 4.58 40.
Other offers: Florida State, Oklahoma, Texas, Auburn, LSU
Recruitment timeline: You can review Harris’ recruitment in this stream.
Highlight video:
Look through SB Nation’s many excellent college football blogs to find your team’s community.
