Texas and Florida annually produce some talented high school football players. On Saturday, the Virginia football team grabbed a prospect from both states in one player. IMG Academy’s Case Gatlin pledged to UVA after picking up an offer in March.
Gatlin enrolled at IMG in January after starting his career at Champion High School in Boerne, Texas. Gatlin broke the news on Twitter. Check out his recruiting card here.
https://twitter.com/GatlinCase/status/855809018987675648
Projected as an outside linebacker and free safety at IMG, Gatlin swapped schools to “have more of a challenge” he told The Sabre in March. IMG features one of the nation’s top high school football programs. He earned first-team District 26-5A all-defense honors in back-to-back seasons at Champion in the San Antonio area. Per MaxPreps.com stats, he piled up 123 tackles the past two seasons at Champion.
Gatlin checks in at 6’4” and 205 pounds with a 4.6 40-yard dash time. View some of his junior season Hudl highlights here:
http://www.hudl.com/video/3/5288091/58237fd2688ec36ce41a0ae7
Gatlin joined another Florida prospect as a commit over the last 24 hours. On Friday afternoon, St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, FL) slot receiver/returner Tavares Kelly made his pledge to the Hoos. There are now five commitments for Virginia in the class of 2018 and three hail from Florida. Quarterback Wyatt Rector is from Leesburg in the Sunshine State.
Of course, UVA began mailing Gatlin at his high school in Texas first. Virginia became the first school to offer Gatlin after a Junior Day visit in early March. He had interest from Oklahoma State, SMU, Memphis, Miami, Nevada, Indiana, Minnesota, Fordham, Sam Houston, and others, including Ivy League schools.
The Cavaliers believe Gatlin is versatile enough to play either inside or outside linebacker in their defensive scheme. Jordan Mack played outside as a true freshman and has moved inside this spring as a sophomore so versatility within the scheme is already on display.
