2023 athlete Creed Whittemore says yes to the hometown Gators

The University of Florida has reeled in its second commitment of the day, as Gainesville native Creed Whittemore pulled himself off the market moments ago.

Whittemore, a three-star athlete, is the younger brother of Gators wide receiver Trent Whittemore. He has made numerous trips to campus to meet with Billy Napier’s staff and was re-offered by the hometown school roughly two months ago. Dan Mullen’s staff extended an offer last year following Whittemore’s performance at Friday Night Lights.

According to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies, Whittemore is the No. 33 athlete in the 2023 class. He is also tabbed as the No. 587 player overall and No. 98 junior in the state of Florida.

Like his brother, Whittemore will be strapping up the pads at wide receiver for the orange and blue. He is a standout quarterback for nearby Buchholz High.

“Coach KC (Keary Colbert), he’s super cool. With Trent being there, Trent really enjoys his coaching and style. I was able to see some of that, how everything works and the differences between this staff and the last staff. I liked everything I saw,” Whittemore previously told Gators Online.

“Everybody there is there for a reason and they are there to get their job done. They want to win football games for sure.”

Whittemore is ready to fall in line under Napier’s leadership

With several face-to-face meetings in the book, Whittemore has grown accustomed to UF’s head man as well.

As expected, the 2023 prospect has a strong liking for Napier’s leadership traits and blueprint for the program. The attention to detail continues to soak up his attention as well, so several boxes have been checked in recent months.

“He’s definitely a super cool guy. He has a plan and he’s going to execute that plan to the best of his ability,” Whittemore said.

“There is a schedule for everything and he is a guy that’s going to have a plan and stay by his plan no matter what. He’s not going to listen to the outside noise and I like his approach to the beginning of his coaching job at Florida.

“I think he’s going to succeed in what he does.”

All eyes have been on the Gators from the start

In addition to the Gators, Whittemore is armed with offers from Miami, Michigan, Texas A&M, Penn State, Mississippi State, Maryland, West Virginia and UCF among others.

Although he was coveted by a boatload of programs, there was never much drama in Whittemore’s recruitment.

Florida is the hometown school, dream destination, and it sure does not hurt he will be reuniting with his brother in the SEC as well. Then when you consider UF’s top-notch reputation in the classroom, you could say staying put in Alachua County was a no-brainer decision for Whittemore.

“At the end, coach Napier pulled me to the side and said, ‘Hey, we want to re-offer you here at Florida. This isn’t about your brother or anything. We think you can definitely be a fit here with your speed. We don’t have any small guys in our receiver group and you can spread the field,’” Whittemore said.

During the 2021 season, Whittemore completed 116-of-195 passes for 2,101 yards, 24 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also racked up 763 yards and eight additional scores on the ground, averaging 7.1 yards per carry.

Whittemore, who is the fourth addition to UF’s class, holds an NIL Valuation of $6,200. IMG Academy offensive lineman Knijeah Harris committed to the Gators roughly an hour ago.

Stay tuned to Gators Online.