Florida’s 7on7 camp produces top talent, new offers and ‘great change’

High school teams from all corners of the Sunshine State ascended on Gainesville for Wednesday’s Swamp Shootout 7on7 camp, which featured some of the top programs in Florida and more than 20 top-300 recruits from the 2023 and 2024 classes.

The 28-team tournament played 75 total games over six hours, with Carrollwood Day, Seminole, North Marion and Mainland advancing to the Final Four. After a dominant run from the Buccaneers, their winning streak was snapped in the championship game by Carrollwood Day.

The Patriots defeated Mainland 19-15 with two touchdown passes from 2024 quarterback Alvaunte Brown and two interceptions by 2025 cornerback Jovarious Lundy, who already holds more than a dozen Power Five offers.

“We played Mainland in our last tournament (at USF) and they got the best of us. Today we had the opportunity to be on top,” Carrollwood Day coach Marshall McDuffie said. “Every game was a dogfight. I thought Florida did a phenomenal job with this tournament. Obviously, we were blessed to win it, so I’m biased. But the new staff is doing a great job and I truly believe that they’re going to get Florida back to where it belongs. I definitely enjoyed the coaches, good people, and they’re recruiting their butts off.”

Carrollwood Day has a quartet of top-200 recruits for the 2024 class in wide receivers Bredell Richardson and Zycarl Lewis, running back Anthony Carrie and cornerback Tavoy Feagin. In the championship game, Feagin was matched up against the MVP of Florida’s 7on7 camp: four-star wide receiver James Randle, a top-200 recruit for 2024.

Randle stole the show Wednesday in the Swamp Shootout, catching several touchdowns and consistently getting open throughout the tournament.

“It felt amazing, just showing off my skills and the hard work I’ve been putting in,” Randle said. “I don’t get locked up. They were scared to play me man-to-man. No DB would do it. But there was a lot of good competition out here. I loved it.”

Florida coach Billy Napier met with Randle and two of his teammates, top-200 defensive back Zay Mincey and three-star defensive lineman LJ McCray, following the championship game. All three landed offers from the Gators after leaving campus.

“He was telling us how good we did,” Randle said of their conversation with Napier. “That’s a great feeling. Actually, that’s the best feeling ever. Making plays and doing it right in front of the coaches.”

“It meant a lot,” McCray said of the offer. “We’ve been working all summer and it paid off. It shows the process is working.”

Mincey added, “Coach Napier told us to keep in touch and said he would like to see us back for a game. The camp today was great. We got to compete against some really good players.”

Other notable prospects in the camp included top-50 running back Cedric Baxter Jr., top-200 cornerback Sharif Denson and On300 defensive linemen Gavin Hill, Jordan Hall and Kamran James. The 6-foot-6.5, 265-pound James played wide receiver for Olympia, while Westside’s team had the 6-foot-4, 300-pound Hall lined up at tight end.

“I caught three touchdowns. It’s a natural thing,” Hall said. “I’m an athlete. I came out here today and did what I was supposed to do: catch passes, catch touchdowns and, you know, be a baller. It was a fun camp. I liked it a lot. Just seeing the coaches and rekindling the bond that we have, that was the biggest thing for me.”

James was one of nine official visitors for the Gators last weekend. His head coach at Olympia, Travis Gabriel, had high praise for Napier and the staff he has assembled. All 28 teams in the tournament had their own liaison from UF, which helped the 7on7 camp run smooth, on time and end before 5 p.m.

“I’m pretty sure I speak for all the coaches, whenever you can come out here with your kids and play against quality competition like this, I think it’s always good. What Florida is doing with this 7on7 camp — the way it’s running, the structure, the organization — it’s all great,” Gabriel said.

“Coach Napier is doing awesome. He’s a coach’s coach. You can walk up on him, you can talk to him, he keeps it real, and his assistant coaches as well. Several of them I’ve known for a long time. Coach [Ashour] Peera, who’s organizing the camp, he actually coached at Miami Northwestern and I played there, so we got that Bull bloodline. But everything with the new staff has been very positive and very upbeat. So, it’s a great change. It is, it really is.”

Some additional top performers in the 7on7 camp were Florida wide receiver commits Tyree Patterson and Creed Whittemore, four-star WR Keyon Brown, three-star WRs Jaren Hamilton and Edward Combs III, three-star quarterback Marcus Stokes (Penn State commit), 2024 top-100 DB safety Jaylen Heyward, 2024 three-star WR Goldie Lawrence (FSU commit), 2024 athlete Fred Gaskin III and 2025 athlete Vernell Brown III, a UF legacy.

The camp also drew a few of Florida’s priority targets as spectators, with defensive lineman Derrick LeBlanc, linebacker Grayson Howard and Jones teammates Malik Bryant and defensive tackle D’antre Robinson (2024) all in attendance.

Bryant and Robinson are coached by Elijah Williams, one of four head coaches at the Swamp Shootout who played for the Gators, along with Eric Kresser (Benjamin School), Demetric Jackson (Columbia) and Vincent Brown Sr. (Wildwood).

“It’s great, especially when you come back to your alma mater and get to see a lot of your old teammates and then meet the new staff,” Williams said. “I think they got a good handle on everything and they’re going in the right direction. I wanted to have my guys compete against some elite talent. They did a good job scheduling this event, man. There’s a lot of great teams out here today. We’ll be back next year.”