Both Florida and Vanderbilt are expected to be in the mix for 2018 guard Anfernee Simons, who decommitted from Louisville on Wednesday.
According to 247Sports’ Andrew Slater, the Gators and Commodores are the early leaders to land Simons.
The 5-star shooting guard from IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL) announced his decommitment shortly after Louisville head coach Rick Pitino and athletic director Tom Jurich were placed on administrative leave.
THANK YOU LOUISVILLE #L1C4 pic.twitter.com/UQSRWa7OHK
— Anfernee Simons (@AnferneeSimons) September 27, 2017
Simons is ranked as the No. 8 overall player in ESPN’s Top 100 for the 2018 recruiting class.
He’s ranked as the No. 2 shooting guard in the class behind Romeo Langford, who is also no longer considering Louisville following the recent FBI investigation.
Lovell’s Analysis
Simons’ initial commitment essentially came down to Florida and Louisville.
Now, with the latter out of the mix thanks to what is effectively Pitino’s firing, one would assume that the Gators move back to the front of the line for Simons’ services.
Of course, Slater also mentions the possibility of Vanderbilt being right there in the discussion.
Bryce Drew and his staff have been quite impressive on the recruiting trail in going after some of the nation’s top prospects.
Langford (ESPN No. 5 overall), Simi Shittu (ESPN No. 6 overall), and Darius Garland (ESPN No. 11 overall) have all shown significant interest in the Commodores.
Either way, someone will be getting a tremendous player that will come in right away and offer a special playmaking presence.
That’s why Simons will definitely draw major interest beyond these two schools.