Former 5-star Penn State WR announces commitment to Florida
In the 2018 recruiting class, 5-star WR Justin Shorter was the No. 8 player in the class and the No. 1 overall receiver, per the 247Sports composite rankings.
However, his career at Penn State hasn’t been going the way he thought it would, so he recently entered the NCAA transfer portal.
On Sunday, he officially announced via Twitter that he’d be joining the Florida program starting in 2020:
https://twitter.com/justinshorter15/status/1221493291000246272?s=21
It’s still unclear whether Shorter will apply for an NCAA waiver to be eligible in 2020, but he will have that option. From there, it’s basically a coin flip as to whether the NCAA would approve it or not.
In 2 years at Penn State, Shorter only has 15 catches for 157 yards and no touchdowns. We’ll see what kind of impact he has at Florida.
Nice add for WR (or TE) depth.
Wonder if he gets a waiver approved?
Maybe with all of the allegations with Penn State, he could get a waiver.
Yeah, I forgot about the hazing stuff.
Hell ya! Just looked highlights from senior year in hs and for how big he is 6’4″ 225 he’s fast as hell
Henderson Fraziars and Manuel all 6’3″ or taller too
Love that
What’s with the rumor Manuel didn’t sign his LOI and us now most likely going to Ole Miss? If true, picking up this Shorter kid is huge…
Manuel was never expected to sign early and won’t sign in February either. He has announced he will be signing in April and will be signing an actual scholarship agreement instead of an LOI. The thing that hangs over him is the question of whether he’ll qualify academically. He’s 100% committed to the Gators and probably would’ve signed early if he qualified. There’s probably more hesitation coming from the Gator coaches than anything. The last thing they want to do is waste a spot on a guy that doesn’t qualify, especially with what happened to last year’s class.
Thanks joe. I thought he was solid GatorbaitorU but Was asking because I saw where a few recent 247 and Rivals prognosticators threw out Ole Miss projections…was wondering what changed
Mullen the portal god lol seriously tho
Van Jefferson
Trevon Grimes
Jon Greenard
Adam Schuler
All 4 ended being great gets
All those guys have been big contributors and now we bringing in
Brenton Cox
Lorenzo Lingard
Justin Shorter
Jordan Pouncey
Goddang that’s impressive. I remember hearing his name pop up during recruiting every now and then.
Show yourself the door…
?
102-41.
Well, I guess there’s no place for reason and civility here.
Ain’t it so Nash…little harsh don’t ya think Pachag8r? Since I’m in the neighborhood I think I’ll hump your yard gnome and water your prized orchids!
All seriousness aside, kid looks like another great pick up for Mullet and company if he can eliminate the drops that plagued him last year at KnittinKatU, and be able to quickly acclamate himself to the middle florida GatorbaitorU heat…
Who needs recruiting when you can pull 5 star leftovers from the TP? If there was ever a system for helping out weak first line recruiters like Mullet excel, the TP was made to order!
Ok Pacha, I’m done relieving myself, I’m getting off your yard now! Nice gnome!
Could not ask for a better way to set the foundation for CDM’s Florida Gators. While I believe all the success awaits, I am more looking forward to a healthy program that will not be rattled by what plagued us last decade.
WE. ARE. WORKING. BOOM!!!
Stackin’em deep
He should be allowed to play immediately and shouldnt have to apply for a waiver imo. This whole waiver process is a sham. Justin Fields and Luke Ford prime examples. You shouldnt have to manufacture a reason for waiver and then wait for the notoriously unfair and inconsistent NCAA to throw a dart and make a bad decision . Treat everyone the same. The time has come to make a rule to allow one transfer without a wait IMO
Not only that, you have to get an NCAA waiver and a conference waiver. There’s different requirement for each conference. Totally broken system. That’s if you ever hear from them. Still waiting to hear if Brenton Cox got his waiver.
SEC does not have a waiver requirement anymore.
Brenton Cox is only being held up by the NCAA rule.
SEC doesn’t require a waiver for grad transfers, but does for underclassmen transfers who want to play immediately.
Isn’t that only if they’re transferring from one SEC school to another?
Correct Joe
When Tate Martell got his waiver that’s when I was like there is no logic to it
Exactly, he got his waiver because of the lawyer he hired.
The kid wanting to be close to home and his sick mother (transfering to VA Tech I think) was the poster child for a hard luck case and he was denied.
That was disgraceful. A good lawyer trumps a mother with a life threatening disease.
Don’t forget Luke Ford, transferred out of UGA to be closer to his Grandfather who was sick. He had to sit last year too at Illinois. The NCAA is a joke.
Holy crap. I just read the Humphries lawsuit against Franklin and Penn State. Good chance for a waiver to play immediately based upon an “egregious behavior” exemption, even if Shorter wasn’t directly affected.
Yeah, if this quote from an article about the suit is true ….
The allegations include that older players said to younger ones, “I am going to Sandusky you.“
This is really bad taste and character. What Sandusky did should never be used in any kind of joking manner.
Fantastic news. I’d have an aggressive litiGATOR ready to jump on this. There seems to be no common sense or fairness with the NCAA rulings on waivers (or much else). I don’t mind it when rulings are fair and the rules are applied equitably to all schools, but it doesn’t seem to be the case. If a favorable ruling doesn’t come forth promptly (within 45-60 days), sue the bast8rds and do discovery into all that’s been going on behind the scenes to throw some much needed light on the matter. The NCAA is on very thin ice right now mostly due to the impending NIL issues, and they know they’re losing control of their previously unchallenged domain. The NCAA will be lucky to be intact in a few years.
CDM making some moves! Go Gators!
Remindsn me of Mike Williams from Clemson a few yrs back.
Hopefully all he needs is a change of scenery I mean 247 had him rated a 99 and 7th overall for a reason.
He could be an absolute monster on D or O. Perfect measurables to be an elite
But we plenty young talent there with Diabate Hopper Wingo and Pierre
With the quality starting to stack up at WR, we may lose Leonard Manuel to Lane Kiffin. According to 247, he canceled an OV to Gainesville this weekend and visited Ole Miss instead.
That’s what I was reading also, that’s why I was asking earlier, no trolling intended, was wondering what changed. Personally I think Manuel has a huge upside and was way underrated in the 247 comp
What may have changed is Xzavier Henderson and Justin Shorter. But who knows? Maybe he’s just taking in all the campus visits he can.
You can’t get them all. We already landed Henderson and now Shorter. It’s not as if Manuel was the only WR we were pursuing
Landing Shorter and playing Shorter this upcoming season are two different things, yes? At least we know Manuel would be eligible to play right away. I wish Kirby would pursue him if Mullet doesn’t want him, I truly believe Manuel is a future phenom…as always, imho (:
Prob wont quality
Manuel might get in for four games and redshirt. I think Henderson may jump a few guys and play enough to burn his redshirt.
Shorter may have a decent shot at a waiver with the Humphries lawsuit at PSU.
Looks like Manuel has been dropped to a 3-star and switched high schools last Fall, from Vanguard to Stranahan. There may be an academic issue we don’t know about.
I dont understand how grad transfers help a team in the long run. Waste a 4 year scholly on a 1 year player…LSU got 2 years from Burrow, but he was the exception…more evidence of how the conversion to the NFL the college game has become.
Dont forget scholarships are actually only for 1 year. Although they are almost always renewed yearly by the schools. They only count against the 85 limit when they are active with the team. With the transfer portal now being a huge part of cfb, you can expect to see lots more 1-2 year players with a school. 3 out of the 4 players invited to NY for the Heisman were transfers….its not going away now
UF had major contributions to the team over the past two seasons. Jefferson, Schuler and Grenard to name a few. Without those players our team wouldn’t have been as successful the last two years and our momentum in recruiting would have suffered imo. I think portal players help a lot if done right. Justin Fields and Joe Burrow are great examples. Not sure your comment is accurate.
Well its like the new Juco only better selection and less competition
So far Mullen has gotten guys that have helped a ton in Jefferson Greenard Grimes and Schuler
And it’s been good for them playing on teams that needed their help and had great years. Grimes best prob in 2020
Yall won a title with a transfer I would think you’d get it
Some guys picked the wrong and just need a clean slate and their back on track to the nfl
Last two 1st overall picks were transfers most likely Burrow will be too