GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Coaches say it all the time. Recruiting is about relationships.
Freshman offensive lineman Kingsley Eguakun, one of nine mid-year enrollees, had a good relationship with the previous Florida coaching staff. However, he had a better one with Miami, which is why he chose to commit to the Hurricanes.
Then
Dan Mullen took over Florida and brought along offensive line coach
John Hevesy from Mississippi State. As they placed a high priority on recruiting offensive linemen in the 2019 class, they spent time building a connection with Eguakun, who played his senior season at Sandalwood High in Jacksonville.
Eguakun always had interest in attending UF because of his extended family's connections to the university.
"My parents didn't go here but my great grandpa went here, my grandma went here. Her siblings went here. Her cousins,'' he said. "Florida was even like the first camp I went to as a recruit. I've always wanted to come to Florida and when I got the opportunity, I wanted to take advantage of it."
Listed at 6-foot-4, 288 pounds, Eguakun spent most of his prep career at guard and continued to improve, garnering interest from some of the top FBS programs in the country.
In the end, the interest Mullen and Hevesy showed paid off.
"I was already being recruited by them and coming on unofficials, but it really, really started when Coach Mullen and Coach Hevesy got here,'' he said.
Eguakun is one of four offensive linemen among UF's nine mid-year enrollees. They join a position group that lost four starters from last season.
In our ongoing series to introduce the newcomers on FloridaGators.com, here is a Q&A:
Q: Why the decision to enroll early?
A: The reason I early enrolled was I want to have a chance to start in the fall. I think by coming here early it gives me a little head start with the other groups and even the older guys, to be able to get in the weight room and get bigger and get stronger and acclimated to the program. Learning the plays and all that kind of stuff.
Freshman offensive lineman Kingsley Eguakun
Q: A lot of motivation considering it's a position of need?
A: Definitely. I think I have a good shot to come in and play hopefully. I just have to come in and get working.
Q: What do you consider your strength at this stage of your career?
A: I think I'm just a good learner and I work well with others. I feel like there are a lot of good things to say but there's also a lot of things I need to work on. I really guess you could just say I'm a good learner, I listen. Just like listening to the older guys and what they have to say to get me ready for the next season and the future. I think with Coach Hevesy and what they have to say, I think I'm going to be ready to play.
Q: What's your best moment playing football?
A: The most memorable thing I've done is we had a district game against Flagler Palm Coast. It was tied and we didn't score when we were about to score with around five seconds left. We were about five yards off. I told Coach, 'Coach, run it behind me, it's going to be in there.' Coach pulls me and I clean up this kid, straight flatten him and our running back walks in for a touchdown. Coach listened to me and I made it happen.
Q: What's something most people don't know about you?
A: That's a tricky one. I'm very OCD. I like to be clean and make sure everything is clean.
Q: What's that like with new roommates?
A: They're alright. I try.
