Florida football just landed this 4-star in-state defensive lineman

2022 Four-star defensive lineman Jamari Lyons committed to the University of Florida over South Carolina on Wednesday.

It became clear in Lyons’ press conference that Florida was always his top destination. South Carolina was just too far from home for Lyons to pull the trigger, and he’d already been a Gators fan for years.

“Florida is my dream school,” “I always dreamed of going there. I’ve been watching Florida every Saturday since I was playing little league. I’ve been dreaming of going there since I was a baby. He gave me the opportunity to go there, so I took it. I’m going to pursue my dream.”

Lyons spoke with Gators head coach Dan Mullen after announcing his commitment. Mullen welcomed the newest Gator to the family and promised him a life-changing experience at Florida before passing the phone to defensive line coach David Turner.

“I’ve been waiting on this for a long time, you know that,” Turner said. “We’re excited. It’s going to be a lot of fun. We’re going to win a lot of games with you.”

Lyons made four trips to Florida this year, including a September visit for the Alabama game. He officially visited South Carolina before the Kentucky game on Sept. 24 but seemed higher on the Gators.

“To be real, I love the atmosphere and the fans were going crazy,” Lyons said. “The game was crazy itself. It was a really good game. Both teams played very well on both sides of the ball.”

At 6-foot-4-inches and 295 pounds, Lyons adds some size to Florida’s 2022 recruiting class. He joins three-star Francois Nolton as the only two defensive linemen for now. Florida now has 15 commits and one transfer, active Gator Tyrone Truesdell, in the class of 2022.

Lyons is the No. 30 defensive lineman in the country, according to 247Sports. Adding him moved Florida past Michigan and Stanford on the 247Sports Team Rankings Composite to No. 14.

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