Five-star Vargas makes the call
Eloy Vargas had to make two decisions late Wednesday night. One was a very difficult one. The other, well, that was easy.
The 6-foot-10 forward from American Heritage made the call and verbally committed to Florida, according to his AAU coach Kenny Gillion. The other call, an face-to-face conversation actually, was a little harder to make.
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"(Pitt assistant coach) Orlando Antigua came in tonight and Eloy just had to tell him face to face that he was going to Florida," Gillion said. "I think the last two weeks he was really feeling Florida. He had to tell (Antigua) face-to-face simply because he was in it the longest. That was tough."
Pittsburgh was the first school to recruit the Dominican Republic native thanks in large part to Antigua's roots to the country. However, the Gators jumped into the picture and recruited the five-star prospect incredibly hard, Gillion said.
"They got in there in April and coach (Billy) Donovan knew he was behind the eight ball a little bit but he rode it out. I'm not going to lie to you. He was in it all the way," Gillion said. "Eloy told me that Donovan just recruited him harder than anyone."
Gillion said Donovan's success with big men development was also a major factor. Vargas is one of the fastest rising prospects in the class of 2008 and the top 10 prospect nationally is hoping to continue the upswing in Gainesville.
"That was a big part in this," Gillion said. "Donovan has a proven track record. His last five big men have been really successful and are in the league."
Donovan made a trip to the Dominican Republic to meet with Varagas's mother certainly helped, Gillion said.
"There is playing time at Florida and time to develop on the court," he said.
Vargas also considered Florida State, Miami and Louisville. He joins in-state prospects Kenny Kadji and Ray Shipman as well as New York point guard Erving Walker and Connecticut forward Allan Chaney in the 2008 recruiting class.