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Apopka DE Kaven Call visits UCF: 'I love the coaching staff'

UCF is making it known Kaven Call will be a priority in the 2023 class.

The Apopka (Fla.) defensive end was officially offered last Monday and put on the V.I.P. guest list for Bounce House Weekend.

"I've been in contact with Coach (Kenny) Martin, the defensive line coach," Call said. "We've been building that relationship. We were talking (the other day) and he asked me how my spring went and I said I did pretty good. I asked if he had seen my film because I had four sacks. He was like, 'That's the reason I'm calling!' That's when they decided to offer me. It's the hometown (team), so it's a big deal."

Call made his way to campus on Saturday. His teammate, Nikai Martinez, was already on campus for an official visit.

"It was all fun stuff," Call said of the Bounce House Weekend activities. "We had an eating contest, a scavenger hunt... Just a bunch of team-bonding stuff with our groups. We played cornhole, all types of games. Karaoke."

The highlight had to be the T-Will (Travis Williams) vs. Herb Hand rap battle.

"That was funny," Call said. "It was between those two. First it was a tie, so they did a rap battle to see who would take first. Coach Hand did Sir Mix-a-Lot, Baby Got Back. Everybody was going crazy over that. Then I had no idea T-Will would just spitfire freestyle the way he does. He went crazy. He won."

Call really enjoyed himself.

"It was cool," he said. "I love the coaching staff. They're very genuine. They keep it pretty much 100 with you. You know how it is. What they're acting like is how they really are. They're fun people."

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He also said it was an honor to meet Gus Malzahn.

"It was cool," Call said. "He said he's going to turn UCF into something it hasn't become. He said they're trying to win a National Championship in the next four years and do something that's never been done here. He talked about 12-team playoff expansion, how that's going to be a huge upside for them."

Among unofficial visitors, Call was there with many top local standouts including DeMario Tolan (Dr. Phillips), Kameron Moore (Seminole), Demari Henderson (Seminole), Ja'Cari Henderson (Seminole) and among fellow 2023 prospects, Payton Kirkland (Dr. Phillips), Andrew Harris and Michael Harris (Lake Brantley).

"He wanted us to know that he's recruiting all of us," Call said. "We're a priority. There's a reason we were there. He said he's going to go hard on these kids around the area, around the hometown. He's trying to get all of us to go there."

Call has a long offer list that also includes Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Cincinnati, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Arkansas, Penn State, West Virginia and many others. He visited Georgia and Georgia Tech last week and may visit Florida State soon.

He likes UCF a lot.

"I love the coaching staff," Call said. "Coach Gus is great. He knows how to run a big-time program. He knows what it takes to win National Championships. He's been at the top of the stage, knows what it feels like. He knows what it takes to get there. UCF is the hometown. My sister is going there. That's a pretty cool thing. It's the hometown team."



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