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Gus Malzahn, UCF coaches canvass Florida via helicopter to meet recruits

Brandon Helwig • UCFSports
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@ucfsports

UCF is now in the helicopter recruiting game.

On Thursday, head coach Gus Malzahn and several of his assistant coaches blanketed a large swath of Central Florida to meet with Hometown Hero targets for their 2025 recruiting class.

The first stop was Seminole High School in Sanford where Malzahn and offensive line coach Herb Hand connected with Max Buchanan. In November, the offensive guard listed an early top 11 of UCF, West Virginia, Clemson, LSU, Auburn, Ole Miss, Florida, Florida State, Miami, Pittsburgh and Penn State. He will make a visit to campus tomorrow for UCF's junior day, Friday Knight Lights.

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From there, the UCF-copter with Malzahn and co-defensive coordinator Addison Williams flew to the Space Coast and landed at Cocoa High School, home of the back-to-back state champions coached by UCF alum Ryan Schneider.

The Knights already have an early commitment from Cocoa offensive lineman Jaquez Joiner. They will also continue to recruit defensive end Javion Hilson (Florida State) and wide receiver Jayvan Boggs (Ohio State) who are committed elsewhere.

The helicopter then flew 160-plus miles to north Central Florida and a visit to Newberry High School west of Gainesville. Malzahn and defensive tackles coach Kenny Martin checked in with top defensive tackle target Jarquez Carter and defensive end Mykah Newton.

Carter, a longtime target of the Knights, is blowing up as a national recruit. Miami head coach Mario Cristobal also flew in via helicopter to meet with him on Thursday, and shortly after UCF's visit he received an offer from Georgia.

Newton is coming off a big junior year and received his UCF offer in December. Both Carter and Newton are expected to UCF's Friday Knight Lights event.

The final stop of the day was closer to home as Malzahn and running backs coach Kam Martin arrived in Kissimmee to greet longtime running back commit, Taevion Swint. The Osceola four-star has been locked in with the Knights since his commitment last April following UCF's spring game. He too is expected to be on campus for Friday Knight Lights.

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