The reigning national champion Florida Gators are no longer pursuing USC transfer Desmond Claude, according to Joe Tipton of On3 . This comes as a significant surprise — the Gators appeared to be the leaders to land Claude, who averaged 15.8 points and 4.2 assists last season with the Trojans.
North Carolina has been linked to Claude since the portal opened, and now, with the Gators out of the picture, it once again seems like GM Jim Tanner and head coach Hubert Davis have a legitimate shot at landing one of the best transfers still on the board.
If Claude had picked Florida over North Carolina, it obviously wouldn’t have been Tanner or Davis’ fault. You can’t fault anyone for losing out on a guy if the guy goes to the national champs. But with Florida out of the picture, and North Carolina reportedly competing against Kansas and Virginia for Claude’s final year of eligibility… there aren’t many excuses left. You have to get him…