Before “Love Island USA” star Nic Vansteenberghe was set to arrive, clusters of students in crop tops and polos refreshed Instagram stories for hints on his whereabouts.
The doors wouldn’t open until 8 p.m., but word of his Gainesville appearance had already pulled fans off campus and into midtown. MacDinton’s marked his 12th stop for GreekFest, a national college party tour known for high-energy DJ sets and celebrity hosts.
At 10:45 p.m., the bar lights dimmed and screens behind the DJ booth looped highlights from Vansteenberghe’s “Love Island” run — slow-motion kisses, poolside laughter and his most dramatic recouplings. Then, to the familiar cadence of Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the U.S.A.,” he stepped onto the platform. Dressed in jeans, a black T-shirt and a “Gator Nation” baseball cap, he smiled as hundreds of phones shot into the air…