Gillespie talks about his commitment
Missouri has had its eye on Tyree Gillespie since last spring. And just 11 days before National Signing Day, the Tigers finally got their man when the Florida safety committed during his official visit.
The 6-foot-1 athlete said that his decision was made almost immediately once he stepped on campus.
“Once I got on the campus, the head coach, Coach Odom, he was real genuine and kind,” Gillespie said. “It felt like family. He was talking to my mom when we got there about me coming to the school and what type of impact I can have. I decided to make my decision and so I committed.”
Gillespie was being recruited as an athlete, seeing how he can play either safety or wide receiver at the next level, but Gillespie said that safeties coach Ryan Walters is really going to try and keep him on the defensive side of the ball once he arrives this summer.
“The safeties coach wants me on defense,” Gillespie told PowerMizzou.com. “He said that I can be a true freshman starting because he doesn’t have a true safety that he wants, so he said that he can see me starting and coming in number one on the charts.”
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Gillespie talked to the coaches throughout the weekend, but he also was able to chat with six different Missouri commits, as they were all on their official visits this weekend, too. Gillespie’s phone has not stopped going off since he left, as he is now part of the commit group text.
“The bonding with the other recruits was great, actually,” Gillespie said. “It felt like family. As soon as we met, there was just a connection right there. We hung out those two nights that we were there and we got close. We got each other’s numbers and we are non-stop texting and talking with each other. We plan on coming in as the Class of 2017 and making a big impact.”
When asked with what would be the toughest challenge moving from Florida to Missouri, Gillespie laughed and then mentioned how it was going to take him awhile to get used to some of the cold temperatures.
“I was talking to my parents for a long time about this, they’ve always told me that it was my decision and this was what I wanted to do," Gillespie said. "I think the biggest challenge for me moving so far away will be the cold weather up there. I think that will be the only challenge for me up there. Other than that, I think it will be an easy transition."
Even though Gillespie is now committed, that is not stopping other schools from still trying to get him to join their prospective classes. Tennessee and Florida have shown some late interest and Gillespie still has one more official visit scheduled for January 27 to Florida Atlantic. FAU was in Gillespie's top four and new head coach Lane Kiffin would love to keep Gillespie in-state. But as of this weekend, Gillespie is a Tiger.