A torn knee ligament kept Andrew Ivie from playing a full high school game with his older brother, Joey.
He’ll finally get a chance to accomplish that goal at the next level.
Ivie, a soon-to-be senior defensive tackle from Pasco, orally committed to Florida on Thursday. He’ll join Joey as a defensive lineman for the Gators.
“Looks like the University of Florida’s going to become an Ivie league school,” said their father, Joe Ivie.
When Ivie, a three-star recruit, started landing offers, he knew UF would be hard to beat. He grew up rooting for the Gators, but the 6-foot-3, 273-pound Ivie wanted to hear from other coaches this spring before deciding.
“I knew in the back of my head Florida was there,” said Ivie, who chose the Gators over UCF, USF and Wisconsin, among others. “That’s where I always wanted to go.”
The chance to reunite with Joey is another perk.
Ivie tore his ACL in the spring game before his sophomore season, so he watched from the sidelines as Joey dominated the North Suncoast as a senior that fall.
This year, Ivie went to five or six Gator games to watch his older brother and couldn’t believe the level of competition.
“I was really happy for him,” Ivie said. “I was dumbfounded to think I would ever get an offer from UF.”
Ivie, also a standout wrestler, had 62 tackles and two sacks last fall, and recently bench pressed 390 pounds and 315 in the clean and jerk for a fifth-place finish at the state weightlifting tournament.
Oral commitments are non-binding until recruits sign letters of intent during their senior years.