Florida basketball has made a lot of noise in the transfer portal, and we’ve covered how Todd Golden now has one of the better rosters not just in the SEC, but in the country.

But now, that momentum is leaking over to high school recruiting as well, helping the Gators land one of the top centers in the country.

4-star John Bol committed to the Gators this afternoon. Bol is ranked as the 2nd-best center in his class by On3’s Industry Rankings, and a top-30 player in the country.

The Gators had been in a good spot for a while with Bol, but it felt like momentum had shifted to Missouri and OTE until he announced his intentions.

We scouted Bol a bit when he put the Gators in his top eight. John is an elite defensive player at 7’2”. He credits his soccer background with helping him be more mobile, and a high motor keeps him engaged on the defensive end.

So why is Bol’s commitment so important for the Gators?

He’s the second commitment for Golden of the cycle, joining guard Isaiah Brown who committed back in May.

But his commitment coming right after all this portal success is what catches my eye.

In today’s world of college sports, a lot of schools opt to just be transfer portal warriors. They get one or two-year rentals on good players and then start all over again with a new portal haul next year.

And yes, Golden attacked the portal aggressively and brought in one of the best transfer classes in the nation.

But building a foundation of talent out of high school behind your transfer stars is how you make a run, and it’s how you establish your program for years to come.

You can’t just forget about high school recruiting with the transfer portal available, and it seems that Golden hasn’t.

With how Golden is building this program, Gator basketball will be back up sooner rather than later.

Keep up with Florida basketball at Hail Florida Hail.