Jackson, Tennessee wing forward Casey Prather verbally committed to the University of Florida today. Prather had narrowed his college choices down to either Michigan or Florida but settled on Billy Donovan’s Gators.

This is a tough loss for the Michigan staff who followed Prather relentlessly over the last year. John Beilein and John Mahoney were a constant presence at Prather’s high school and AAU games. They began recruiting Casey when they weren’t sure that they would even be able to get him on campus and they certainly made their mark. They brought him in for an official visit and made his final two but in the end it was just too hard to pull him from the south.

I think Prather realized Michigan was a great fit but in the end he was just more comfortable at Florida.

“I felt like I was at home in that environment, and I loved the campus,” Prather said. “Coach Donovan is a premier coach, and I felt like I fit in with their players after I hung out with them.”

In terms of what this does for Michigan’s recruiting picture, Trey Zeigler becomes priority number 1, 2, and 3. It’s all hands on deck for the next 6 or 7 months until Zeigler makes his decision. Michigan is very much involved with Zeigler and at last note he had an official visit scheduled for Ann Arbor on October 24th for the Michigan/Penn State game.

One quick update on Casey Prather, who appears to have come to a decision. The Tennessee native will announce his decision on Wednesday. Word leaked on Monday that Prather had narrowed his list to two schools: Florida and Michigan.

At this point the prevailing internet rumor is that Florida is the likely destination for Prather’s services. Prather has kept his recruitment close to the vest throughout and most of the communication with the media has been through his coaches. This trend doesn’t appear to have changed as the latest rumors are not direct from Casey himself.

Sam Webb thinks Michigan still fits Prather’s criteria but he also says he has no read on what Prather’s decision will be (MP3). He thinks that if he chooses Florida, it will be a deviation from the criteria that Prather’s camp has set. Webb also thinks that the fact that Prather’s father didn’t make the visit to Ann Arbor and did make it to Gainesville is a boost to Florida’s chances.

Prather’s AAU coach, Charles Clark, has been a unique source of information throughout Prather’s recruitment by keeping followers up to date with his twitter account. Clark let off a series of tweets last night about Prather’s recruitment:

Didn’t know it was going to be made public so soon but if you havent heard its between Florida and Michigan for Casey Prather.

Feel bad for him considering his gotta tell some wonderful coaches “Thanks, but No Thanks”.

What if he goes to Michigan and potentially him and Austin Hollins are going head to head againist each other in two years..WOW!

Gotta give alot of credit to Beilein and Mahoney. I think they’ve done a fantastic job recruiting this guy. They covered alot of ground.

Casey seems to be pretty excited about his college choice…Wonder what hes thinking, NORTH or SOUTH? Gators or Wolverines?