Florida football recruiting: Four-star WR Elijhah Badger commits to Gators out of transfer portal

Football

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Image Credit: Mallory Peak, UAA

Talent acquisition has been a key tenant for Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier as he continues his attempted rebuild of the program. This week provided some significantly positive momentum in that direction as the Gators followed a transfer portal commitment from former five-star 2023 cornerback Cormani McClain (Lakeland, FL) with another Friday from four-star 2020 wide receiver Elijhah Badger (Sacramento, CA).

Badger (6-foot-2, 190 pounds) will transfer into Florida from Arizona State where he’s hauled in 135 passes for 1,579 yards and 10 touchdowns over the last two seasons. The Gators were seeking an experienced wideout to join its roster, which is young at the position, and acquired the best remaining such player in the portal.

Ultiately choosing Florida over Arizona and Washington, Badger was rated as the 182nd prospect in the country out of high school; he was regraded No. 184 overall in the portal, retaining his four-star talent evaluation from 247Sports.

He joins a receiver room in which sophomore Eugene Wilson III is returning as the team’s most talented pass catcher. Badger is the second experienced transfer to join the room this offseason following senior Chimere Dike, who previously caught passes from redshirt senior quarterback Graham Mertz at Wisconsin.

The Gators are now listed No. 5 nationally in the 247Sports Transfer Rankings with the addition of Badger, who is the 15th transfer to join the program this offseason. He stands as Florida’s sixth-highest rated transfer overall.