Five-star WR Easton Royal flips from Texas to Florida — SkimNews
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- Easton Royal flipped his Texas pledge to Florida, with the No. 1 WR and No. 8 overall prospect in the 2027 SC Next ESPN 300 informing ESPN of the move on Sunday after his latest visit to Gainesville.
- Jon Sumrall landed Royal through a relationship dating to March 2025, when he first offered the receiver as Tulane's head coach before taking the Florida job late last year — Florida hosted one of Royal's three spring official visits.
- Royal will shut down his recruiting process entirely and cancel previously scheduled visits to Texas and LSU, ending months of flip pressure from SEC programs including Ole Miss and Tennessee.
- Texas loses the longest-tenured member of its 2027 class — Royal was the first commit last November — dealing a significant blow to Steve Sarkisian's previously No. 4-ranked haul.
- Florida (4-2) now boasts a debut Sumrall class headlined by Royal, five-star OT Maxwell Hiller (No. 7 overall) and in-state QB Davin Davidson (ESPN's No. 6 pocket passer); if Royal signs in December, he'd be Florida's highest-ranked WR addition since Percy Harvin in 2006.
- Royal totaled 2,095 all-purpose yards and 29 touchdowns as a junior at New Orleans' Brother Martin, and in May broke a 46-year-old Louisiana state record with a 10.17-second 100-meter dash.
- The Gators visit the Longhorns (5-1) at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Saturday at 12 p.m. ET on ABC, just four days after Royal's flip and hours after Texas suffered its first loss of the season at Oklahoma.
Why it matters: Texas loses the foundational piece of its 2027 class — Royal was the program's first 2027 commit back in November — while Florida lands its highest-ranked wide receiver signee since 2006, and the Gators visit Austin this Saturday for a game that now carries a personal subplot for a recruit who switched sides four days earlier.
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