5-Star QB Prospect Matt Corral Commits to Florida over Alabama, Georgia

Prized quarterback prospect Matt Corral announced Saturday he's planning to play college football at the University of Florida. He previously decommitted from USC.

247Sports' Tom Loy confirmed the coveted 2018 recruit's choice of the Gators.

"The way they are with, not only the recruits but the team, it's really a family," Corral said of his decision to join the Gators, per Loy. "Some kids can't go home, but the coaches have those players over to their houses. That means a lot. Knowing that I'll have that behind me when I'm far from home, it gives me reassurance that I'll have a home there."

Corral is a 5-star prospect who rates as the No. 20 overall recruit in the class of 2018, according to the Scout.com player rankings. He's also listed as the third-best quarterback and the top player at the position from the state of California in the group.

The Long Beach Polytechnic High School standout has displayed a remarkably advanced skill set for a prep player, especially as his accuracy continues to improve. No facet of his game is more impressive than the cannon he possesses for an arm, though.

Irish Sports Daily highlighted his 77-yard bomb from The Opening in July:

Corral originally chose the Trojans before giving serious consideration to any other options.

The rising star told Jake Reuse of WXIA in June a visit to Georgia showed him there were serious alternatives to explore, which led to his decision to back off his commitment to USC.

"I just figured that when I first took a visit to Georgia, there was a lot out there that I hadn't seen," Corral said. "Just USC being the only school I visited before I committed, I just felt like I needed to take a step back and see where I really wanted to go. It was just completely different. It's SEC, and that's way different from the Pac-12. It's a whole new environment and atmosphere. At the spring game, there were 67,000 people around you. I'm not just talking about Georgia, though. That's every SEC school. That's something, specifically, I want."

It's no surprise the interest was mutual. Several SEC programs started making a strong push to land him after the USC decision, which created a fierce recruiting battle for one of the top 2018 prospects.

Landing Corral is a massive statement for head coach Jim McElwain and the Gators. While winning games on the field is always the most important factor in building a program, this type of success against other top teams on the recruiting trail is also vital to long-term success.

Furthermore, the quarterback should arrive in Florida among the most college-ready prospects in the class. He's wise well beyond his years in terms of reading defenses and throwing into tight windows. So he should be ready to compete for the starting job quickly.