Clearwater (Fla.) Clearwater Academy International Top247 offensive lineman
Lucas Simmons hasn't set a commitment date, but it sounds like he would like to make a decision by late July/early August. That means the next month or so will be pretty important for the Swedish transplant as he's set to take his four remaining official visits along with a handful of unofficial visits.
According to Simmons and his camp, the plan is for Simmons to take an official visit to Tennessee the weekend of May 27 with his parents. He will then go on a bus tour with PPI recruits, which will start June 1 and run through June 14. Simmons could very well end up doing all 13 stops with the group, but there's also a chance he only goes for the first leg of the trip. Even if Simmons travels with PPI for one week and not two, there's a good chance that Simmons will be at Florida with everyone on June 6 for an unofficial visit.
While Simmons has said in the past that Billy Napier and the Gators would get an official visit from him the weekend of June 10, he revealed Friday afternoon that he's in the process of pushing that visit back to June 20. Why? Because it would make it easier on his parents, who both still live in Sweden. Per Simmons, he's trying to make it where his parents will fly into the United States right before his USC official visit the weekend of June 17, then accompany him on his Florida visit before everyone makes their way over to FSU the weekend of June 25 for Simmons' fifth and final official visit.
When it comes to trying to figure out who has the inside track to landing a commitment from Simmons, fresh intel suggests that four schools are in a dead heat: FSU, USC, Florida and Tennessee. Simmons did take an official visit to Oklahoma State a few weeks ago, and while Simmons throughout enjoyed his time in Stillwater, there's reason to believe that the Cowboys are behind those other four.
The contender that Simmons seems to have the best relationship with at the moment is FSU. After all, the Seminoles have been on Simmons for close to 12 months now and he has spent more time in Tallahassee than anywhere else. With that being said, there are some concerns about possible coaching turnover at FSU if Mike Norvell isn't able to win in Year 3, and that's probably the biggest thing working against the Seminoles right now.
USC is another finalists that Simmons feels pretty close with as he knows multiple staffers from their previous coaching stops. The Trojans have a few different things going for them: a direct flight from Stockholm to LAX, sunny weather and a big city that's full of opportunities.
Conversely, Florida – who has made a major push over the past month or so – is trying to sell the fact that SEC TV time slots are going to be more favorable for mom and dad when they can't make the trek across the pond. On top of that, Napier has two full-time offensive line coaches on staff and Simmons likes how the program is invested in that position room. UF's unique #HejaGators campaign on social media has also hit home with Simmons as that's essentially Swedish for "Go Gators."
Tennessee, on the other hand, might be the biggest wild card in the recruitment. Simmons' father, Able, actually played with Josh Heupel at Oklahoma and Billy Ray Johnson, who serves as the Vols' special assistant to the head coach, recruited Able to play for the Sooners decades ago. So, there's a bit of a pre-existing relationship there and Simmons is well aware that Tennessee has a potential franchise quarterback committed in Nico Iamalaeva.