MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA- It didn’t take long for everyone to know receiver Henry Ruggs (6-0, 175, Montgomery, AL. Robert E. Lee) name on Saturday during the Alabama/Mississippi All-Star game.

Ruggs took the opening kick-off of the game back for a 98-yard touchdown and showed everyone why he has his pick for where he will attend college next year.

One of those schools after Ruggs is the Florida Gators and the receiver talked about why he has always thought about being a Gator.

“I’ve been interested in Florida and it has been a school that I’ve been looking at,” Ruggs said. “I’ve been looking at going to them all my life, I actually was looking to go there play basketball but when I saw the football scholarship it changed my perspective on things. Just going up there and viewing the environment and meting the coaching staff was good. Its just good people there.”

Receivers coach Kerry Dixon and several other Gators coaches have been talking to Ruggs and sending a clear message to the receiver.

“Their main thing to me is that I have an opportunity to play early,” he said of Florida’s message. “They tell me not to be scared to go outside of the state of Alabama to play college football. They say I will get a chance to play as a freshman.”

Dixon not only has told Ruggs that he can play early in Gainesville but that he’s a needed weapon in the Gators offense.

“Coach Dixon is my main recruiter,” Ruggs said. “He says that he needs playmakers like me and he needs guys that can he get the ball in their hands and then make plays with it.”

The Gators recruiting coordinator Drew Hughes is a Montgomery native and that connection has helped him build a solid relationship with Ruggs.

“I talk to Coach [Drew] Hughes a lot because he’s from my area,” he said. “It helps us connect on a personal level and we talk a lot about things. I think he really cares about what is best for me.”

Now that Ruggs is finished up his high school football career the receiver is setting up visits for next month.

“I have no set dates but I’m planning to take officials next month to all of my top five schools,” Ruggs said. “Florida, Alabama, Auburn, Florida State and Penn State are those five schools that I’m considering.”

INSIDERS TAKE: Alabama and Florida are the two schools to watch the most followed by Auburn and then Florida State. Ruggs is big time playmaker who finished his senior year with over 1,000 total yards of offense and 20 touchdowns in just 10 games.