Four-star recruit Samson Ruzhentsev verbally committed to Florida on Friday, he tells 247Sports.

“I’m going to Florida,” Ruzventsev said. “It really came down to Ole Miss and Florida. It was a really hard choice for me. At first, before I visited Florida, my favorite was Ole Miss, but then after I visited I just felt like it was the place that I wanted to be. I had a better connection with the players.”

Ruzhentsev, a standout at Chattanooga (Tenn.) Hamilton Heights, took an official visit to Florida this past weekend. He also visited Ole Miss and was also strongly considering Illinois, Stanford and Georgia Tech.

“I love the coaching staff and I’m really comfort around them,” Ruzhentsev said. “It’s a big time program. They have players that will be in the NBA next year. Their style of play, they play fast and four out on the perimeter. I think it fits me."

Florida’s coaching staff has been aggressively recruiting Ruzhentsev for over a year, and through that were able to build a strong bond with him.

“They offered at the beginning of my junior year and started recruiting me end of my junior year hard,” he said. “They’ve been down multiple times and they talk to me. It wasn’t really hard to build a relationship with them. They are really good people.”

Ruzhentsev ranks No. 110 overall in the 247Sports Composite Rankings, but No. 53 overall and as the No. 14 small forward in the Top247. Over the summer Ruzhentsev played for Russia in the FIBA u18 European Championships. In six games, Ruzhentsev averaged 12.3 points and 3.2 rebounds a game.

“They’ll lose Scottie Lewis next year and he's their only true three and they want me to compete to take his spot,” Ruzhentsev said.

Ruzhentsev is Florida’s first verbal commitment in the 2020 recruiting class.