John was, a four-star center in the 2024 recruiting cycle, is committed to Florida on Saturday through Connecticut, Michigan, Missouri, Texas, USC and Wake Forest. Paul also considered skipping the college basketball route and joining the Overtime Elite, a developmental professional basketball league for kids ages 16-20 based in Atlanta.
“I’m going to the University of Florida,” He was told by 247Sports. “It’s a good program and it really works for me. Ultimately, my goal is to make it NBA And I feel like being in Florida is what works best for me. SEC, how do they play there, the style of play is such that I feel if I go there, I will be successful and eventually achieve my goal. Florida is a program that I think we can also run in. I think we can run and win the championship too.”
Paul, who plays for Sunrise Christian in Wichita, Kansas, is rated the 29th prospect overall and the #3 prospect in the 2024 recruiting cycle. He’s Florida’s highest-rated prospect, Todd Golden, since joining the Gators program from San Francisco last season.
“Coach Todd, he’s a young but really experienced coach, he’s a really good guy and a really good coach,” Paul told 247Sports. “There are so many things I like about him. I like the way he talks and I really like the way he coaches. I’ve been there for a couple of training sessions and he’s been there with the guys and active. Just on the bench yelling what to do. He also shows them what to do.” They have to do it and how to do it. He’s a really good guy and I think he’ll be able to help me.”
The 7-foot-1 big guy helps Florida jump to 26th overall in the 2024 247Sports team rankings and third in the SEC behind Texas A&M and Auburn. Florida’s other commitment in the season is four-star guard Isaiah Brown, who committed to the program last month.