Head coach Billy Napier made clear who will serve as a focal point to the Florida football offense in 2024. After Eugene Wilson III posted 8 catches for 128 yards, including a 60-yard TD catch, in UF’s spring game, Napier said he intended to get his “money’s worth” from Wilson entering the 2024 season.

Napier re-iterated that point before the start of Florida Gators fall camp on Tuesday, when asked about getting the ball in the hands of playmakers.

“We’re always going to be intentional about who we get the ball to,” Napier said. “Tre Wilson being at the top of that list for sure.”

Last season, Wilson earned All-SEC freshman honors, with 61 catches for 538 yards and a team-high 6 TDs. With UF leading receiver Ricky Pearsall gone to the NFL, Wilson will become the primary target for quarterback Graham Mertz.

Wilson also showed the ability to carry the ball on jet sweeps as a true freshman, with six carries for 55 yards, including a long of 18 yards.

“I most definitely don’t disagree with him,” Wilson said about Napier wanting to get him more touches in 2024. “But at the same time, it’s a team game and being able to give our team the best chances to win and drop down and get in the box as many times in the game as you can to give our team the best chance to win.”

Wilson said he’s even open to getting more involved in the return game on special teams this season after returning one punt and one kickoff last season.

“I feel like, especially in our past, we’ve had a lot of returners that, you know, had the game in their hands just off of returns, punt returns, kick returns,” Wilson said. “So just being able to have that aspect to change the game, I feel like something I really look forward to.”

How Florida football WR Eugene Wilson III is preparing for more usage in 2024

The 5-foot-10, 183-pound Wilson said he’s ready for the challenge of more touches in 2024. He’s put on about 10 pounds of muscle on the offseason training with new UF strength and conditioning coach Tyler Miles, which should help him handle the contact he will receive in the physical SEC.

“From the winter to the spring, I put on about 10 pounds and really just tried maintaining it over the summertime with the heat and all the sweat and all that,” Wilson said. “I was trying to lose no weight, but at the same time, I’m not trying to be too heavy; trying to keep a little twitch going. But the strength staff, they do a really good job helping us maintain and getting stronger every day.”

Recovery is another important aspect to surviving the grind of fall camp and a 12-game season. Wilson said he picked up tips from watching the Netflix documentary “Receiver” to better take care of his body.

That includes more trips to the cold tank to alleviate muscle soreness and prevent muscle pulls.

“I would say a lot of it is probably not fun,” Wilson said. “But at the end of the day you have to take care of your body because it’s a moneymaker.”

Wilson’s combination of speed (he was clocked as high as 22 miles per hour over the summer) and shiftiness make him a tough cover for opposing SEC defensive backs.

“He is one of the best receivers in the SEC and I’m glad that, one, he’s on my team and two, I get to go against him every day,” Florida senior cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. said. “Iron sharpens iron. He goes out there, he practices hard. He challenges me. I challenge him. It’s only going to make us better.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency Thursday ahead of a tropical disturbance brewing in the Caribbean.

The odds of development continue to increase for the tropical disturbance, dubbed Invest 97L, as it churns closer to the US.

However, the details of its potential impacts on the US remain murky, the FOX Forecast Center said.

The system may or may not organize into a tropical depression, perhaps even a tropical storm, late in the weekend or early next week as it slides into the Gulf of Mexico. 

Where is Invest 97L?

According to the NHC, the well-defined tropical wave is producing a large area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms over Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, the Southeastern Bahamas and the adjacent waters of the southwestern Atlantic and northeastern Caribbean Sea. 

“Development of this system should be slow to occur during the next day or so while it moves west-northwestward over portions of the Greater Antilles,” NHC said in its latest outlook.

“However, environmental conditions are forecast to be more conducive for development after the wave passes the Greater Antilles, and a tropical depression is likely to form this weekend or early next week over the eastern Gulf of Mexico near the Florida Peninsula.”

Interests across the Greater Antilles, Bahamas and Florida should continue to monitor the progress of this system, the NHC notes.

The disturbance has low but growing odds of developing in the next two days, and now the NHC increased the odds into the “high” category for development within a week.

Florida flood threat increases

The latest model projections indicate that the storm will move in the general direction of Florida and the eastern Gulf of Mexico, though uncertainty remains.

However, a couple of issues are consistent in the various predictions, says FOX Weather Hurricane Specialist Bryan Norcross.

“The system will drag a lot of moisture across the Florida peninsula and possibly surrounding states. Flooding rains are possible,” he said.

“(Second), the system will stall and remain near the northern half of Florida or the nearby areas for a number of days. Areas from the northern Gulf coast to the Carolinas could be affected, and a looping track where the storm impacts the same areas multiple times is not out of the question.”

Since the storm could develop quickly and close to Florida, there would be little time to prepare.

“Your prep time is going to be about 24 hours, if that,” said FOX Weather Meteorologist Britta Merwin if the storm does develop near Florida.

“We could see this pull together when we already have rain moving on land. If this does develop, everything’s going to happen very quickly. So you need to make sure that you’re thinking about that and preparing you and your family for that potential.”

If the system strengthens into a tropical storm, it will be named Debby – the fourth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season.

But named storm or not, the system is promising heavy rains for Florida, especially the Gulf Coast side.

“Florida will have heavy rain no matter what happens from this, so you need to at least be prepared for that,” Merwin said.

“So Saturday, Sunday and Monday, we know we’re going to have heavy rain across Florida, and flooding is a potential.”

A Florida man was arrested after he allegedly left his 10-year-old daughter on the side of the road. The incident came after the grandparents said they would “involve law enforcement,” affidavit says.

A Florida man was arrested on Tuesday after police said he threw his 10-year-old daughter out of his car in the night, court records show.  

The father was arrested around Scott Boulevard and West Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway in Kissimmee after several witnesses said they saw him throwing his daughter and her belongings out of the vehicle on July 30, according to the affidavit obtained by USA TODAY. 

Witnesses to the incident said around 12:40 a.m. they saw a man throw the 10-year-old and her toys at her from a silver Toyota Tundra and flee the scene. The girl was visibly upset and was crying as her father left her there, the affidavit said.  

The affidavit said one of the witnesses decided to follow the father after he fled the scene. The witness said the man was driving at a high-speed rate, failed to stop for several red lights and nearly collided with other drivers on the road. The witness called law enforcement to conduct a traffic stop on the man as he continued to follow him on the highway.  

Child Death: 9-month-old boy dies in backseat of hot car after parent forgets daycare drop-off

Deputies are dispatched to help the 10-year-old left by her father 

Around 12:47 a.m. deputies from the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a juvenile being left unattended in Kissimmee, the affidavit said.  

The affidavit said when a deputy arrived, the 10-year-old girl approached the patrol car. The deputy said the girl was, “visibly distraught; her face was red, and she was actively crying.” She told the deputy that her father dropped her off in the area and she was walking to her grandparents’ house, but her father took her phone before leaving her in the area.  

The 10-year-old girl was returned to her grandparents’ home and deputies informed them of the incident, the affidavit said.  

Father tells deputies about incident with daughter  

After conducting a traffic stop, the man was read his Miranda Rights, the affidavit said. 

The affidavit said that the man told responding deputies that he had a verbal agreement with his daughter’s grandparents regarding visitation. His daughter lives with the grandparents, and they sent a text message to him around 12:00 a.m. on Tuesday. In one of the messages the grandparents said that, “if he did not return (their granddaughter) to the residence, they would involve law enforcement.” 

The man then told deputies that he left his daughter in the area and told her to walk to her grandparents’ house which is approximately a 21-minute walk, the affidavit said. 

Florida father is facing charges  

According to records in the Osceola County Corrections database, the man is facing the following felony charge:  

• 1 count of child neglect with great bodily harm  

The Florida father’s bond is set at $5,000. A next court date has not been set.  

USA TODAY reached out to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office for comment but have not heard back.

Ahjané Forbes is a reporter on the National Trending Team at USA TODAY. Ahjané covers breaking news, car recalls, crime, health, lottery and public policy stories. Email her at aforbes@gannett.com. Follow her on Instagram, Threads and X (Twitter) @forbesfineest.