When the No. 10 LSU football team hosts No. 17 Florida this weekend, Tiger senior wide receiver Kadron Boone will be lining up against opponents who were almost his teammates.
After decommitting from Texas Tech, the Ocala, Fla., native seemed Florida-bound until the Tigers swooped in and nabbed him in the 11th hour.
“I took three visits, and the last visit I took was here,” Boone said. “Once I saw the depth chart, I was like, ‘Man, I really can’t beat this.’ I’m playing for a top notch program in the [Southeastern Conference] with the good education background. … Not to mention I get to go home and play Florida, so that had a little deciding factor as well.”
Surrounded by traditional powerhouses such as Florida, Florida State and Miami, Boone said football was virtually inescapable growing up.
“You start playing it as a young kid,” Boone said. “I’ve been playing football since I was 6. Football is that one sport that everyone knows about. Everybody does it. It is just a
football state.”
He heard nothing but talk about the Gators at Trinity Catholic High School, where he said a majority of his coaching staff were Florida alumni.
And as a Florida State fan who had cousins like former Florida linebacker Earl Everett, and former Miami and current Chicago Bears wide receiver Devin Hester, Boone said people were pulling him in all directions during the recruiting process.
His decision to play for LSU still dominates discussion when he returns to Florida.
“Every time I go home, that is the one thing people talk about,” Boone said. “I make them be quiet because I say I am 2-1 against the Gators. Not too many people
like that.”
He said the rivalry gets so heated that he and Everett refrain from speaking in the weeks Florida and LSU play each other.
In Boone’s three games against the Gators, he has caught one pass for 21 yards.
He will have his last chance to find the end zone against Florida this weekend in a top-25 matchup that will pit him and the rest of the SEC’s most pass efficient offense against the conference’s most effective
pass defense.
“I am really excited,” Boone said. “I know Death Valley is going to be really loud come Saturday, and I can’t wait for it.”
“Every time I go home, that is the one thing people talk about. …I make them be quiet because I say I am 2-1 against the Gators. Not too many people like that.”

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Angela Major

LSU senior wide receiver Kadron Boone (86) scores the Tigers' first touchdown on Saturday, Sept 28, 2013 during UGA's 44-41 victory against the Tigers in Sanford Stadium. Boone scored the first two touchdowns in the game.