Cormani McClain’s reputation precedes him; in rumors, he’s knee-deep. The same reputation that scared away the colleges from recruiting him when he left the Colorado program after a good back and forth. While McClain alleged that Deion Sanders and Co. ‘play for the clicks’, Prime unveiled the harsh facts about McClain. Being late to practice more often than not or not watching films sincerely were some common complaints of Deion Sanders, making him put McClain out of the field. After McClain left Buffs, the Gators came as his road to A-game, a team to whom he committed to be better when he joined the team a month ago.

The recent rumors, however, begged to differ from the statement McClain had made about the Gators. Reports of McClain continuing his behavioral issues of being late and tardy repeatedly, even in the Gators, have emerged. At one point, a report claimed that the Gators’ head coach Billy Napier had booted McClain from the campus. This brought in a ton of criticism from fans worldwide (which is about to make a complete 180 flip just with a statement from head coach Napiers). These rumors were making headlines until Napier came out clean with his statement on McClain.

“He’s doing fine,” Napier said, reassuring the Gators fans. “A lot of this gets blown out of proportion. He’s a young player,” the Florida head coach added, not denying the tardiness from McClain’s end. Rather, he made it more direct. “Obviously, we’re well aware of his history,” Napier said. Even Colorado admitted that McClain was not a ‘mature player‘. Deion Sanders Jr. of Colorado commented that even though McClain might be a ‘cool kid’, “He’s still growing up, he’s still maturing.” Yet, Gators head coach Napier does not have a problem with giving McClain the room to mature and grow in his team, given the five-star CB phenom he is.

Now, all the fans who were bringing McClain down based on the rumor are feeling bad. As a result, McClain now has a squad of supporters speaking up for him on X. Hurling an allegation against schools of ‘forming an agenda’ against McClain’, a fan commented, “Thanks Scott for shutting up people with an agenda from other schools.” The next ones are even more intriguing!

Fans stand up at Cormani McClain’s defense.

While Napier has made clear that he is ready to let McClain grow, a fan proposed that McClain is already growing as a CB under Coach Napier. “In his pre-press conference meeting with writers, Napier said Cormani McClain reports overblown. Said McClain is fitting in, has added 10 pounds and learning about high expectations in program,” commented a fan on X, highlighting the buried developments of McClain in the team.

Another fan chimed in saying, “He’s a good locker room leader,” another fan said, reiterating what Deion Sanders Jr. said about McClain having a ‘lot of friends in the locker room‘. Another fan lauded all the efforts McClain put in to prove the rumors wrong. “I was unsure about Cormani McClain, but he has had his best week since he’s been here I am rooting hard for, the kid to prove everyone wrong me included even tho I do follow recruiting as hard as anyone I was a bit nervous about the take tbh but not now we need to win now,” the fan said on X, putting words to each Cormani McClain’s supporters’ feelings.

However, just like the second side of the coin, fans believed that Napier was ‘covering for McClain’. “Napier is covering for him. Learning about high expectations is code for: he has had some missteps and we are trying to teach him right from wrong,” a fan highlighted. Another fan came in with a classic anecdote, one that made the spectators laugh out loud. “All of us men with significant others know what “fine” really means,” the fan wrote, implying that Napier was indeed covering up for McClain’s laziness. So, what do you think it is? Is Napier covering up or is McClain truly serious about the program?