Samantha Bohon Builds Gators Soccer, One Recruiting Class at a Time

The University of Florida has over 500 athletes across 19 sports who have either committed or transferred to become Gators. Florida soccer added six freshmen and five transfers before the 2025 season to help bring the program back to the top. 

After redshirting her first season at Penn State, freshman Addy Hess transferred to Florida. Her goal is to help a team that hasn’t qualified for the Southeastern conference tournament since 2021. 

“I liked the idea of being a part of something, rebuilding this program and getting the Gators back to the top, “Hess said. 

Around 50,000 athletes commit to Division I schools each year. The transfer portal gives athletes the power to move from school to school, in order to contribute from day one.

Florida’s 2025 freshmen class was headlined by Katie Johnston, the 52nd nationally ranked player and Kai Tsakiris, the 87th nationally ranked player, according to TopDrawerSoccer. Both players have started the last three games for the Gators. 

“They (the players) have a little more of an accelerated expectation, and we can offer that,” Bohon said. “We start two to three freshmen every game, and I think that’s really appealing to them.” 

Florida is not far away from being able to compete with the best in the SEC. Having brought in a successful 2025 class and loading up with promising 2026 talent.

Before the 2025 season began, Prep Soccer had Florida ranked as having the 11th best 2026 recruiting class. 

“I think this team is one recruiting class away from being competitive,” said Ben Chase, who maximizes players’ NIL opportunities as Florida’s director of NIL strategy. 

Recruiting top talent looks different at the University of Florida based on men’s and women’s sports. UF spent $3.5 million in recruiting expenses for male sports, while only spending $980,000 for women sports from 2023-2024, according to the Equality in Athletics Data Analysis. The school has eight male sports and 11 women sports.

Competition for recruits is at an all-time high. The days of teams being able to sweep the recruiting trail is over. More opportunities exist for athletes at a lot more schools, especially in the SEC. 

“Coach Bohon signed up to be a coach, but to compete she knows that she has to go out and pound the pavement for her program,” Chase said. 

The SEC motto is “it just means more.” However, the conference is also known to simply pay more than the competition.

Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee are three teams in the SEC that are estimated to average ($71,133) the highest revenue share pay to their players. 

Five SEC teams are currently ranked in the top 25: Tennessee (4), South Carolina (8), Arkansas (11), Georgia (19) and Vanderbilt (T21) – all of whom have large wallets that they’re looking to use. 

Despite the competition on and off the field, Bohon’s message about recruiting echoes that of Gators men’s basketball coach Todd Golden. 

“Todd Golden said it best: he wants to get guys that want to be Gators. We want to get families that want to be Gators, that are not choosing to come because we are paying them the most,” Bohon said. “They want to be a part of our mission and our culture.” 

Additionally, whether it was a life-long dream, falling in love with the campus or one of the country’s best academic programs. Florida always makes an effort to set its students athletes up for success. 

“We have these kids transfer here from schools like Stanford and Texas and they say, we didn’t have it like this there,” said Chase, who says many athletes are amazed by what Florida offers. 

“The average investment (for one athlete) right now, per year, is $120,000.” 

Over a four-year period, that totals nearly half a million dollars. A number that averages all college athletes across all sports at the University of Florida. 

The recipe for success does not only stem from money. Relationships matter when it comes to building a championship winning team. Florida prides themselves on their ability to build bonds with each other off the field. 

“I know at certain programs it isn’t like that, here you get the best of both worlds. You get soccer at this highly competitive level, and then you also get this family outside of soccer,” Hess said. “You need to have those people and that’s what this team gives you.”

 Lael Hill, who starts at Florida in the summer of 2026, currently attends Lake Highland Prep in Orlando. The team’s chemistry is something she can’t wait to be a part of. 

“I’m looking forward to getting to know the girls, I’m just so excited to go down there,” said Hill, who is the daughter of former Duke basketball player Grant Hill. 

While Gator soccer continues their rebuild, Duke women’s soccer (8-3-1) is No. 9 in the NCAA top 25.

The decision to steer away from Grant’s school was made easier with Florida’s offer. Hill first took notice of Florida while attending an ID camp in Gainesville in the summer of 2023.

Florida was the first school to reach out to Hill during her recruitment process. 

“I grew up as a Dukie,” Hill said. “Duke was always one of my dream schools.”  

“I fell in love with everything there, Duke will always have a place in my heart, but I’m a UF girl now,” Hill said. 

Bohon has elected to start at least one freshman in every SEC match this season – a strategy that has clearly worked out for the better. Despite only winning four games in the SEC since 2022, the top four-point leaders on this year’s team are all freshmen – Kai Tsakiris (12), Addy Hess (11), Sophia Sindelar (7) and Katie Johnston (6). 

The strategy has stood out to Hill since committing to the Gators.

“You don’t see other teams having freshmen so strong off the bat come into play,” Hill said. “Seeing that it just gives me and probably all the recruits in my class the courage to know we all have a chance to come in and play.”

Florida (6-5-3, 2-2-3 SEC), with three games remaining in SEC play, sits in 10th place. They are in a position to qualify for the SEC Tournament, which starts Sunday, Nov. 2.

If the Gators qualify, it would be for the first time under Bohon. 

When Bohon took over, 17 players had either transferred or quit the team. Now in year four, she’s been able to add the players who want to be Gators and have the mindset that it takes more than just one player to win.

“I don’t think you would find that at many other places. That might sound cliche,” Hess said. “I truly believe there’s something special here.”

Category: Gator Sports, Gators Soccer, SEC, Soccer, Uncategorized