Kathleen senior Brendan Gant is a four-star prospect and considered one of the best safeties in the country. But that isn't enough for the Florida State commit.
He wants greatness, after discovering at a young age that he had a gift.
"In little league I was the best player on the team and i realized it just started getting easier the more I worked," said Gant.
Kathleen head coach Anthony Troutman has known Gant since he was young. "I first met and learned of Brendan from church actually. Me and his dad worked on the sound system together at church and Brendan used to hide under the sound system as a kid," Troutman said.
Brendan isn't messing with sound systems these days, but he's making plenty of noise on the field.
"He has a lot of natural gifts," Troutman said. "Great instincts, he has size, strength and he's able to put all those together...he has a great football mind."
Excelling at football is a family tradition for the Lakeland native.
"My uncle Kenny played here, went to college, played in the NFL for the Cowboys and Bucs. Won a Super Bowl. My dad, he's in the Grambling Football Hall of Fame now. Got a cousin at Tuskegee, he graduated from Lake Gibson, he went to Marshall," Gant said.
Brendan is the latest in the line of many great Polk County football players to be recruited by Bartow native and FSU associate head coach Odell Haggins.
"Always had a good relationship with Coach Haggins," Gant noted. "I always had a relationship with Coach Taggart from USF to Oregon to Florida State. Once he got there everything clicked, I was enjoying it more, having more fun and relationship-wise they really care for me."
It's fitting that Brendan would choose Florida State, considering who he models his game after.
"Jalen Ramsey and Derwin James," Gant said. "And that was before I committed. Jalen at corner and Derwin at safety, they're two different people and I feel like I'm a mix of both of them."
When noted that those are big shoes to fill and asked if Brendan was next, Gant replied, "Gotta be. There's no other option."