Florida Football Wide receiver Eugene Wilson III received a loud ovation shortly after throwing the first pitch at a recent UF baseball game at Condron Family Ballpark.
The sophomore threw himself off the mound, and although he quickly jumped to the plate, the applause came anyway.
As the main return receiver for the Florida alligators In 2024, the 5-foot-11, 181-pound Wilson had an electric performance in UF’s spring game, finishing with 8 receptions for 128 yards and a touchdown.
“I feel like this set the standard,” Wilson said. “It’s something I’m just trying to make a habit of, every game this year.”
Wilson quickly became one of the faces of the Florida football program after a successful 2023 season. His six touchdown receptions led all UF receivers, and he earned freshman All-SEC and All-America honors with 61 receptions for 533 yards .
This resulted in Name, Image and Likeness opportunities as Wilson’s appearance at the baseball game was part of a Florida Victorious event. He has also signed NIL agreements with Alsander GNV, a student apartment complex near campus, Crunch Fitness and Through the storm clothing. As part of the deal with Through the Storm, Wilson is donating $3 from all t-shirt sales to his local youth football team, the Keystone Bills.
Florida football’s game plan for the 2024 season will feature ways to get the ball into the hands of Wilson, who coaches and teammates call Tre.
“We’re going to make Tre Wilson count,” Florida coach Billy Napier said. “I can promise you that.”
How Super Bowl-Winning Dad Boosted Florida Football, WR Eugene Wilson III
Breakout season didn’t come without a lot of work. Since elementary school, Wilson has coached extensively with his father, Eugene Wilson Jr., a former All-American defensive back at Illinois who had a seven-year NFL career with the New England Patriots (2003-07), Tampa Bay Buccaneers. (2008) and Houston Texans (2009-10).
The elder Wilson won back-to-back Super Bowls with the Patriots under Bill Belichick in 2004 and 2005, around the time Trey was born.
“That was the plan,” said Wilson Jr. “I wanted to have my kids a little earlier so that when they got older, I could still move around and play with them or train with them… I was about 23.” when I had Tre and I mean, it was amazing to be able to interact with your son in a sports environment.”
A native of Merrillville, Indiana, in the northwest part of the state, Wilson Jr. chose to settle in Tampa because of the climate and the opportunities that high school football in Florida could offer his son. Tre went to live with his father when he was 11 years old.
“I taught him how to get in shape and how to get in shape by running,” said Wilson Jr. “I showed him drills and things he could do on his own, but at the same time we would go out and make him run and throw balls, and sometimes he ran routes with me.”
When Tre Wilson was a sophomore in high school, he got the best of his father during a practice at a local park.
“He turned on his little camera and we were making throws,” said Wilson Jr. “He hit me with a shake and my foot came out from under me and I slipped.”
The video clip circulated among family and friends.
“Everyone in the family heard about it,” Wilson Jr. said. “But I don’t feel bad about it, if someone’s going to do it to me, I want my son to do it, so it was a really funny clip, and you know he was very excited and enthusiastic about it. ”
Tre Wilson emerged as a two-way stop at Gaither High in Tampa, playing both wide receiver and defensive back, but gravitated toward wide receiver during his junior and senior years.
“His freshman year was when he really learned how to train as a receiver,” said Wilson Jr. “So when we got into games, it was just night and day, man, this guy is built to catch the ball and score touchdowns. It all seems quite easy sometimes.”
How Florida football WR Eugene Wilson III is approaching the offseason
Tre Wilson still trains with his father in Tampa during the offseason and lifts weights in the family garage after father and son built a bench press and squat rack during the COVID pandemic.
“At his age, he can still do it,” Tre Wilson said. “So he helps me with the release work, even if it’s just conditioning, it doesn’t really matter.”
Napier said Wilson’s training with his father helped him quickly acclimate to the college game, despite not enrolling early like many of his 2023 freshman teammates. Wilson played in 10 games as a UF freshman, making seven starts .
“One of the things I love about Tre is that when you talk to his dad, it’s not nonsense,” Napier said. “He raised Tre the right way. Tre is a competitor, he’s tough. He definitely understands the business side; he has great practice habits; he trains hard; and he’s in the game. He’s a student of the game and has worked that’s your skill.”
This article originally appeared in The Gainesville Sun: Florida football receiver Eugene Wilson emerging as the face of the program
