Hopes are high in Gainesville that new Gators wide receiver, J. Michae Sturdivant, will soon re-establish himself as one of college football’s more productive receivers, after he earned First Team All-American honors from the Football Writers Association of America with California in 2022, when he caught 65 passes for 755 yards and seven touchdowns as a redshirt freshman. 

Sturdivant’s output dipped significantly in the following two seasons at UCLA, when he logged 58 receptions for 912 yards and six scores in double the games. 

The 2025 Florida transfer acquisition shares those wishes and has every reason to believe they can be achieved.

All Sturdivant needed to do was look at the resurgences of previous portal additions the Gators have made at wideout under head coach Billy Napier, with Ricky Pearsall, Chimere Dike and Elijhah Badger having accumulated career-highs in various receiving categories while running routes in orange and blue the last few years. Each player is now in the NFL; Pearsall became a first-round draft pick.

“I just knew the program, I knew the direction that the program was heading, the skill set that was here and their recent history with transfer portal receivers,” Sturdivant explained his decision to transfer to Florida on Friday. “So it was just a whole bunch of good things that were all trending upwards that I wanted to come and be a part of, and help this program win.”

Following Dike and Badger’s moves to the pros this year, which did not appear probable ahead of their transfers to Florida in 2024, Sturdivant’s experience and potential to rebound statistically will be relied upon within the Gators’ passing offense this season. 

The 6-foot-2.5, 213-pound Sturdivant brings 40 appearances and 30 starts worth of college playing time to the table. And while his box score numbers with the Bruins offered little to write home about, he established a single-season career-best 16.6 yards per catch with UCLA in 2023. His 14.3 yards per grab in 2024, when he logged a career-low 22 receptions, remained respectable. 

Sturdivant further commended Napier and UF wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales for the development he saw from Pearsall, Dike and Badger over the years, providing him confidence he can follow a similar trajectory in 2025.

“They did a great job while they were here. Billy G. and Napier, they know what they’re talking about,” Sturdivant expressed.

“So being able to see the progress that they had while they were here is obviously a good thing to see. So I came here, and I want to use my abilities the best I can to help this team win. And I trust Billy G and Coach Napier with everything. So I came here with a lot of belief, a lot of trust, and I’m excited to go out and play.”

Another appeal to Sturdivant in his transfer recruitment to Florida was who would be throwing him passes this season, Gators sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway, especially considering the signal-caller’s tendency to target receivers deep and the wideout’s ability to stretch the field. 

Lagway finished his 2024 freshman season with a 95.6 deep passing grade from Pro Football Focus, which ranked No. 3 among 150 qualifying FBS passers. Sturdivant’s yards-per-catch average in 2023 ranked No. 59 among 469 qualifying FBS pass-catchers that year, per Sports Reference.

“Lagway, he’s got a great deep ball, and I got a lot of speed and I love to make the big plays,” said Sturdivant. “So I feel like that’s like a match made in heaven. So I’m very excited to be able to go out and help DJ elevate, help this team make a lot of explosive plays.” 

Despite his vast playing experience, Sturdivant admits he is not yet a finished product as a receiver, and Florida has helped him improve his physical and athletic marks this offseason.

Sturdivant revealed that he has added roughly 15 pounds since joining the Gators’ strength and conditioning program, while establishing lifetime personal records in the weight room and, importantly, improving his speed despite his gains. He claims to have reached a top speed of roughly 23 miles per hour.

His new teammates have taken notice of his intriguing skill set.  

“J-Mike is another unique receiver, one of those bigger builds. I don’t know if you guys know in high school he also ran a 10.3 [second 100-meter dash] in track. So he’s got a lot of speed, too. Don’t let the size fool you. That kind of complements his game,” Gators cornerback Devin Moore remarked of Sturdivant July 31.

“He can outmuscle you at the catch point but he can also take you deep if you don’t get your hands on him. So he’s definitely brought another unique approach to the offense that I’m excited to see when it all comes together.”