Texas A&M has made itself at home in Florida, adding a second commit from the state in a matter of hours Tuesday.

West Boca Raton (Fla.) defensive back Loia Valade, who has yet to take his official visit to A&M, decided to pull the trigger on his commitment Tuesday afternoon. A&M tops two in-state schools, Miami and Florida, in obtaining his verbal pledge.

Valade had scheduled official visits to both Miami and UF, but cancelled his official visit to Miami, planned for last weekend, before making his move. He is expected to take his official visit to A&M June 12-14, and has an official currently scheduled with Florida this weekend — though that visit seems unlikely to happen at this point.

A native of Quebec, Valade also had Auburn in his list of finalists. Other teams with offers on the table included national champion Indiana, Florida State, Louisville, Arkansas and Virginia Tech.

Valade’s recruitment exploded this spring after his transfer to West Boca Raton. Fifteen offers, including from all four of his finalists, came since Jan. 27. The Aggies were one of his most recent offers, coming on May 1. But A&M made up ground quickly and impressed Valade enough to gain his commitment before he even took his official.

The 6-foot, 180-pound defensive back made 21 tackles with 2 interceptions — with one returned for a touchdown — in 2025. He has played safety at the high school level, but the Aggies are interested in him playing the nickel position.

Loia joins a highly impressive group of Florida high schoolers who have committed to the A&M recruiting class of 2027. He joins 4-star defensive end Frederick Ards, who committed this morning, 5-star EDGE Zyron Forstall and 5-star offensive lineman Mark Matthews.