Report: Floyd’s eligibility hearing held Tuesday

By Adam Silverstein
September 6, 2011

Though it has neither been confirmed by the University of Florida nor the NCAA, a hearing to determine Florida Gators sophomore defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd’s eligibility was reportedly held on Tuesday.

The Gainesville Sun’s Jeff Barlis, who spoke to Floyd’s high school head coach Ron Cohen, reports that Cohen wrote a letter describing “Floyd’s background, his character and what kind of clothing and travel expenses were paid for by Cohen and other members of Floyd’s George Washington High School community,” which was sent to UF and presented at the hearing.

“It was about an hour-and-a-half hearing,” Cohen told the Sun. “They told their side and [the NCAA] listened. Now they have to interpret it and decide how they want to react to it. There was no indication. We just have to wait and see.”

Cohen has been the only party who has spoken about Floyd’s situation and has consistently held that, to his knowledge, the player did nothing wrong in high school that should have his eligibility held in question.

Floyd, one of the nation’s top prospects, was invited to the 2010 U.S. Army All-American Bowl but could not afford the travel costs. In an effort to help him finance the trip, his guidance counselor Dawn Seeger suggested he participate in a bake sale; it raised enough money to send him to San Antonio, TX.

“Supposedly that’s part of it,” Cohen said Tuesday. “That’s why I was questioned. I know the cookie sale was still being brought into it. But again, I don’t know. I wasn’t there. I don’t know how it went. They didn’t tell me.”

While at the event, Floyd was one of three top-rated prospects (linebacker Ronald Powell, safety Matt Elam) to commit to the Gators.

Though Cohen has mentioned the bake sale specifically, the NCAA could have other concerns about Floyd’s eligibility. With everyone staying tight-lipped about the situation, more may not be known until a final decision is made – likely in the coming days.

Five-star defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd (Philadelphia, PA) choosing the Gators

13 Comments

  1. aaron says:

    What if shariff had a job to pay for his expenses, its the same thing. He worked for his money how can you be inneligable? Also, how is it wrong for your community to help you out? The ncaa is ridiculous.

    • SC Gator says:

      Remember, this is the same group that suspended Shepard for LSU’s game vs Oregon not because of the inquiry into his housing arrangements but because he talked about it with another player and a beat reporter reported it and who took away Oklahoma St’s Dez Bryant’s entire senior year not because he met with Deion Sanders (he was cleared of wrongdoing there) but because he initially panicked and told them he hadn’t met him. Random, strange, and ridiculous are the hallmarks of the NCAA at work.

  2. Gio Showtime says:

    I’m guessing we’re going to have some forfeit some games from last year if he is found guilty??

  3. Spike says:

    Cam newton- dad solicits $180,000 and likely got more from auburn; takes 1 day to make decision. Community – with no stake in college choice- helps raise $200 via cupcakes- ongoing process. Ridiculous.

  4. SaraGator says:

    His story reminds of the Orr (The Blind Side) story, where the community comes together to support a kid with potential and drive to be successful.

    He seems to be like a good kid. Hope the NCAA can see that.

  5. goldengator says:

    You know, I find it odd that Sherif was completely open about the bake sale in your interview with him and this is somehow a concern of the NCAA. It sounds to me, if this is the reason they ruled him ineligible, he is deserved an apology.
    But, obviously it could be something more detrimental to him and hopefully there is nothing to this investigation. I think the fact that Cohen and Sherif have been honest and forthright this will be a non-issue and he’ll be back on saturday.

  6. Ken (CA) says:

    The more that trickles out, the more i think this is much ado about nothing. Either the NCAA is going to make an example for no reason to show it is being a lot tougher on recruiting, or it is going to say all is ok, and go play.

    It seems like nothing so far that has come out is an issue, and he is being targeted as a very high profile athlete because he is a definite NFL high round pick next year or 2013.

  7. Tractorr says:

    The NCAA is under a lot of scrutiny right now with the high profile cases and they want to make sure they are doing everything by the book. More importantly if this case is only about a bake sale there may be a larger issue. The rules probably are a little murky on this issue and the NCAA does not want to accidentally set a precedent that people can exploit to more nefarious ends down the line.

  8. Jesse C says:

    This is complete bullsh$t. The NCAA has bigger fish to fry. The NCAA knew about the bake sale before he put that gator hat on… hell, it was such a heart-warming story that ESPN televised it as such. His story should be cherished not scrutinized. The NCAA gave a few ‘Canes a couple games for taking money and gifts they didn’t NEED to buy some bling or stuff strippers’ G-strings. A supportive community (look at all the people in the embedded video with the Sharrif shirts on) and a good kid who had a rough childhood shouldn’t be subjected to this crap.

  9. Will W says:

    The NCAA has disappointed once again. I am baffled by this one.

  10. CeeThree says:

    everyone freaking out over the bake sale, we don’t even know if that’s what this is about, his HS coach is just speculating. It would seem a little odd to me that they are just investigating it now (if that’s what it’s about), since it was fairly public knowledge for a year plus, though I know the NCAA has been busy.

    This whole situation just seems really sketchy, and I truly hope it has nothing to do with UF, that no one related to the program in anyway did anything wrong, and for Sharrif to be back out on the field asap for his sake first and ours.

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