Selected in the 44th round of the 2009 MLB Draft by the Chicago Cubs, right handed pitcher Frank DeJiulio (Ocala, FL) turned down a professional contract and decided to return to school. This week during the NCAA’s early signing period, DeJiulio officially accepted his scholarship and committed to the Florida Gators. Standing 6’3″, DeJiulio played one season for Daytona State College after high school and could be used as a starter or closer with the Gators.

Also signing national letters of intent with the Gators this week are setter Chanel Brown (Tempe, AZ) and libero Taylor Unroe (Muncie, IN). The two women, standing 5’9″ and 5’7″ respectively, are elite-level players who are both expected to compete as freshmen beginning in 2010. “In Chanel and Taylor, we have signed two elite athletes that bring both high-level skills and a lot of energy to the court,” volleyball head coach Mary Wise said. “Gator fans are going to enjoy watching them play throughout their careers.”

[UPDATE:] Apparently women’s basketball wanted to get in on the action too, signing four high school recruits to 2010 letters of intent on Wednesday. Forward Deaundra Young and guards Jaterra Bonds (Gainesville, FL), Kayla Lewis (Decatur, GA) and Brittany Shine (Sacramento, CA) all committed to head coach Amanda Butler, who could not have been more pleased to accept each of them. “There is not another group of players I would want to coach and I cannot wait to begin working with them,” Butler said. “These four players understand how special it is to be a Gator and that’s very important to me. They have great personalities, are super talented and each has a tremendous work-ethic.” Young, 6’2”, is the prize recruit of the class and is rated the nation’s 48th-best player (No. 8 forward) according to ESPN HoopGurlz. She is the niece of LaShawnda Jackson, a former letterwinner with the Florida track and field team. ESPN also ranks Lewis as the No. 16 small forward, Shine as the No. 25 guard and Bonds as the No. 32 shooting guard.

Much has been made this season about the Florida Gators struggles on offense and that unit’s inability to capitalize on red zone opportunities. Following up on this issue, sports information director Steve McClain passed along some statistics to the media that are basically aimed to do one thing: make people question whether criticisms about the offense are overblown.

In Southeastern Conference games, Florida has:

• 1,506 net rushing yards (1st in SEC)
• 2,661 total net yards (1st)
• 21 touchdowns (T-1 – Georgia)
• 11 rushing touchdowns (T-1 – Auburn)
• 146 first downs (1st)
• 85 rushing first downs (1st)
• 144.5 passer rating (1st)
• 66.7 completion percent (1st)
• 32:56 time of possession (1st)
• 28.1 points per game (2nd)
• 4.8 yards per carry (T-2 – Arkansas)
• 380.1 ypg (3rd)

Is this a perception versus reality issue? Is the offense simply better on paper than it appears? Is this just more proof that the Gators could be truly dominant and blowing out opponents if their offense was truly running on all cylinders? Does any of this matter?

Discuss in the comments section!

Chicago Bulls forward/center Joakim Noah is a good basketball player. In 2007, Chicago Tribune columnist Rick Morrissey disagreed. Morrissey published a column, “You must be Joakim,” after Noah was drafted, stating that the Florida Gators product “was soft, had the shooting form of a fourth-grader and simply didn’t have game.” Morrissey went on to contend that, if he was wrong and Noah succeeded in the NBA, he would drizzle salsa on the column and eat it.

Almost two-and-a-half years, 1,105 points, 1,109 rebounds, 205 assists, 190 blocks and 120 steals later, Morrissey fulfilled his promise and literally ate his words in front of Noah and Bulls rookie James Johnson…with a dash of hot sauce. “It tasted like a crow enchilada,” he said. With so many writers prognosticating players’ careers before they even step foot on a professional court or field, it is refreshing to watch (see video below) as one owns up to his mistake when proven wrong. “To me, it’s interesting how I see older people writing things about me that aren’t particularly true,” Noah said.

This week, OGGOA asked you to vote for your Most Valuable Player in the Florida Gators game last weekend against the Vanderbilt Commodores. 238 of you registered votes and the results are in:

TE Aaron Hernandez (60%, 144 votes)

RB Jeff Demps (21%, 49 votes)

QB Tim Tebow (19%, 45 votes)

This is Hernandez’ first OGGOA MVP award, though he has received plenty of votes on other occasions. Standing out as the team’s most reliable pass catcher, his stock continues to rise both in the NCAA ranks and among pro scouts. This led OGGOA to its latest poll question: Which offensive player has the greatest potential for NFL success? Head over to the right sidebar and cast your vote!

1 » In 2008, the Florida Gators defeated the South Carolina Gamecocks 56-6 in The Swamp, handing head coach Steve Spurrier the worst loss of his career. A year later, Gamecocks players are inspired and more confident in their ability to compete and potentially defeat the Gators. “They haven’t done as much as they’ve done last year,” defensive tackle Nathan Pepper said. “But they’ve definitely done a lot this season.”

2 » Speaking of South Carolina, Spurrier said Tuesday that he will be taking over his team’s play calling beginning this week against Florida. Spurrier’s decision came based on the fact that the Gamecocks are struggling to score points and have not scored more than 16 in any of their last four Southeastern Conference games.

3 » Gators offensive coordinator Steve Addazio had an interesting day in front of the media on Tuesday. According to transcripts, Addazio went on…and on…and on…for eight minutes about his offense, game planning and the team being undefeated. You can read the “short” form here, listen to the audio here or read the entire transcript here.

More on Harvin and Murphy, SEC coaching salaries and Walker after the jump…
Continue Reading » SIX BITS: SC confident; Spurrier; Addazio speaks; Harvin/Murphy; coaching salaries; Walker Q&A

Four-star cornerback Joshua Shaw (Palmdale, CA) has announced that he will officially commit to a university of his choosing Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 10 a.m. (PST). One of the best at his position in the country, Shaw has received scholarship offers from many top programs including the Florida Gators, LSU Tigers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Ohio State Buckeyes, USC Trojans and Washington Huskies. He has visited (either officially or unofficially) all of these schools (and more) and just got back from Gainesville, FL, after visiting for the Vanderbilt Commodores game this past weekend.

“I was going to wait until Christmas and then go public at the [Under Armor] Game, but I just want to get it over with,” Shaw said. “I’ve done a lot of traveling, and I’m pretty tired with the process now so I want to end it. I have some great options, and I really enjoyed the whole process. I don’t want to narrow it down to two or three or anything, I’m just going to pick one school. Of course I have a school in mind right now, but I’m going to take the next week to let everything sink in and then I’ll be ready.”

Nothing can be predicted at the moment, but Gators fans have good reason to feel confident. Shaw traveled across the country to see Florida on an unofficial visit (meaning he paid his own way) less than two months after taking his official visit on Sept. 18. That he is ready to make a decision so soon after returning could be indicative that Shaw’s weekend visit helped him make up his mind. There had previously been speculation that the Gators had already passed the Buckeyes as the leader for his services.

OGGOA will have an update on Shaw’s status as soon as he makes the announcement.

For those of you that have been with us for 40 days and for those of you whose visit today was their first, I just wanted to take a moment and apologize for the severe downtime experienced by ONLY GATORS Get Out Alive during its peak hours Tuesday afternoon. While much of it was no doubt caused by the influx of server requests from all of you Florida Gators fans looking for the latest information on the team’s new uniforms and the status of five-star safety commitment Matt Elam, the server we are hosted on also experienced some problems of its own.

If you know me, you know that I pride myself on providing you all with the most immediate, up-to-date and accurate news possible. Having a server that is down when the Web site needs to rely on it the most makes achieving these goals impossible. With that being said, OGGOA will be switching hosts within the next 48 hours so none of this should be an issue going forward. It will remain active throughout the entire process, so please continue to visit the the site as usual for news and information.

I appreciate all of your continued support and dedication to the site. Without Gator Nation storming OGGOA in record numbers the last two days, I may not have realized the need for hosting improvement. The one positive that will come out of this is that OGGOA will be faster and more reliable, meaning you will never again have to question whether or not the site is up and active.

Regards,

Adam Silverstein
Owner, editor

On Monday, OGGOA reported that the Florida Gators would be unveiling a special uniform for their final home game of the 2009 season against the Florida State Seminoles. Two sources close to OGGOA provided us with exclusive information regarding the Gators special uniforms, including a picture of the gloves that will be worn for the game. OGGOA has now also uncovered a picture of the uniform.

Last week, OGGOA received images of brand new Nike Pro Combat uniforms that FSU plans to wear on Nov. 21 against the Maryland Terrapins. These uniforms will be worn by the Seminoles, Gators and eight other teams to promote Nike’s new line.

Each team has its own tagline, too: Florida Gators – Finish the Mission; Florida State Seminoles – Fear the Spear; Virginia Tech Hokies – Good Guys Wear White; TCU Horned Frogs – Never Back Down; Ohio State Buckeyes – Earned; Oklahoma Sooners – Stake Our Claim; Texas Longhorns – It Only Takes Eleven; LSU Tigers – Cochon De Lait; Missouri Tigers – Beast Mode; Miami Hurricanes – The U Knows

Nike’s Pro Combat uniforms are said to be 37% lighter than current designs and utilize a four-way stretch twill that does not hold sweat or water. Additional features include Nike’s Dri-FIT technology, evaporation and cooling zones, more padding zones and improved ventilation and breathability. Players will also wear Nike Vapor Trail 2.0 gloves (see above) and Nike Zoom Air cleats that are light weight and feature better cushioning in the heel. Below you will find a more detailed picture of FSU’s uniform: