P Johnny Townsend: commit No. 30 | OL/TE Trevon Young: commit No. 29 | JUCO DT Jarran Reed: commit No. 28 | DT Jay-nard Bostwick: commit No. 27 | Muschamp discusses class; assistants evaluate signees | Video interviews with coaches | “Closing”, quarterback situation

Courtesy of the University of Florida‘s University Athletic Association:

EARLY ENROLLEES (8)

Alex Anzalone • Linebacker
6’3″ • 220 • Wyomissing, PA (Wyomissing Area)
PRIOR TO FLORIDA: Helped Wyomissing High to its first Class AA state championship in 2012, finishing 16-0, a school single-season record for wins…Selected to the 2013 Under Armour All-American Game…Finished his senior year with over 1,000 rushing yards and 30 touchdowns from the fullback position and registered more than 100 tackles…Earned a spot on the 247Sports Class of 2013 All-America team…Named senior Class AA Player of the Year as part of the 2012 Pennsylvania Sports Writers All-State Team…As a junior, was named first team all-state, all-region and all-county…In 2011, ran for over 900 yards and scored 13 touchdowns and was named to the all-state team…Invited to “The Opening”, an all-star summer prospect camp held on the Nike Campus…Chose Florida over Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, USC, UCLA, Miami, Tennessee, Pitt, Stanford, Georgia and Florida State…Coached by Bob Wolfrum.

Darious Cummings • Defensive tackle
6’1″ • 310 • Titusville, FL (Astronaut/Florida St./East Mississippi CC)
PRIOR TO FLORIDA: Played in all 10 games during the 2012 season at EMCC, tallying 26 tackles (12 unassisted) with 4.0 TFL (12 yards), 3.0 sacks, two quarterback hurries and one forced fumble…EMCC finished 8-2 on the year and ranked 15th in the final NJCAA poll…Anchored a defense that allowed just 74.2 rushing yards per game…Notched a season-high four tackles twice during the season, against Pearl River CC and Itawamba CC…Played under head coach Buddy Stephens at EMCC…Spent two years at Florida State before transferring to EMCC…Played in three games as a true freshman and two games as a sophomore before suffering an injury that caused him to miss most of the 2011 season…Totaled seven tackles in five career games at FSU…Missed the spring of 2012 at FSU after arthroscopic knee surgery and then transferred to EMCC in the summer of 2012…Entered his senior year of high school with 159 tackles, including 22 for loss and 15 sacks…Was the first commit in FSU’s 2010 signing class…Was a Florida Super 75 selection by the Times-Union…Named to SunStateFootball.com all-state first team in 2009…Attended the same high school as former Gator football players LB Wilber Marshall, WR Cris Collinsworth and TE Aaron Walker…Chose Florida over offers from Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Arkansas.

Continue Reading » Florida Gators 2013 National Signing Day bios

Tags: Adam Lane, Ahmad Fulwood, Alex Anzalone, Alvin Bailey, Antonio Riles, Caleb Brantley, Cameron Dillard, Chris Thompson, Daniel McMillian, Darious Cummings, Demarcus Robinson, Jarrad Davis, Jarran Reed, Jay-nard Bostwick, Joey Ivie, Jordan Sherit, Keanu Neal, Kelvin Taylor, Marcell Harris, Marqui Hawkins, Matt Rolin, Max Staver, Nick Washington, Octavius Jackson, Roderick Johnson, Trenton Brown, Tyler Moore, Vernon Hargreaves

Considering so much has gone on over the last few days in regards to the Florida Gators, the OGGOA Week In Review returns for its third edition. (Yes, it is just covering a four-day period, but let’s just all agree to ignore that.) Be sure to check out all of the posts in case you happened to miss a thing or two.

FOOTBALL RECRUITING / FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
» The day before Friday Night Lights was set to commence, Florida received a commitment from 2013 defensive back Vernon Hargreaves III (Tampa, FL), who vaulted the program five spots from 10th to 5th in the Rivals team recruiting rankings and immediately became the Gators’ highest-rated player of the cycle.

» Florida doubled up on commitments before FNL even began as three-star defensive end Antonio Riles (Lawrenceville, GA) chose UF over Georgia and committed even though he could not make it to campus for the event.

» There were rumblings all week that the Gators would receive a commitment from another highly-rated defensive prospect, but FNL came and went without him announcing his pledge. Four-star DE Jordan Sherit (Tampa, FL) remained in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, however, and made his verbal commitment public.

» Florida received its fourth commitment in as many days on Sunday when 2014 defensive tackle Travonte Valentine (Palm Bay, FL), expected to be one of the top players at his position when recruiting rankings are released for his class, ended his recruitment early and decided that he wanted to play for the Gators, too.

» More rumblings on Sunday indicated that Florida could go five-for-five in commitments and bring in a talented but underrated offensive playmaker on Monday though it remains to be seen if head coach Will Muschamp will give him a commitable offer and the opportunity to join the Gators.

2012 LONDON OLYMPICS
OGGOA has been offering full coverage of the Olympics all event long on this dedicated page, which includes a Gator Nation vs. The World medal count, daily schedule and direct LIVE streaming links to each event as it takes place. Below are some notes in case you have not visited it yet and want a quick refresher.

» Ryan Lochte (United States) won two medals over the weekend including a gold in the Men’s 400 Meter Individual Medley, the fourth such medal of his Olympic career. Lochte also swam the final leg of the Men’s 4×100 Meter Freestyle Relay but got caught from behind over the final 50 meters; the team finished with a silver. He will compete in the Men’s 200 Meter Freestyle finals on Monday afternoon.

» Junior Elizabeth Beisel (United States) took silver in the Women’s 400 Meter Individual Medley, the first Olympic medal of her young career. She nearly won the gold but was bested over the last 150 meters.

» Thirteen other Gators (as well as one incoming freshman) competed in Olympic action over the four-day span though none of them were able to join Lochte and Beisel in bringing home medals as of yet. Striker Abby Wambach was dominant once again in soccer and got a black eye in her match on Saturday, though she scored a goal in retaliation and mocked her assailant during her celebration.

» “Gator Nation” is currently eighth in the Olympic medal standings with one gold and two silver. You can view the full medal breakdown on OGGOA‘s dedicated Olympics page.

FORMER PLAYERS SPEAK OUT
» Florida quarterback Shane Matthews praised Muschamp and the current Gators coaching staff while noting that he was frustrated with the way former head coach Urban Meyer and his staff developed play callers and recruited in his waning years.

» Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah said he definitely had more fun at Florida than QB Tim Tebow did and provided an interesting answer when he was asked how much class he attended during his junior season when he was helping the Gators win the second of their back-to-back basketball national championships.

Tags: Abby Wambach, Antonio Riles, Chicago Bulls, Elizabeth Beisel, Friday Night Lights, Joakim Noah, Jordan Sherit, Olympics, Ryan Lochte, Shane Matthews, soccer, swimming, Tim Tebow, Travonte Valentine, Urban Meyer, Vernon Hargreaves, Will Muschamp

Nearly done with their 2013 recruiting class, the Florida Gators received their second 2014 commitment on Sunday when defensive tackle Travonte Valentine (Palm Bay, FL) gave a verbal pledge to head coach Will Muschamp.

Valentine, despite previously being committed to Louisville and more recently having a top three of Alabama, Auburn and Florida according to Rivals’ Chris Nee, decommitted on July 15 and claimed five days later that Florida State was his new leader after spending three days on campus. He quickly changed that stance over the weekend after attending Friday Night Lights in Gainesville, FL.

“ITS OFFICIAL IM A GATOR I FEEL PROUD ABT IT TOOO #CHOMP CHOMP,” Valentine posted on Facebook though he had not yet spoken to Muschamp. Scout.com confirmed minutes later that he got in touch with Muschamp, who accepted his commitment.

Valentine is the second 2014 player to commit to the Gators; wide receiver Ryeshene Bronson (Fort Myers, FL) became the team’s first pledge on June 14. Both are expected to be at least four-star prospects when rankings are released.

He is the fourth high school football player commit to Florida in as many days following in the footsteps of 2013 five-star defensive back Vernon Hargreaves (Tampa, FL) on Thursday, three-star defensive end Antonio Riles (Lawrenceville, GA) on Friday and four-star defensive end Jordan Sherit (Tampa, FL) on Saturday.

Tags: Antonio Riles, Friday Night Lights, Jordan Sherit, Ryeshene Bronson, Travonte Valentine, Vernon Hargreaves, Will Muschamp

He may not have been in Gainesville, FL for Friday Night Lights but that did not stop three-star defensive end Antonio Riles from pulling the trigger and officially announcing his commitment to the Florida Gators on Friday afternoon.

Though he may not be a highly-ranked prospect according to Rivals, Riles (6’4” 262 lbs.) is solid, can play inside or outside and has a reputation for being a stout and athletic run stopper. He is considered a four-star recruit by ESPN and both services have him rated as a top-30 defensive end this recruiting cycle.

It has long been believed that Riles recruitment would come down to a Florida-Georgia battle, and it looks like the Gators have come out on top for the talented prospect. He also claimed offers from Alabama, Clemson and South Carolina among others.

Riles is the 19th player to commit to Florida for 2013, 10th overall defensive commitment and third from the state of Georgia. He is just the third defensive lineman to pledge this cycle after the Gators hauled in seven as part of their 2012 class.

Riles is the second player to make a pledge for Florida in as many days after the Gators scooped up five-star defensive back Vernon Hargreaves III on Thursday.

Tags: Antonio Riles, Friday Night Lights, Vernon Hargreaves

Mixing pomp and circumstance with football drills and relationship building, the Florida Gators use their annual Friday Night Lights camp at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium as both a recruiting tool and means of evaluating some of the best high school football players in the country. The Gators often pull in some recruits over the FNL weekend but also find diamonds in the rough as recruits get coached up while getting to know each other.

The Swamp will once again filled with some of the top young talent in the nation on July 27, so much so that covering every player that plans to step on the field is a near impossibility. Below are a list of 10 players (in no particular order) to keep an eye on either because of their talent or high level of interest in attending Florida.

DB Marcell Harris (Orlando, FL) –
The No. 6 player at his position and ranked No. 54 overall in the 2013 class, Harris is a UF legacy (though that probably will not play much of a role in his decision) and will likely choose either Florida or Texas when all is said and done. The Gators got a big commitment from five-star defensive back Vernon Hargreaves III (Tampa, FL) on Thursday, so impressing or even adding Harris could go a long way to giving Florida an absolutely dominant secondary in the near future. His father is former safety Mike Harris, who played on the 1996 national championship team.

DE Jordan Sherit (Tampa, FL) –
Close friends with Hargreaves (the two actually arrived in Gainesville together on Thursday), Sherit is himself highly rated (No. 94 overall, No. 9 at his position) and could be yet another answer to the Gators pressing needs at Buck linebacker. He has long had Florida in his top 10 list and recently said it is one of four schools (Notre Dame, Stanford, Vanderbilt) he is looking at seriously despite having plenty of other offers (Clemson, Florida State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, etc.).

DE DeMarcus Walker (Jacksonville, FL) –
Another extremely talented player out of Jacksonville, Walker has his choice of any school in the country and will likely be picking between UF and Alabama when it comes down to the wire. Though some believe he is leaning towards the Crimson Tide, he has a lot of Gators commitments (including a handful from his hometown) in his ear and a trip to UF is the last visit he’s taking before his ceremony on Aug. 24.

Read up on seven more players attending Friday Night Lights…after the break!
Continue Reading » Previewing Florida’s 2012 Friday Night Lights

Tags: Alvin Bailey, Antonio Riles, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Brendan Langley, Brent Pease, Brian White, Bryan Cox, Demarcus Walker, Friday Night Lights, Joe Fennell, Jordan Sherit, Keith Kelsey, Kelsey Griffin, Marcell Harris, Matt Jones, Mike Harris, Nadir Barnwell, Raphael Andrades, The Swamp, Vernon Hargreaves, Will Muschamp