1 » Moving up two spots after an opening week in which they went 2-0, No. 9 Florida Gators soccer (3-0) remained undefeated after taking down the Florida Atlantic Owls (0-2) 3-0 Friday night at James G. Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, FL. Redshirt sophomore midfielder McKenzie Barney (4’), junior MF/forward Tahnai Annis (7’) and sophomore F/MF Natalia Torosian (14’) all scored for the Gators within the first 14 minutes, forcing the Owls to concentrate on defense the remainder of the match. Florida looks to continue their winning streak on Sunday against San Diego State at home.

2 » Former Gators quarterback Chris Leak will be making his first CFL start next Friday, filling in for Montreal Alouettes starting quarterback Anthony Calvillo. For the first time in his career, Leak will be able to practice as the team’s starter for a week rather than be thrown into the game in a back-up role. “It’s good. It gives the coaches a chance to tweak things to my strengths and see what things we can do offensively to help us win the game,” Leak said in a media availability. “It’s going to be a fun week and we’re going to work hard and get the game plan in and just go out there and execute.”

Tags: Anthony Calvillo, CFL, Chris Leak, Florida Atlantic Owls, Florida Gators, James G. Pressly Stadium, McKenzie Barney, Montreal Alouettes, Natalia Torosian, soccer, Tahnai Annis

The Philadelphia Eagles and former Florida Gators wide receiver Riley Cooper agreed to terms Tuesday on a four-year rookie contract. Selected in the 159th overall pick in the fifth round of the 2010 NFL Draft, Cooper is the third of nine University of Florida players selected in April to officially sign his NFL deal. His contract is worth $1.962 million, and Cooper will receive a $171,500 signing bonus.

“The guy’s a ball player. I’m not surprised he came up and had a great mini camp,” former Gators tight end and Eagles teammate Cornelius Ingram told OGGOA about watching Cooper workout last month. “I’m pretty excited for what he has going on, too.”

Cooper will try to earn a spot as one of the team’s reserve receivers during training camp; he will likely fill Philadelphia’s No. 4 receiver slot or end up playing special teams if he is beat out by another player. DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and Jason Avant have all locked down starting jobs this season.

Safety Major Wright, drafted by the Chicago Bears in the third round, and tight end Aaron Hernandez, picked up by the New England Patriots in the fourth round, have each already agreed to terms with their respective clubs.

OGGOA will update this story as more information is made available.

Photo Credit: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

Tags: Aaron Hernandez, Chicago Bears, Cornelius Ingram, DeSean Jackson, Draft, Florida Gators, Jason Avant, Jeremy Maclin, Major Wright, New England Patriots, NFL, Philadelphia Eagles, Riley Cooper, University of Florida

Rivals is reporting that kicker/punter Kyle Christy (Brownsburg, IN) committed to Florida Gators head coach Urban Meyer Monday night, according to his father Ken.

Christy, who also has an outstanding offer from LSU, recently stated he would commit to the Tigers if he did not receive another offer before his senior season began.

Being recruited by linebackers and special teams coach D.J. Durkin, who took over the latter job for Meyer this offseason, he likely received – and jumped on – an offer from the Gators to eventually replace either senior Chas Henry or redshirt sophomore David Lerner as the team’s punter of the future. The Gators already have four kickers on the roster including junior starter Caleb Sturgis.

Christy can place-kick, punt and kickoff, may be used in more than one role at Florida and is considered one of the top punters in the nation. He averaged 34 yards on his punts in 2009 and converted 25 touchbacks in 59 kickoff attempts as a junior.

UPDATE: He said the following to Rivals later on Tuesday: “It’s amazing. I never really thought I would be able to become a Florida Gator. I had hoped that if they saw me they would want me. I went there hoping to get an offer and it worked out.”

Tags: Caleb Sturgis, Chas Henry, D.J. Durkin, David Lerner, Florida Gators, Kyle Christy, Urban Meyer

The Florida Gators will renew their growing rivalry with the Ohio State Buckeyes with a home-and-home basketball series that will take place over the course of the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, according to Buckeyes head coach Thad Matta.

Florida, which last had such a series with Ohio State during the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons, split those contests with a dominating 86-60 home win and devastating 62-49 away loss, respectively. Three months after the first meeting, the Gators defeated the Buckeyes 84-75 in the Georgia Dome while celebrating their second of back-to-back National Championships.

The decision to add a home-and-home series with Ohio State is evidence that Florida hopes to continue scheduling tough non-conference opponents before they begin each season’s Southeastern Conference slate. After putting together easy schedules and (perhaps consequently) missing the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons, the Gators faced Michigan State, Syracuse, Xavier, Florida State and North Carolina State over the course of the 2009-10 season.

The 2010-11 game will be a part of ESPN’s 24-hour college basketball marathon, taking place sometime on Nov. 16 from the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, FL.

Florida also has home-and-home series’ obligations with Florida State and Xavier to fulfill next season. They will face both teams on the road.

Photo Credit: University of Florida

Tags: Florida Gators, Georgia Dome, O'Connell Center, Ohio State Buckeyes, SEC, Thad Matta

Just a day after securing the services of former four-star recruit and Rutgers transfer guard Mike Rosario (Jersey City, NJ), Florida Gators head basketball coach Billy Donovan added a fourth commitment to the 2010 class in three-star power forward Will Yeguete (Melbourne, FL).

Coming out of Florida Air Academy (the same high school as former Gators guard Walter Hodge), Yeguete is a big body at 6’7″, 210 lbs. He averages 15 points and 15 rebounds a game and chose Florida over Georgia Tech.

Born in France but raised in Côte d’Ivoire, Yeguete adds even more size to a Gators’ front court that is also bringing in two other forwards in four-stars Patric Young (Jacksonville, FL) and Casey Prather (Jackson, TN).

Tags: Billy Donovan, Casey Prather, Florida Air Academy, Florida Gators, Mike Rosario, Patric Young, Walter Hodge, Will Yeguete

In a decision that has seemingly been coming for quite some time, five-star 2011 guard recruit Austin Rivers (Winter Park, FL) has officially decommitted from the Florida Gators and decided to open up his recruitment.

“I have reopened my recruitment as of last night,” Rivers told TheDevilsDen.com [paid subscription required]. “I have decommitted to Florida at this time. I still really like them, but I needed to go ahead and reopen things right now. Right now I’m looking at three schools: Duke, Florida and North Carolina. I may open it up a little more later on, but right now it’s just going to be those three programs. I have a long history with both Duke and Florida. North Carolina is trying to recruit me as well. So, we’ll see what happens.”

There should be no question that the Duke Blue Devils’ recent success in winning the 2010 NCAA Championship made some impact on Rivers’ decision. Nevertheless, he claims his affection for Florida is unwavering.

“It’s only right to look at other schools just to compare,” Rivers told the Orlando Sentinel. “I still love Florida the same. Coach Donovan, he respects it. I still have the same relationship. They didn’t do anything.”

“When people hear the word de-commitment, they think I’m not going there anymore, but Florida’s still a very possible option for me. This process will help me see where I’m at with Florida.”

OGGOA will continue to stay on top of Rivers’ recruitment as more information is made available and he nears a final decision.

Photo Credit: Rivals.com

Tags: Austin Rivers, Duke Blue Devils, Florida Gators, NCAA Championship, North Carolina Tar Heels

On the eve of the 2010 NCAA Championship between the Duke Blue Devils and Butler Bulldogs, OGGOA thought it would be a good time to take a look at the Florida Gators‘ back-to-back National Championship victories in 2006 and 2007. Enjoy.

Tags: Butler Bulldogs, Duke Blue Devils, Florida Gators, National Championship, NCAA