1 » Having just completed a $900,000 renovation that included – most notably – brand new seats in the lower bowl along with wider aisles and handrails – the Stephen C. O’Connell Center continues to remake itself year after year. Through the brand new seats will be more comfortable for students and season ticket holders, they still do not have seatbacks (an addition that would have cost the arena nearly 1,000 seats, according to O’Dome director Lynda Reinhart). As it stands now, the capacity has been reduced by approximately 200 seats and is now somewhere around 11,800, according to The Gainesville Sun. The paper also reports that “the men’s basketball practice courts inside the arena were re-surfaced” and “gate signs were re-numbered and work was done on the pool deck.” Financing for the project came directly from the arena’s reserve with no additional contributions needed.

2 » Three Florida Gators baseball players – redshirt junior first baseman Vicksah Ramjit, senior infielder Jeff Moyer and redshirt freshman INF Alex Freedman will be playing for the Wilmington Sharks of the Coastal Plain League over the summer. Freedman, who redshirted the 2010-11 season, has been with the team all summer; Ramjit and Moyer joined this week. All three will be back in Orange & Blue next year.

3 » As OGGOA has reported numerous times, former Gators defensive lineman Thaddeus Bullard continues to work toward being a full-time WWE wrestler as he competes with Florida Championship Wrestling, the organization’s primary developmental territory. On Friday, Bullard (who wrestles as Titus O’Neil) will return to Gainesville, FL for a FCW show at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Multipurpose Center.

4 » Florida redshirt senior defensive tackle Jaye Howard and junior tackle Xavier Nixon were both named to the 2011 Outland Trophy Watch List on Friday. The Outland Trophy, which is awarded to the best interior lineman in college football, has never been awarded to a Gators player. The closest one has come to winning it was when tackle Jason Odom finished in the top three alongside Ohio State’s Orlando Pace and UCLA’s Jonathan Ogden (the award’s winner) in 1995. Howard was also named to the watch list for the 2011 Bronko Nagurski Trophy, an award presented to the country’s top defensive player.

Tags: Alex Freedman, baseball, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, FCW, Jason Odom, Jaye Howard, Jeff Moyer, O'Connell Center, Outland Trophy, Thaddeus Bullard, Titus O'Neil, Vickash Ramjit, Wilmington Sharks, WWE, Xavier Nixon

1 » Four-star wide receiver Da’Rick Rogers (Calhoun, GA) was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after getting into a fight early Friday morning with “seven to 10” of his Tennessee Volunteers teammates at a nightclub in Knoxville, TN. “I don’t know why. I don’t know what happened, but several of the guys started beating up the other customer,” club co-owner Sandy Morton said. “I want to guess there was seven to 10 guys beating up this one gentleman. [...] My husband saw them picking up bar stools and starting to swing them. […] There happened to be a friend of ours who was an off-duty police officer outside. He tried to help, and he ended up getting knocked out in the street and proceeded to be kicked while he was down on the ground.” Rogers, who was first committed to Georgia before swinging to Tennessee, was recruited heavily by the Florida Gators for quite some time.

UPDATE: Sophomore safety Darren Myles, Jr. was also charged in the incident after being arrested for assaulting a University of Tennessee police officer and both resisting and evading arrest. Rogers was released on $1,000 hours after being arrested. More arrests are expected after conversations are held and tapes are reviewed.

2 » As readers of OGGOA are aware, we have been keeping you up-to-date with the trials and tribulations of former Gators defensive end Thaddeus Bullard – now known as Titus O’Neil to wrestling fans – in his quest to become a professional wrestler with the WWE. The Gainesville Sun was able to get a hold of Bullard and discuss a number of topics related to his new endeavor.

On joining WWE: “It’s the largest sports-entertainment company in the world. That’s what drives me. I want to compete at the highest level. I didn’t get in it to just go halfway. I’m in it to try to compete at the highest level I can.”

On his character: “My character is basically me being myself. What the WWE wants you to do is be yourself and then turn it up two or three notches when you are on camera.”

On his decision to wrestle: “I was always amazed at the physical things that they can do in a small amount of space. The entertainment aspect of it also appealed to me.”

On Tim Tebow as a pro wrestler: “I think [he] could pretty much do whatever he sets out to do. I’ve had the chance to talk to him a few times. He’s an amazing human being.”

Tags: Da’Rick Rogers, NXT, Tennessee Volunteers, Thaddeus Bullard, Titus O'Neil, WWE

1 » Preseason watch lists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy (nation’s top defensive player) and the Outland Trophy (nation’s top interior lineman) were released by the Football Writers Association of America on Monday, and four Florida Gators football players made the respective lists. Junior cornerback Janoris Jenkins (Nagurski), senior center Mike Pouncey (Outland), redshirt senior guard Carl Johnson (Outland) and redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Omar Hunter (Outland) are just a few players initially being considered for the awards.

2 » Former Florida All-American linebacker Scot Brantley, the uncle of redshirt junior quarterback John Brantley, was honored by the Tampa Gator Club at their 16th annual scholarship dinner on Tuesday. Head basketball coach Billy Donovan was the guest speaker at the event.

3 » Gators four-star athlete De’Ante “Pop” Saunders did not waver much when initially deciding to commit to the team. Now, months later, he remains just as solid and is happy that the recruiting process is not annoying him like it is some of his friends. “My phone doesn’t ring at all,” Saunders told the Orlando Sentinel’s Andrew Carter. “It’s perfect. Because I see other guys that don’t know where they’re going when it’s about time to sign. Like last year, I had a few friends that didn’t know where they were going but it’s good for me since I already knew.”

4 » Former Florida defensive end Thaddeus Bullard (ring name Titus O’Neil) continued his mission to become World Wrestling Entertainment’s next breakout star on Tuesday by making his third appearance on WWE NXT on SyFy. O’Neil, whose background as a football player and master’s degree recipient from the University of Florida is played up heavily by the producers/announcers, does a Gator Chomp when at the top of the entrance rap and is quite powerful in the ring. Even his assigned professional mentor, Zack Ryder, sported the orange and blue on Tuesday, though it did not help O’Neil who lost his second-straight match. OGGOA will follow along with Bullard’s journey over the next few months as he attempts to “win” a full-time contract and pay-per-view title match.

Tags: Billy Donovan, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Carl Johnson, De'Ante Saunders, Janoris Jenkins, John Brantley, Mike Pouncey, NXT, Omar Hunter, Outland Trophy, Scot Brantley, Thaddeus Bullard, Titus O'Neil, University of Florida, WWE, Zack Ryder

1 » Former Florida Gators defensive end Derrick Harvey has been underwhelming since being drafted in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Having only compiled 5.5 sacks in his first two seasons in the league, he is taking the coaching staff’s belief in him to heart by shedding some weight and becoming a more athletic player. “I thought bigger was better,” Harvey told the Florida Times-Union. “Speed is better. You’ve got to be rushing all day, and you can’t be 280 [pounds] rushing in this heat. […] It’s all on me. I’ve got to perform.” General manager Gene Smith agrees. “I think a couple of things are evident out there,” he said. “He’s probably in the best shape of his life, and he’s lighter this year, so I think you’re seeing some quickness off the snap. And he has better bend coming off the corner. He has shown better flexibility, better quickness and has been better at getting to the quarterback than in any OTAs since he’s been here.

Three more BITS on Thaddeus Bullard’s debut on WWE NXT, 2010 baseball signees picked in the MLB Draft and Tim Tebow…after the break!
Continue Reading » FOUR BITS: Harvey, Bullard on NXT, Tebow

Tags: Brady Quinn, Daniel Gibson, Denver Broncos, Derrick Harvey, Draft, Gator Chomp, Gene Smith, Jacksonville Jaguars, John Barbato, Josh McDaniels, Karsten Whitson, MLB, NFL, NXT, Robbie Aviles, San Diego Padres, Thaddeus Bullard, Tim Tebow, Titus O'Neil, University of Florida, Urban Meyer, WWE, Zach Ryder, Zack Powers

1 » OGGOA has extensively covered former Florida Gators center Maurkice Pouncey’s transition to the NFL and the Pittsburgh Steelers, including his lining up at right guard while he waits for his true position to open up along the offensive line. ESPN’s Len Pasquarelli profiled Pouncey last week, nothing that he truly has the chance to be something special in the NFL. “He’s the kind of guy where, if he makes a mistake on a play, he’s immediately right over to you to get [an explanation],” offensive line coach Sean Kugler said. “You’ve got to tell him, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll go over that.’ He really wants to be good; he’s into it.”

2 » The name “Titus O’Neil” may not be familiar to Gators fans, but perhaps Thaddeus Bullard rings a bell. While Bullard is a former Florida defensive end, O’Neil is a professional wrestler about to make a splash as one of the newest members of World Wrestling Entertainment‘s NXT television program. Fact is – they are one and the same. Bullard, now 33, was one of the nation’s top defensive linemen coming out of high school in 1995. Unfortunately, his football career never really panned out after registering 56 tackles in 47 games with the Gators as a back-up from 1997-2000. After playing in the Arena Football League for three years, he decided to try his hand at sports entertainment and began competing with Florida Championship Wrestling in 2009. The now-named O’Neil has been called up from FCW to WWE and is set to take part in the second season of the company’s NXT brand – a faux-reality show attempting to find WWE’s next breakout star. OGGOA will follow along with Bullard’s journey over the next few months as he attempts to “win” a full-time contract and pay-per-view title match.

Tags: AFL, FCW, Maurkice Pouncey, NFL, NXT, Pittsburgh Steelers, Sean Kugler, Thaddeus Bullard, Titus O'Neil, WWE