FOUR BITS: Elam, Cooper, Wilbekin, Andrews

1 » Baltimore Ravens safety Matt Elam, who just completed his rookie season, returned to Gainesville, FL recently in order to take classes in hopes of completing his degree program. While in town, the former Florida Gators star has also decided to take a job at FinishLine. According to his team’s website, Elam wanted to experience working in retail because he would like to open a sports merchandise store of his own someday. Elam has been working 20 hours per week at Oaks Mall since January. “I didn’t realize there was so much organization, so much planning. I didn’t realize there was so much to it,” he told BaltimoreRavens.com. “I just thought you’d say you want a shoe, so then you’d go back and grab a shoe. There’s way more to it. You have number coding. You have color coding, all of that. I just realized that there’s more to it than I thought.” Elam also said he has been recognized quite often but has no problem with the attention.

2 » Contrary to a weekend report that stated the Philadelphia Eagles had prioritized signing wide receiver Jeremy Maclin over Riley Cooper, ProFootballTalk.com reports that Cooper is by far the preferred potential signee. “We’d previously heard that the market for Cooper is expected to be active,” wrote Mike Florio. “Which means that, if the Eagles plan to keep him, they need to match or beat whatever Cooper could get as a free agent.” Cooper only earned $2.11 million during his four-year rookie contract and will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason. He had his best season – by far – in 2013, hauling in 47 receptions for 835 yards and eight touchdowns. In his previous three seasons, Cooper had just 46 receptions for 680 yards and four scores.

Late Wednesday, The Philadelphia News reported that the Eagles and Cooper are nearing agreement on a multi-year deal that could be announced by the end of the week.

3 » Florida senior point guard Scottie Wilbekin has been up-and-down as of late, but he was definitely on during the Gators’ shoot-around on Tuesday. Hours before UF took down Vanderbilt on the road, Wilbekin drained this H.O.R.S.E.-caliber shot (see video embedded below via GatorVision) and celebrated like he had drained a buzzer-beater.

4 » It was announced this week that former Gators dazzler Erin Andrews, who is currently working as a studio host and sideline reporter with FOX Sports, has been hired to co-host ABC‘s Dancing With the Stars. Andrews, who told OnlyGators.com last summer that she tried out for a hosting gig for FOX‘s So You Think You Can Dance? but was ultimately not hired, will be allowed to do both jobs simultaneously. She previously participated in the 10th season of Dancing With the Stars and finished in third place.