Rutgers transfer Mike Rosario commits to Florida

Various sources have now confirmed OGGOA‘s Saturday report that former Rutgers Scarlet Knights shooting guard Mike Rosario (Jersey City, NJ) has committed to join the Florida Gators. Rosario, who scheduled a weekend visit with the team after receiving his conditional release from Rutgers, will have to sit out the 2010-11 season due to NCAA transfer eligibility rules.

“[Florida] is a great school, a great atmosphere, a great college town,” Rosario told the Newark Star-Ledger. “You have people around you that care. It’s just unbelievable. That was exactly what I was looking for. And Florida had exactly what Mike Rosario was looking for. It’s my decision. I’m happy I made the decision to come here.

“The biggest thing that Florida offered me was, ‘We’re going to win.’ That’s it: ‘We’re going to win.’ That’s something that I’ve missed doing. Now I’m going to have the chance to do it with a lot of good guys that are passionate about the game. The people down there are so wonderful, so different. I feel like I’m back in high school again.”

He was also considering Kansas and Southern California.

Rosario spoke to the Associated Press about his new head coach, Billy Donovan.

“Billy D the great, that’s the only thing I can say,” he said. “He is a great person, a great guy. He has a wonderful heart. He knows the game and he is passionate and he just has everything I want.”

In Rosario, the Gators have gained a guard who averaged 16.7 points and 3.9 rebounds in 30 starts this season. He was a four-star recruit coming out of high school and will join Florida as a redshirt junior in 2011-12, completing a formidable incoming backcourt duo with five-star commitment Bradley Beal (St. Louis, MO).

Photo Credit: Rob Tringali