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While many of the Gator players have spent the offseason in the weight room with strength and conditioning guru Mickey Marotti, receiver Riley Cooper has been getting his workouts via another sport.
Cooper is in New Market playing summer league baseball. Don't worry, the Clearwater native is expected to report back with the football team on Aug. 1.
If you're interested in how he's faring in his second sport, check it out here.
Former Gator Marreese Speights continues to impress in the NBA summer league.
Speights is averaging 18.2 points and 10.2 rebounds with the Philadelphia 76ers.
And remember how stamina and conditioning used to be his biggest weakness? In five games, he's averaging 33 minutes per game.
Florida coach Billy Donovan, believe it or not, says he's not as surprised by Speights' rise since he declared for the draft in early April.
"I think when the process first started, the initial response coming back from the NBA office before all the workouts started, was that he was probably anywhere from 20 to 35, 25 to 40, somewhere in that range.'' Donovan said this week. "I think Stu Jackson and the NBA office do a great job helping you at least get the amount of information that you can at that time, when he first put his name in. I was probably surprised, but as the process was going forward it was very clear that
Philadelphia picking at 16 was really, really interested in Marreese, and really liked Marreese. All it does, it takes one team for a guy to move up. So I think, when the processs started, I thought Marreese if he kept his name in would probably go anywhere from 19 to about 25.
"I think if Philly had passed on Marreese he could have fallen back into the 20s but I'm certainly happy for him and his family because I think he's going to a great organization and he's got a great chance,'' Donovan added.
Urban Meyer's summer vacation included a family mission trip to the Dominican Republic.
Meyer, his wife and three children, were part of a mission trip organized by SCORE International (Sharing Christ Our Redeemer Enterprises), which runs mission trips to foreign countries, most often Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, for sports teams.
Meyer was part of a group that helped feed 100 families and visited an all-girls orphanage and a leper colony.
"It was a life-changing experience,'' Meyer said.
Tim Tebow on Thursday was among 31 players named to the Davey O'Brien Watch list, the award which honors the nation's best quarterback.
Tebow is the reigning O'Brien Award winner.
Semifinalists will be announced on Oct. 27, with finalists named on Nov. 24. The winner will be announced during the Dec. 11 Home Depot College Football Awards Show on ESPN.
Incoming freshman Jeff Demps' national record-breaking time in the men's 100-meter dash quarterfinal at the recent U.S. Olympic Trials not only impressed the nation, but his future coach -- Urban Meyer. Demps, a running back/receiver, recorded a time of 10.01 seconds, a U.S. record for a high school athlete.
"How about that?" Meyer said. "Isn't that a neat story? I'm sitting there talking with a guy on the phone two hours before he's getting ready to compete for the Olympics. I've never done that before."
Meyer said, according to Florida players, Demps has been extremely impressive in offseason workouts. "He's doing great. He also has, from what they tell me, the ability to catch the ball a little. They say he's very fast . (With a time of 10.01) that's unique. So he's good. We're going to try to find a way to get all sub-10.2 100-meter guys on the field together."
See Demps in action below ...
Percy Harvin is recovering better than expected from spring surgery on his heel, and will be ready for fall practice, coach Urban Meyer said Thursday.
""He's ahead of schedule,'' Meyer said. "He's tremendous. He's running full speed. What happens with skilled athletes and you see all the time - especially with the race-horse type guys - if they hurt a certain part of their body, another part of their body takes over and then you start having hip flexors, hamstring issues, quad issues. So we're being very cautious.''
Harvin, a junior running back/receiver, has been hampered much of his career by injuries, including hip and severe migraine headache problems last season. He opted to have the heel surgery, which caused him to miss spring practice and the Orange and Blue game, in an effort to open the season fully healthy. So far, it appears to have been a success.
"He's opened it up,'' Meyer said. "He's starting to run full speed. Attitude-wise, strength-wise. He's 199 or 200 pounds and he's as strong as he's ever been. It's been a very good summer for Percy.''
TAMPA -- Florida coach Urban Meyer is speaking with reporters as part of the Florida Sports Writers Association's College Football Media Days, and he's let out a spoiler as part of his opening comments: Tim Tebow was honored with an ESPY Award as the top college athlete Wednesday night.
The ESPYs won't air until Sunday night, but Meyer, who attended the taping in Los Angeles Wednesday and took an overnight flight home to Florida, said that Tebow earned the college honor. Meyer said he detests individual honors and hopes his Gators can earn a team honor at next year's ESPYs.
-- Greg Auman, Times staff writer
Former UF first baseman Matt LaPorta on Wednesday was among 23 players named to the 2008 United States Olympic baseball team.
LaPorta is currently playing in AA Akron in the Cleveland Indians organization. He was recently acquired by the Indians in a trade that sent 2007 American League Cy Young Award winnner CC Sabathia to Milawukee. Baseball America currently rankes LaPorta as the top prospect in Cleveland's farm system.
"It has been like a roller coaster, some good things and bad things that have gone on past couple of weeks,'' LaPorta said during a national teleconference this afternoon. "Overall, I'm very excited and thankful to have this opportunity to represent my country and play baseball for them.''
LaPorta is the first player in SEC history to receive the league's Player of the Year award twice, and was a consensus All-American. A finalist for the prestigious USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award and the Brooks Wallace Award, LaPorta completed his collegiate career third on
the SEC's all-time list with 74 home runs, a total which ranks among the top 10 in Division I history. His 206 RBI are second on UF's chart behind Wilkerson (214).
LaPorta is the second Gator to represent the US in baseball in the Olympics. Brad Wilkerson earned a gold medal in the Sydney Summer Games in 2000.
USA Baseball manager Davey Johnson said Wednesday he's unsure where LaPorta will play.
"Matt is an outfielder, but he played first base at Florida, so we'll see,'' Johnson said. "He looked awful good at first base in the futures game. Obviously we had heard a lot of good things about him. We have a number of scouts that get on conference calls and talk about players. Look at numbers and tell a guy knows the game, srike zone. He's an aggressive hitter, he's got a good idea of what he's doing when he's up there. He gives us a lot of flexibilty if we want to use him at first or in the outfield.''
GAINESVILLE - Florida coach Billy Donovan said Wednesday he has been in contact with former star guard Teddy Dupay to express his concern after news broke of Dupay's June arrest on charges of felony rape, aggravated assault and aggravated kidnapping.
Dupay, 29, has been charged with rape and kidnapping in an incident with a woman at a ski resort in Utah. He was arraigned on Monday in Park City, Utah.
Donovan, who has gained a repuation for keeping in contact with former players, and sometimes helping those who have run into trouble, said he recently spoke with Dupay.
"I had the chance to talk to Teddy a little bit and not get into any
details,'' Donovan said, his first public comment on the incident. "I just touched base with him just to see how he's doing. And we talked. He feels there are some things that he's got to get taken care of that maybe are all not truthful, that's going on right now.''
A former Florida "Mr. Basketball'' out of Cape Coral Mariner High School in 1998, Dupay was part of the Gators' 2000 team that reached the
national title game for the first time in school history. Florida lost 89-76 to Michigan State in the final in Indianapolis.
He eventually left the program amidst scandal after accusations of sports betting prior to his senior season in 2001. He played pro basketball overseas after leaving Gainesville.
"I think any time one of our players goes through something like that, you always feel a sense of concern,'' Donovan said. "For any kid, I think it's a difficult situation. And certainly, I think, for the girl it's a difficult situation. You hate to see anything like that happen and where the truth lies, I don't know. I think it's an unfortunate situation for both parties.''
GAINESVILLE - Florida and Sun Sports have agreed to a multi-year, multi-million dollar deal that will give Sun Sports comprehensive rights to the Gators’ marketing and media operations, including radio, television, corporate sponsorships and the internet site GatorZone.com, school and Sun Sports officials confirmed Monday.
Previously, Sun Sports held the local television rights, while Clear Channel had radio rights and the athletic department individually handled the marketing and corporate sponsorships in its stadiums and arenas. Now it will be a collective venture operated by Sun Sports.
The 10-year agreement is worth about $82 million.
 If you bleed orange and blue, this blog is for you. The Gator Report is written by Florida beatwriter Antonya English and the staff of the St. Petersburg Times. We invite your comments and participation.E-mail Antonya English: english@tampabay.com |
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