Vernon Macklin arrives on campus

Former Georgetown center/forward Vernon Macklin's transfer is complete and he's currently attending classes on the Florida campus, coach Billy Donovan said Tuesday.

The 6-foot-9 Macklin began classes Monday in a whirlwind weekend.

"He's here right now,'' Donovan said. "It's been really a quick turnaround for him. He had a final exam on Friday, and then we started summer school on Monday. And Georgetown was very cooperative and they got his grades to us very, very quickly so he's here, he's enrolled.''

Macklin averaged 3.4 points and 2.1 rebounds in nearly 13 minutes at Georgetown as Hibbert's backup.

"My only view of Vernon is what I watched on him on film at Georgetown and remembering him when he was in high school,'' Donovan said. "He certainly provides a lot of athleticism to our front court and provides a lot of experience. He's a guy that's played in a program that's been to the Final Four and played in a program that's been ranked in the Top 10 all year.''

Although Macklin must sit out one season, Donovan said he's hoping his prior experience will be helpful for the young Gators.

Probably the thing I've talked to him most about is taking the experiences he's had at Georgetown to help some of these young guys in our program,'' he said. "But he's got to get adjusted, too, to being here and fitting in with his teammates. He's a really nice kid. I think he realizes he was probably a young man coming out of high school with this huge, huge reputation. Then coming there playing alongside Jeff Green and Hibbert, those two guys are really, really good players. It was a situation where he wasn't geting a chance to play as much, but a lot of that had to do with he was around good players. So I think he's goign to try to utilize this year to really try to get better and improve and maybe live up to some of his own individual expectations of what he believes he can become as a player.''

Comments

Welcome to Gainesville Vernon! We are glad to have you as a member of the Gator Nation. Go Gators!!!