Lowes and Premier management announced recently that the Florida Gator running back, Jeff Demps is part of the 30 seniors who have been selected as candidates for the 2011 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. According to the website for the award, there are four categories that define a CLASS award recipient. They are Community, Classroom, Character, and Competition. The acronym “CLASS” stands for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School. The award is given to an NCAA Division 1 Student –Athlete who is honoring their four-year commitment to their university. The award is given out in ten different NCAA Sports and Demps is one out of thirty candidates selected for Football.

Jeff Demps is a role model student-athlete. He led the Gators in Rushing, yards per game, carries and all-purpose yards during the 2010 season. Demps has also been a member on the Florida Track and Field team. Demps has won two NCAA titles with the Florida Gators and four individual National Titles while at Florida. To say the least, is athletic career has been absolutely remarkable.

But he doesn’t stop there. Demps is majoring in Sociology and maintains a grade point average above a 3.0. He is a member of the University Athletic Associations “Goodwill Gators”, a community service oriented program. He has participated in a multitude of community service events and been active member of the community since he arrived at the University of Florida.

As the process to select the winners of this prestigious award continues, we look forward to watching Jeff Demps continue on his amazing career at Florida and wish him the best.

On the day a “walk-on” is given a scholarship, there is an unbelievable array of emotions that pass through their mind and take over their bodies. It’s exhilarating and rewarding. How can it not be? Short of making it in the NFL, this athlete has reached a level of accomplishment few will ever achieve. One can’t help but think of the movie “Rudy”, to understand the entire myriad of euphoric emotions these young men must be experiencing. Just ask Coach Will Muschamp of the Florida Gators, a walk-on himself, who became a  safety for the Georgia Bulldogs, on how it felt to accomplish this amazing goal. “I know I’ll never forget the day that I was awarded a scholarship,” Muschamp said. “We did it in front of the team and it was an emotional time.”

Over the weekend, Muschamp awarded scholarships to David Lerner (punter), Scott Peek (linebacker), William Steinmann (tight end) and Tim Clark,(defensive back). It was a concrete way for Muschamp to help some of the scholarship players understand what the value of a scholarship really means. “I told our scholarship guys, sometimes you take things for granted as far as what you have to complain and moan about some things, and have these guys paying for what – they want to be in your shoes,” he said. “It was great for our football team.” Coach Muschamp went on to single out one of the new scholarship players. He thought it was important to recognize David Lerner’s remarkable accomplishment that even in the face of daunting heath issues he overcame all obstacles to become an important asset to this Gator team. Lerner recently found out on July 11 that he had Crohn’s disease (an inflammatory gastrointestinal disease that causes extreme pain throughout the digestive tract). In spite of numerous IV treatments to control the disease plus a weight loss of 15 pounds, David never missed a day of fall practice. He epitomizes what it means to be a Florida Gator. “He certainly is an inspiration to me and just watching him and how he’s handled himself.” said Muschamp. If the rest of the Gators play to the level of the skills they have been given, (just as the new scholarships), then we have an exciting season to look forward to.

Gator wide receiver coach and recruiting coordinator Aubrey Hill has been supported by Gator head coach Will Muschamp. Muchamp told reporters Saturday “I’ve talked to Aubrey after the article came out,” Muschamp said following Saturday’s scrimmage. “I feel very comfortable with he and I’s conversation. I support Aubrey 100 percent. I’m glad he’s here at Florida and that’s all I’m really going to comment on. We released a statement on both Matt and Andre and obviously there was nothing there as far as that was concerned. So I’m going to leave it at that.” -Gainesville, FL

With big changes in Gainesville, the Gators are ranked #23 nationally in 1 of the major pre-season polls. Will Muschamp’s reign begins September 3^rd against Florida Atlantic at home in the Swamp. The first big test for the Gators in 2011 will come against Tennessee on September 17^th. Other notable matchups include Alabama on October 1^st, LSU on October 8^th, Auburn on October 15^th, the annual world’s largest cocktail party against Georgia on October 29^th, and Florida State the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

In 2010, the Gators ranked 88^th nationally in passing yards, averaging 184.3 a game. This year John Brantley looks to lead the gators into a new system, orchestrated by former Notre Dame coach, Charlie Weis. The system should be advantageous for Brantley who struggled under Urban Meyer. The Gators ranked 44^th nationally in rushing with 166.5 yards per game. With 29.8 points per game, UF was 43 in the country and 29^th with 21.3 points against per game.

As a transition year for the Gators, look for young talent to be developed on both sides of the ball.