Spare Florida scholarship used to bait Alli-Gator
The National Champion Florida Gators found a “sleeping giant”
Thursday night with the discovery Stephen Alli. The 6-foot-6, 210 pound
receiver from Toronto played last season at Proctor Academy in Andover,
N.H. where he reeled in seven touchdown passes on just 13 catches, earning him offers from UConn, Harvard and Stanford. He
participated in several combines this year, registering a 4.4
40-yard dash, 36-inch vertical leap and a 10-foot, seven-inch standing
broad jump, gaining the attention from a number of college coaches
nationwide.
By Paul Kardasz
Alli got a chance to showcase
his talent to Urban Meyer and the Gator coaching staff at a recent camp
held at Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville. Meyer had no
idea who the receiver was but couldn’t keep his eyes off of him. After
wowing the coaches, the Gator staff offered Alli a scholarship
for the class of 2010. Alli knew another angle and decided to contact
his guidance counselor back at Proctor. As it turned out, the 18-year
old receiver already had enough credits to graduate and that he had
already passed the 16 core courses required for initial eligibility and
enrollment. Alli alerted Florida coaches of these facts, and they found
a spare scholarship for him for 2009.
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