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1 » Former Florida Gators center/guard Maurkice Pouncey is on the verge of signing his rookie contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers and has been making sure to keep in shape so he is fit and ready to participate in training camp beginning this weekend. However, allegations that Pouncey received $100,000 from a runner for an agent while at the University of Florida put him off schedule a bit recently, something his speed and conditioning coach Tom Shaw noticed. “He’s disappointed that this stuff has come up and thrown a wrench in. That’s the reason why he missed [workouts],” Shaw told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review last Wednesday. “He’s gotten to a point where he’s trying to make sure he still has his [good] name. He wants to be able to go back to the University of Florida and still be respected.” Nevertheless, Pouncey is ready to go; now he just has to sign his contract and put the rest behind him.

2 » Florida transfer guard Mike Rosario, who will be eligible to play for the team during the 2011-12 season after sitting out a year due to NCAA rules, spoke with SNY’s Adam Zagoria Wednesday about watching two of the nation’s top recruits – five-star Gators commit Brad Beal and five-star recruit Austin Rivers – play in the AAU U-17 Super Showdown on Tuesday. “I watched them go head-to-head,” he said. “It was a great matchup. Those guys [have] been playing well. I love Brad Beal’s game. He has a smooth game like Ray Allen. I love the fact that Austin Rivers can shoot the ball, put it on the floor. Both of those guys are capable of helping us win a conference championship. I hope they both come here so we can turn this program into a special program.” Rosario also noted that the biggest adjustment he has had to make since stepping on campus is dealing with the heat. “You walk out of the dorm room, it’s just a sauna,” he noted.

Extra BIT » The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Florida has offered a scholarship to 2012 guard/forward recruit Jarmal Reid. “That Florida offer really excited me,” Reid told the paper. “I like the whole atmosphere there. They have great fans and one of the best coaches around in Billy Donovan. I would love to be coached by him.”

Photo Credit: Rob Tringali

Tags: AAU, AAU Super Showdown, Austin Rivers, Billy Donovan, Brad Beal, Jarmal Reid, Maurkice Pouncey, Mike Rosario, NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tom Shaw, University of Florida

TWO BITS: Pouncey update, Rosario recruits | ONLY GATORS Get Out Alive

Gainesville, Florida -The Gainesville Sun is reporting that former Florida Gators offensive lineman Maurkice Pouncey denies taking $100,000 from an agent sometime after the SEC Championship Game and before the Sugar Bowl against Cincinnati.

The Sun published a statement from Pouncey through his attorney stating:

"I did not accept $100,000, it is an absolutely ridiculous claim. I have completely cooperated with the investigation and answered any and all questions put to me."

Maurkice is currently a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers after being drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft this past April.

Pouncey's brother Mike is still with the Gators, andboth he and head coach Urban Meyerwill alsoaddress the situation on Wednesday afternoon in Birmingham at SEC Media Days.

The NCAA is investigating the claim, and if Pouncey is found guilty, the Gators would have to vacate their Sugar Bowl victory.

Mike and Maurkice Pouncey are from Lakeland, and both played high school football at Lakeland High School.

Report: Gators' Pouncey denies taking money from agent | Tampa Bay ...

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

The airwaves are overflowing with stories about college football players allegedly meeting with agents and breaking NCAA rules.

The Reggie Bush case has been settled and the NCAA has hit USC harder than most expected, but four other schools have just been notified that the NCAA is in the process of investigating them.

Articles have been circulating the Internet claiming ESPN got word that NCAA investigators were looking into North Carolina’s defensive end Marvin Austin and South Carolina’s tight end Wesley Sanders about attending a party in Miami Beach, hosted by a player agent.

Alabama is said to be looking at whether defensive lineman Marcel Dareus was at the same party.

But it’s the case of Florida’s center Maurkice Pouncey that brings out the hypocrisy and double standards college football becomes linked with more and more.

Florida’s athletic director Jeremy Foley notified reporters that they became aware in  June that Pouncey had possibly accepted a cash payment from an agent last December.

If Pouncey is ruled guilty, Florida might have to give up their Sugar Bowl win over Cincinnati, and any agent convicted of making payments to a student athlete in the state of Florida could face second degree felony charges.

Pouncey, through his attorney, has issued a statement flatly denying all charges.

It’s been rumored that Pouncy accepted $100,000 sometime between last year’s SEC Championship game and the Sugar Bowl game between Florida and Cincinnati.

Pouncey declared for the NFL draft in January and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 16th overall pick.

Here’s a player who knew he was going to be a star in the NFL and make a huge sum of money—it was just a matter of time.

The NCAA jumps in and claims it’s wrong for Pouncey to accept anything from an agent before he declared.  If they can prove he’s guilty, the University of Florida will probably get hit with other sanctions in addition to giving up the Sugar Bowl win.

First of all, can anyone explain why taking money, in the way in which Pouncey has been alleged to have done, is wrong.  He didn’t brake a law!

What is the reasoning behind the NCAA telling a football player such action is a violation?

Nobody seems to get to steamed when students at a college or university line up jobs with corporations before they graduate.

Second, wasn’t there someone else associated with the Sugar Bowl, that prior to its playing dealt with agents and walked away Scot free?

Didn’t Cincinnati Bearcats coach Brian Kelly sign a contract with Notre Dame before his team went to the Sugar Bowl?

Isn’t this a double standard?  Isn’t this similar to the same double standard that allows coaches to change jobs without any down time, while players have to sit out a year?

Pouncey’s situation highlights the farcical side of college football:  The only reason the schools care about him taking money is because if caught, they get put on probation.

The NFL claims they care about such activity but haven’t clamped down on it, or it wouldn’t be so prevalent.

And though the fans have a real disdain for Reggie Bush, I don’t think they care about what Maurkice Pouncey is rumored to have done.

Bush is looked upon as a outright liar, although he might be protecting the agent who supplied his parents with a $750,000 house.  If he admitted taking gifts, a lot of criticism directed his way might die down.

And what about the coaches?  Does Urban Meyer care about Pouncey taking money from an agent?  Did he expect him to stay in school once he knew the NFL wanted him in the first round?

Do Coaches like Urban Meyer know ahead of time that some players are not going to honor their commitment, and possibly sign on with an agent before the NCAA says they can?  They might lean that way!

Since Meyer got to Florida, the football team has set some kind of record for players getting arrested. Would anyone expect that all these players would abide by a rule regarding agents, that the NCAA expects to be followed?

And don’t forget the coaches that don’t try to stop it.  They claim it’s impossible to know everything about every player, and they get jobs with the Seattle Seahawks.

They get jobs with the Seahawks while the freshman and sophomores they recruited are penalized for something they had nothing to do with.

So how do we solve this situation?

How do we avoid turning college football into some kind of witch hunt—some kind of a scene resembling the 1920s and Prohibition where the government tried to regulate morality, and ultimately failed?

Maybe it’s time to pay the players.

Maybe it’s time to get our legislators to insist college football be properly acknowledged as the business it is…

Players, Agents and College Football’s Double Standards

Players, Agents and College Football's Double Standards | seahawks ...