The Florida Gators have lost their fourth player under new coach Will Muschamp.
Freshman running back Mike Blakely, who enrolled in January, will leave the program and transfer to another school. Blakely, from Manatee HS in Bradenton, will have to sit out the 2011 season in order to move.
“Mike has come to the conclusion that the University of Florida is not where he wants to play football,” Muschamp said in a statement on the school’s website. “We wish him the best of luck.”
Blakely’s next destination is unknown at this time.
“Everyone at Florida has been very supportive of me in my time here and I’m thankful for the experience that I had, but I’ve made a decision to continue my college football career somewhere else,’’ he said in a statement.
Prior to Blakely’s departure, the Gators announced receivers Chris Dunkley, from Royal Palm Beach, and Javares McRoy intended to transfer. Muschamp also kicked out cornerback Janoris Jenkins, from Pahokee, this spring for a pair of marijuana-related arrests.
Blakely and McRoy will have to sit out the upcoming season in order to change schools, even though Florida has not played a game during their time at the school. Signing a letter of intent binds them to NCAA transfer rules.
Blakely was an all-America running back as a high school senior last season. Rivals.com rated him the country’s No. 6 player at his position.
He was recruited mainly by former coach Urban Meyer and his staff, but upheld his commitment to the Gators after Meyer resigned in December and Muschamp took over Jan. 1.
He enrolled early so he could go through spring practices, but missed the entire session after undergoing unspecified surgery on his left shoulder in late January.
