Spare Florida scholarship used to bait Alli-Gator

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. and caught seven touchdown passes in 2008 on just 13 catches, and earned football offers from UConn, Harvard and Stanford. He participated in se 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 decided to offer 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.