Colleges

Wynn works for turnaround

By ANTONYA ENGLISH
Published August 12, 2006

GAINESVILLE - He avoided the media most of last year in what turned out to be a tumultuous season, but running back DeShawn Wynn is back. Wynn appeared at Florida's media day Friday declaring that he has matured and hopes for a more productive, consistent season.

"It was frustrating," Wynn said of last season in which he started six games (after losing the starting job in preseason) and rushed for 621 yards and seven touchdowns. "I had my highs and my lows, but I got through it, and I'm hoping to be a lot more consistent this year.

A fifth-year senior, Wynn admits he didn't expect to be at UF this long.

"I never thought I'd last five years in college, but what can you do?" he said. "I'll get my degree in the fall, play hard this year and whatever is going to come out of it will come out of it."

Wynn said watching the decline of his friend, former Ohio State star Maurice Clarett, has given him extra incentive to succeed, though he's confident he could never let his life fall apart that way.

"I think it's unfortunate," Wynn said of Clarett's arrest this week. "He's a good guy. I think he has a lot going on in his mind. I can't tell you what's going on with him, but it's hard to see him go through that. Seeing how he was when he came out of high (school) and his first year in college, it's sad to see anybody go down like that. ... I want to be remembered in a good way. I don't want to go down like that."

TAKING PRIDE: Coach Urban Meyer takes pride that Florida is the only SEC school that had its entire freshman class cleared by the NCAA clearinghouse.

"Twenty-six for 26 is big," Meyer said, heaping praise on his assistants and UF's academic counseling staff. "And I think sometimes this goes under the radar, but there are no eligibility issues here at Florida. We don't deal with that issue because we don't panic in June. I've been at places where all of a sudden in June you come back and you have problems. ...This year we had a summer school meeting in June and we just talked about graduation, we had no discussion at all about eligibility."

In all, 30 SEC signees failed to qualify. Meyer said having all freshman academically eligible is part of a larger effort to make sure every football player graduates.

"When we came, Dallas Baker, Steven Harris and Kenneth Tookes are three right off the top of my head that had deficit points and were below a 2.0 and now they are set to graduate. When you really figure out what's important, winning games is obviously important, but developing young people is also extremely important."

SMART PROTECTION: Several players have joined the ranks of college athletes making sure they are protected in case of injury. Senior defensive tackle Marcus Thomas has a $2-million insurance policy, and receiver Andre Caldwell of Tampa and defensive tackle Ray McDonald have $1-million policies. The insurance program allows players who have NFL potential to purchase insurance to protect themselves from career-ending injuries. Quarterback Chris Leak declined to reveal details about his policy.

IT'S MY NUMBER NOW: Freshman receiver Jarred Fayson of Tampa is said he's in awe over the Gator jersey with his name on the back. And the number is pretty nice too. Fayson is wearing No. 11, worn by former Heisman Trophy winner and legendary Florida coach Steve Spurrier, a fact not lost on Fayson.

"The jersey when you walk out is right up there (on the wall) and it says Spurrier," Fayson said. "I get to wear it so that's pretty cool."

[Last modified August 12, 2006, 02:31:39]