FOUR BITS: Offer, future, sneakers, Spikes

1 » Florida Gators head coach Billy Donovan has given a verbal scholarship offer to four-star 2012 shooting guard Michael Frazier (Tampa, FL), according to the St. Petersburg Times. Frazier, who currently boasts offers from 13 other schools ranging from Michigan to Harvard, has a 4.0 GPA and is “open to everybody right now.”

2 » Taking a look at Florida basketball on Thursday, Jeff Goodman of FOX Sports believes the Gators are in position to do something they have not done 2007 – make some serious noise in the NCAA Tournament. “Florida may not be what it was a few years back when the Gators won back-to-back national titles, but they are now in a position to make a deep tournament run over the next few years,” he writes. “In two years, the perimeter down in Gainesville will feature [Erving] Walker, [Kenny] Boynton, [Brad] Beal and Rutgers transfer Mike Rosario with a backcourt of [Patric] Young, [Erik] Murphy, [Cody] Larson and [Will] Yeguete.”

3 » To help promote the release of EA Sports’ NCAA Football 11 video game, the company teamed up with Nike to release a signature Nike Trainer for the occasion. Blue with orange and white accents, the sneaker features reminders of former Gators quarterback Tim Tebow’s “Promise” speech on Sept. 27, 2008, a company logo and mention of the video game. One picture can be seen here, but the rest can be found at SoleCollector.com. The site reports that the shoe will be released in “extremely limited quantities in the very near future.” In other words…if you have the ability to buy them…pick up an extra size 11-11.5 for OGGOA…or we’re not friends anymore.

4 » Answering readers’ questions about the New England Patriots’ youth movement, Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe touched on how some former Florida players are progressing. About linebacker Brandon Spikes specifically, Young says he “was already being asked to call signals in the huddle with the second unit during spring camps and could well challenge incumbent Gary Guyton” for the job. The coaching staff also values the versatility that tight end Aaron Hernandez brings to the table; he will mostly be used as a receiver and H-back and could end up being a starter.