CeCe Jefferson officially joins the Florida Gators

The wait is over for Gator Nation. Five-star defensive lineman CeCe Jefferson has faxed his national letter of intent into Jim McElwain and is officially a member of the Florida Gators.

Nearly a week ago Jefferson chose Florida over Ole Miss, Alabama and Auburn in a live televised commitment on ESPNU. While Jefferson publically pledged a commitment to the University of Florida he did not send in his national letter of intent, binding him to the school.

Rumors started to swirl that Jefferson was rethinking his decision and the news that Terrell Williams (who briefly served as Florida’s defensive line coach) was leaving to take the same position with the Miami Dolphins only fueled those rumors.

Jefferson never publically wavered in his commitment, rather stating that he was holding out to see what Florida would do with his position coach. Florida answered that question with the hire of Texas defensive line coach Chris Rumph. Rumph smoothed things over with Jefferson as the two had a prior relationship when Rumph recruited Jefferson while he was at Alabama and against last year when he made the move to Texas.

Jefferson wrote on Twitter at 10:10 this morning, “Today is the day that I officially become a Florida Gator,sorry for the wait #GatorNation! Sending my LOI in shorty.”

Jim McElwain made the news official 90 minutes later, welcoming Jefferson to the “Gator family.”

Jefferson is a talented pass rusher and is expected to be able to come in as a freshman and make an instant impact as a pass rusher.

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC

1 COMMENT

  1. Welcome. I hope whatever caused the delay and all the associated circumstances are behind us …Mr. Jefferson may your time here at Florida be something, you, your family and the Gator nation all embrace and enjoy. Inspire and support your teammates and make a difference out there! Everyone sing together: “We are the champions…” HA! woo-hoo…Go Gators.