It’s like being called up to the big leagues from AAA for Keion Payne (6-0, 160, Ft. Lauderdale, FL St. Thomas Aquinas), a stringy, lithe prospect whose ability to play physical press coverage on defense belies his rather slender frame. A transfer from Dillard, Payne made the move to St. Thomas, one of the nation’s premier high school programs and that’s comparable to moving from Alaska to the tropics. The two schools are simply on different levels when it comes to football.

Corvin Lamb knows that his time has finally come. After spending his junior season at Miami Northwestern biding his time while two senior running backs got the bulk of the carries, Lamb will now be taking over the starting role and is looking forward to seeing what happens.

Earlier this month, Andre Kates took a trip down to Gainesville, Fla., for several reasons. He got a chance to get away from the freezing cold weather near Erie, Pa., visit some friends and also check out the place he hopes to call home by next January – the University of Florida.

Hey Alanis Morissete: forget about rain on your wedding day. New Vols coach Lane Kiffin demonstrates a perfect example of irony.

GADSDEN, Ala. %u2014 When Dre%u2019 Kirkpatrick began receiving scholarship offers after his junior season, he thought he wanted to play for Florida.

After all, Kirkpatrick had grown up rooting for the Gators. Yet Kirkpatrick, the nation%u2019s top-ranked high school cornerback, signed with Alabama on Wednesday.

Florida didn%u2019t even finish as the runner-up for Kirkpatrick. That distinction went to Texas.

The Florida Gators received commitments from three players considered five-star talents: WR Andre Debose of Sanford Seminole, DT Gary Brown of Quincy West Gadsden and LB Jelani Jenkins of Olny (Md.) Good Counsel.

GAINESVILLE %u2014 By the end of the day, there were only 16 names to add to his roster %u2014 and two big ones got away %u2014 but, overall, Florida coach Urban Meyer was happy with the 2009 class.

We're continuing a famous Gator Country tradition by making our Signing Day Dispatch available for those of you unable to hit the web during signing day. We'll be sending out a series of dispatches in rapid fire style with any breaking news of signees as the day goes on. Sign up and get the news before anyone else!

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While several Gator recruits are softening their commitments, Pahokee receiver Nu%u2019Keese Richardson isn%u2019t one of them.

Five-star recruit Trent Richardson is the latest battleground for the future of the SEC. The first skirmish for the SEC took place in the Georgia Dome as a resurgent Alabama Crimson Tide played the eventual national champion Florida Gators.