After months of waiting the Florida Gators got the good news they had been waiting for on Thursday morning.
Van Jefferson and Trevon Grimes were granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA.
“I’m excited for Trevon and Van,” Dan Mullen said in a release. “We appreciate the NCAA’s understanding in both situations, and are thankful to the UAA’s administration and compliance staff for their role in helping guide Trevon, Van, their families and our coaching staff through this over the past six-plus month.”
Jefferson spent the last three seasons at Ole Miss where he recorded 91 receptions for 999 yards. At the SEC meetings in June the league voted to lift their ban on undergraduate intraconference transferring but Jefferson will still need a waiver from the SEC, a process that is still ongoing, although it should be just a formality given Ole Miss’ postseason ban.
Once officially ruled eligible, Jefferson would be a surefire starter for the Gators this season. Jefferson played a lot in the slot at Ole Miss but has worked both inside and outside for Florida.
“I played a lot of inside at Ole Miss. That was pretty much my main position there. Transitioning to outside is no different, I think,” Jefferson said during spring camp. “You have to be a lot quicker off the line, things like that. Overall it’s just football. You gotta go with the flow kinda.”
Grimes spent last season at Ohio State, racking up just three catches for 20 yards before he opted to transfer due to a family situation back home in Ft. Lauderdale. He was a blue chip recruit out of St. Thomas Aquinas before picking Ohio State over a slew of other schools. In the spring Grimes was asked about his decision to leave Florida, respectfully he declined to get into too much detail due to the sensitive nature of his mother’s health issue at the time.
“I just had some family issues that I had to deal with from back home with my mom,” Grimes said. “She’s doing well. That’s all I wanna say about that. I feel like it was a good decision coming to Florida.”
Grimes and Jefferson greatly bolster the Gators’ receivers room. Jefferson will have two years of eligibility left, while Grimes has three.
The News ! See you guys September 1st in THE SWAMP🐊🐊🐊 pic.twitter.com/8WLM8z2Y5e
— GrimeTime™ (@Trevongrimes8) August 2, 2018