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Harvey Has Own Message About Rumors

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By ANDY STAPLES | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 12, 2007

GAINESVILLE - Florida DE Derrick Harvey could only laugh when he learned Tuesday that someone is spreading rumors on Internet message boards that he is academically ineligible to play in the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 1. Harvey is extremely eligible, he said.

"They say I ain't playing? Oh, good," said Harvey, an anthropology major. "In fact, tell them I got a 90 on one of my final exams and an 87 on another."

Harvey, who is tied for the team lead in sacks with 6.5, said he expects to hear back from the NFL's draft advisory council in "a week or so." The fourth-year junior said he intends to wait until after the bowl game before he decides whether he will turn pro or return for his senior season.

BACK TO BASICS: Defensive backs coach Chuck Heater said the pre-bowl practices should be extremely beneficial for his young cornerbacks. Freshman Joe Haden and sophomore Wondy Pierre-Louis were thrown into the fire this season with little chance to prepare; sophomore Markihe Anderson basically played on one leg after tearing two ligaments in his right knee; and redshirt freshman Jacques Rickerson started against Florida State after an ankle injury to Haden.

Now, with two weeks of practices before the Gators head to Orlando for the bowl game, Heater can work with the corners on fundamentals that tend to slip during a long season.

"It's all great," Heater said. "You can never get enough of it. ... In football, you need that practice time. You're still treating them, frankly, like they're freshmen."

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