UF hires Ja'Juan Seider as assistant coach

Florida announced on Friday that it has hired former West Virginia running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider as an assistant.

Seider, a Belle Glade native and strong recruiter in the South Florida area, spent the past four seasons as an assistant for the Mountaineers. West Virginia has finished in the top 25 nationally in rushing offense each of the past two seasons. He helped three different running backs rush for at least 1,000 yards during his four seasons.

"I've always had an affinity for this university and am honored to have the opportunity to join the Florida Gators family. I look forward to working with Coach Mac and his staff," Seider said in a release. "I can't wait to meet the players, spend time with them and help them achieve their goals."

Prior to his time at WVU, Seider served as the recruiting coordinator for Marshall for three years and before that was the offensive coordinator at Palm Beach Lakes High.

"We are excited to have Ja'Juan in the Gator family," UF coach Jim McElwain said in a release. "A lot is talked about his ability to recruit, but he is more than that – he is a great coach as well. Recruiting is about relationships and he does a great job of connecting and relating to players not only while is recruiting them, but while they are play for him and well after their playing days are over."

While UF's release did not specify what position Seider will be coaching, it is expected that he will take over running back coach duties. This means current running backs coach Tim Skipper will likely move to linebackers coach, an assistant spot that is currently empty with the promotion of Randy Shannon to full-time defensive coordinator. Skipper has 16 overall years of experience as an assistant coach, 11 of which were spent coaching the defense including six as a linebackers coach at Colorado State (2012-14) and Fresno State (2009-11).

With the Seider hire, Florida is now searching solely for an offensive line coach to round out McElwain's coaching staff.

Chris Chiozza's triple-double leads No. 24 UF over Missouri

With about nine minutes left in No. 24 Florida’s 93-54 win over Missouri on Thursday night, junior Chris Chiozza approached coach Mike White on the sideline.

“Coach, you need to put me back in,” White recalled Chiozza saying. “I’m going to get a triple-double.”

The backup point guard already had 10 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists at that point. He wanted to finish the job.

“I told everybody ‘Just shoot it when you catch it,’” Chiozza said.

And with 31 seconds left, Chiozza fired a pass to teammate Devin Robinson, who hit a wide-open three-pointer to seal Florida’s rout of the Tigers, put Chiozza into an elite class in Florida men’s basketball history and send the announced crowd of 10,153 and the Florida bench into a riveting frenzy.

Chiozza’s final stat line: 12 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists. The fourth triple-double from a UF player and first since Nick Calathes in 2009.

“Wow,” White said. “Chris was amazing. … He played incredibly tonight and I’m happy for him.”

Robinson added: “We just got him the ball and told him to make a play. We were going to knock the shots down.”

Florida (17-5, 7-2 SEC) knocked shots down all game while making sure Missouri’s offensive woes continued. The Gators scored on their first nine offensive possessions and allowed Missouri (5-16, 0-9 SEC) to make just three of its first 22 attempts. Within 10 minutes, UF already had a 30-9 lead.

Florida inched its lead to as much as 43 points in the second half in order to seal its third straight win by more than 30 points -- just the third time the team has accomplished that feat in program history and the first time doing so against three major conference teams.

UF shot 45.5 percent from the field in the game, outrebounded Missouri 56-32 and had most of its reserves in the game with more than 10 minutes to play. Four players scored in double figures, with Canyon Barry leading the way with 17 off the bench.

“We got better tonight,” White said. “We defended better than we have all year at home. I’m proud of our maturity and focus.”

Florida will now take its three-game win streak into a Saturday-night matchup against No. 8 Kentucky.

Former South Dade receiver C.J. Worton transferring from UF

Wide receiver C.J. Worton will play his senior season of college football away from the University of Florida 

The former South Dade standout announced Thursday on his personal Twitter account that he will be transferring from UF after the spring semester concludes.

Worton played in 13 games during his three seasons at UF. He finished his Gators career with 10 catches, 126 yards and two touchdowns -- both of which came during his sophomore year.

The biggest play of his collegiate career thus far came in the 2015 SEC Championship Game, where he caught a 46-yard touchdown pass from Treon Harris in the end zone between a pair of Crimson Tide defenders.

Worton's full message that he posted on his Twitter page is below.

"To everyone who is wondering what is going on, I am no longer on the University of Florida football team. With much guidance and help from this coaching staff I will end up at a top university and continue to play football. I did not want to draw any negative attention to the school with signing day so close and risk giving any commits second thoughts. I love this school, the fans, and most importantly the guys I've gone to work with everyday for the past 3 years. My teammates are the biggest reason for this move, without the steady encouragement from them I do not know where I would be. I've competed against the best and know that I am capable of playing at a high level. I am getting the most out of my scholarship and staying enrolled at school in order to stay eligible and will be moving on after the spring semester. Thank you everyone for the support."

Florida Gators National Signing Day Live Blog

3:24 p.m.: In a shocking turn of events, UF just received wide receiver James Robinson's letter of intent just before coach Jim McElwain's press conference. It was previously reported that the UF administration was not going to let the Gators sign the four-star Lakeland High football player, who was cited for marijuana possession while on an official visit at Ohio State. Apparently, there has been a change of heart or change of decision somewhere along the lines. Robinson, a 6-4, 205-pound receiver is ranked as the No. 14 receiver in the Class of 2017, the No. 21 prospect in the state of Florida and the No. 114 player nationally. 

1:42 p.m.: Three-star cornerback Brian Edwards from Miramar High committed to Florida over the University of Miami and others at his school's signing day ceremony. The 6-3, 195-pound Edwards checks in as the No. 58 cornerback in the class and the No. 77 product overall in the state of Florida. He is the fifth cornerback to sign with the Gators, joining Marco Wilson (American Heritage), Shawn Davis (Miami Southridge), Brad Stewart (New Orleans McDonogh 35) and C.J. Henderson (Miami Columbus). Edwards is also the third recruit Florida picked up on Signing Day, joining Henderson and American Heritage's T.J. Slaton.

12:35 p.m.: Three-star outside linebacker prospect Nick Smith has sent in his letter of intent to UF. Smith, the No. 78 ranked outside linebacker in the country, verbally committed to UF on Saturday. With his signing, every Florida player who verbally committed to Florida heading into National Signing Day is on board with the exception of tight end Zech Byrd, who reportedly will not be signing today. Florida is still hoping to snag a couple more recruits -- most notably Miramar cornerback Brian Edwards and Clearwater High running back Adarius Lemons.