Former Florida running back Mike Blakely has transferred to Auburn, according to 24/7 Sports' Josh Newberg, and been granted a waiver to head to the Plains. Blakely will have to sit this fall, but becomes eligible to play in the 2012 season.
This transfer news comes as a bit of a shock after Blakely visited USF this week, reportedly looking to follow in the footsteps of wide receiver Chris Dunkley in decamping from Gainesville to Tampa.
But Blakely, a product of Bradenton's Manatee High, apparently didn't get what he wanted from USF, and instead has transferred to Auburn, both the defending national champions and one of the teams that was considered a finalist for Blakely's services during his original recruitment.
As discussed previously, Blakely's departure was likely a case of bad fit, and one of the routes I saw him taking was a one-year stay at junior college, followed by enrollment at Auburn; Florida was reportedly going to prevent him from transferring directly to an SEC school. That didn't happen, though — Blakely's high school coach called Will Muschamp a "class act" for permitting the transfer, which may have been the reason for the permission — and now Blakely will be a Tiger.
I wish him the best in every game other than Auburn's meetings with Florida.