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Linebacker James Hearns has decommitted from Florida, he tells Rivals' Blake Alderman.
Rivals 250 LB James Hearns just told me he has decommitted from #Florida
— Blake Alderman (@MistaAlderman) January 24, 2013
Hearns took an official visit to Auburn last weekend, and had been the shakiest of Florida's five linebacker commits — or, more accurately, the shakier of Florida's two linebacker commits not already enrolled at Florida, with Jarrad Davis being the other summer enrollee and Alex Anzalone, Daniel McMillian, and Matt Rolin all happily ensconced in Gainesville — but this decommitment may be more related to Hearns' grades than his interest in finding another school.
Some message board buzz about Hearns' visit to Auburn was that his transcript still lacked some of the things necessary to be a Tiger. And considering that Florida's admission standards are less lenient than Auburn's, the writing was probably on the wall for Hearns, who is a talented player and might have been able to earn a reserve role as a freshman at Florida. Update: The Gainesville Sun's Zach Abolverdi confirms that grades were at the root of Hearns parting ways with Florida.
LB James Hearns is no longer part of #Gators class. He told me D.J. Durkin called him and said #UF can't take him because of his grades.
— Zach Abolverdi (@ZachAbolverdi) January 24, 2013
Instead, Hearns will likely head to a school that can pull some strings to get him in, and Florida will likely focus on former Florida commit Quinton Powell, who decommitted from Florida in December to take visits elsewhere. Powell seems to be considering just Florida and USC, and could rejoin Florida's class before all is said and done.