Eloy Vargas' brief career at Florida has come to an end.
Vargas is not enrolled in classes for the fall semester and is no longer a part of the Gators basketball program, a UF spokesman confirmed.
Although the Gators now have one fewer option in the frontcourt, the team likely won't be strongly affected by Vargas' decision. Several news outlets reported that he might have been academically ineligible for the 2009-10 season, and despite being a dominant high school player, Vargas was ineffective as a freshman.
The 6-foot-10 forward played sparingly last season, seeing time in just nine games and averaging 0.6 points and 0.7 rebounds per game. He missed both of the team's exhibition games and the first 11 regular-season contests while recovering from offseason ankle surgery.
Vargas has yet to announce where he will transfer, although it seems he has a strong interest in Kentucky. On his Twitter page, he posted last week that he "will be takin a visit to Kentucky Wildcats this weekend."
Orlando Antigua, who heavily recruited Vargas during his on time Pittsburgh's coaching staff, is now an assistant to Kentucky coach John Calipari.
Vargas is the 11th player to transfer from Florida since 2003-04. That list includes Mario Boggan (Oklahoma State), Ryan Appleby (Washington), Rashid Al-Kaleem (American), Mohamed Abukar (San Diego State), Jimmie Sutton (FAU), David Huertas (Ole Miss), Brandon Powell (Marshall), Jonathan Mitchell (Rutgers), Jai Lucas (Texas) and Allan Chaney (Virginia Tech).
After losing Chaney and Vargas from last year's squad, Florida added freshmen Kenny Boynton and Erik Murphy, and will likely pick up another new player before the season starts. Freshman point guard Nimrod Tishman is now listed on the team's roster and is expected to play this year.
Tishman, who came to Gainesville from Tel Aviv, Israel, is currently at UF and enrolled in classes but is still waiting on a decision from the NCAA Clearinghouse.
To play this season, the Clearinghouse must rule that his required three years of military service can be delayed until his time in college is over. In addition, he must be granted amateur status despite playing for the club team Maccabi-Tel Aviv while still in high school.
The 6-foot-6 guard averaged 18.3 points, four rebounds and more than two assists per game in the Under-18 European Championships last month, and he would add some much-needed depth to the Gators' backcourt. Sophomore Erving Walker is the only other point guard on Florida's roster.
Tishman's presence on the perimeter could prove to be necessary if redshirt sophomore forward Adam Allen continues to struggle with injuries.
Last week, several news outlets reported that Florida coach Billy Donovan was concerned about Allen's health entering the season. Donovan said if all goes well, Allen should be back on the court by mid-September following knee surgery during the spring.
Allen averaged four points per game as a freshman and shot 42.1 percent from three-point range.
