Agent Drew Rosenhaus announced on his Twitter page Wednesday that his agency had signed former Gator receiver Louis Murphy as a new client earlier in the day.

Murphy, a rookie this year in Oakland, has been impressive during the offseason and is expected to play a sizable role in the Raiders offense this season.

He also made a name for himself earlier in the month at the NFL’s yearly rookie symposium, where first-year players are required to attend classes and seminars on how to handle their new-found wealth, fame and attention.

According to several reports, Murphy was a class clown during down-times, sneaking up behind other rookies during mock interviews and “pantsing” them while their guard was down.

For those of you unaware, pantsing means pulling down the player’s pants, leaving just the underwear exposed.

Last month, at Mike Peterson’s youth football camp in Gainesville, I caught up with another former Gator, defensive tackle Gerard Warren, who gave some insight on his new teammate in Oakland.

“That guy has been real impressive,” Warren said. “He looks like he’s been a pro for years and not just a rookie. The way he carries himself and prepares every day, it’s something to watch. He’s going to be a good one.”

Warren says that he’s expecting a big year out of his team and thinks that the club should be able to break through the ceiling that the beleaguered franchise has set for itself in recent years.

Warren and Murphy will be set later this month to report to training camp, but a few other former UF players are still without contracts.

Among the talent still looking for work is Kevin Carter, Ike Hilliard and Darrell Jackson. With age catching up to all three, it could take an injury or two during the preseason for a team to look to these veterans for contributions.

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Marreese Speights had an up-and-down week at the NBA summer league in Orlando.

The rising second-year pro started with a 28-point, 11-rebound performance that included 28 shots taken, mostly from the perimeter.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, team GM Ed Stefanski said after the game the the Sixers “know Speights can shoot from the outside,” but would rather see him score from the block, an area of his game still needing improvement.

For the week, Speights finished averaging 14.3 points and 6.6 rebounds a game, shooting just 39.4 percent from the field.

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Chris Richard’s hopes of returning to the NBA this season seem to be dwindling. The forward is an invited player of the Milwaukee Bucks in the Las Vegas Summer League, though the team doesn’t seem to be showing much hospitality.

After scoring six points and pulling down four rebounds in 18 minutes in his first game of the week-long league, Richard has seen his minutes, and production, fall off each game since. It culminated in a “Did Not Play-Coaches Decision” in the Bucks’ win Wednesday over Chicago.

If Richard had a chance to latch on with the Bucks, he’d be seeing more time on the court. He’d also be averaging better than the current 3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game that he’s logging at the moment.

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And what’s a Gators in the Pros update without talk of Joakim Noah?

I was recently surfing through the archives on USAToday.com and came across this article about Noah as a high-school senior. It’s a great read if you have a few moments and want some more insight into his upbringing and the kind of guy he is.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-03-22-noah-basketball_x.htm