DJ Lagway, Elijhah Badger cleared to play against LSU Saturday

Elijhah Badger (6) has been cleared to play Saturday against LSU (Gator Bait Photo by Chris Spears)

Florida’s chances of springing an upset over 21st-ranked LSU (6-3, 3-2 SEC) have been given a boost. On the Thursday Night Gator Talk radio show with Sean Kelly, head coach Billy Napier said that quarterback DJ Lagway and wide receiver Elijhah Badger are cleared to play when the Gators (4-5, 2-4 SEC) face LSU at The Swamp Saturday (3:30 p.m., ABC).

Lagway suffered a hamstrong injury in the Georgia game, going down in the second quarter with the Gators leading the then-No. 2 Bulldogs 10-3. He missed last week’s game against Texas. For the season, Lagway has completed 56-92 passes (60.9 percent) for 1,071 yards (11.6 per attempt) with six touchdown passes and five interceptions. Lagway has also run for 114 yards.

Badger, who ranks second nationally in average yards per catch (23.33) has caught 24 passes for 560 yards and two touchdowns. Badger missed last week’s game with Texas. Badger and Chimere Dike (28-523, 18.68 per catch, 2 TDs) give the Gators one of the best deep threat duos in the country which should help keep LSU’s safeties from loading up the box to stop the run.

The betting line continued to shrink Thursday, down another half point to LSU favored by 3.5 points.

KLAVZAR ELIGIBLE AS GATORS VISIT FSU

Urban Klavzar, who was one of the most highly sought shooters in all of Europe, finally was cleared by the NCAA Thursday. The 6-2 Slovenian, who lit it up at the FIBA Europe Under-20 championships during the summer, will get his first taste of American college basketball tonight when the Gators (3-0) face arch-rival Florida State (3-0) tonight (6 p.m.) at the Tucker Center in Tallahassee.

The Gators have dominated three straight opponents despite getting off to a rocky start shooting from the 3-point line. The Gators are hitting just 26.4 percent from three although they have shot better every game. In Monday night’s win over Grambling, the Gators hit 7-23 of their 3-pointers but that’s still a poor percentage.

Klavzar, who has been lighting it up in practices, can do more than shoot, but shooting is indeed his calling card. Head coach Todd Golden described Klavzar Thursday as “just another really talented, skilled guard, a guy that should help us against pressure, a guy that can really shoot the ball, a guy with moxie, toughness, you know, little undersized, but really competes on both ends. And a guy that's played high level basketball, you know, so the great thing about Urby is he's not going to be your normal freshman ... He's not a guy that's coming out of the high school ranks, you know, bright eyed bushy tailed going into Florida State. He's played in big-time environments. He's played at international basketball, at the highest level, so I think he will be ready to help us right away.”

What Golden expects from Florida State: “They're an incredibly aggressive defense so far. They’ve played three games against teams that kind of range from 150 to 250 so far this year, one neutrally, but their defensive numbers, their defensive-effective field-goal percentage and their defensive turnover rate jump out at you. They're insanely good so far. So to me, I think the key is just take care of the basketball. We cannot turn it over, because that'll lead to run-outs and easier percentage shots for them, and we’ve got to make them work defensively all night long. If we take care of the ball, I think we'll have a really good chance to win the game tomorrow night, but if we don't, and we end up leaving there with a 20 percent assist rate or so, we could be in some trouble. So again, I think the key for us is taking care of the basketball, especially on the road against a team that has turned teams over, I think about 25 percent of time so far this season.”

Gator notes: Walter Clayton Jr. leads the Gators in scoring (16.7 per game) and assists (4.3). Will Richard is scoring at a 16.0 clip while grabbing 5.0 rebounds per game. Alex Condon averages 15.3 points and 4.7 rebounds. Florida Atlantic transfer Alijah Martin is scoring 12.3 points per game with 5.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 3.0 steals ... The Gators have won their last three against FSU. Golden is 2-0 with an 89-68 win last season in Gainesville and a 79-67 win two years ago in Tallahassee.

Anticipated starting lineups

FLORIDA (3-0): Alex Condon (6-11, 230, SO); Rueben Chinyelu (6-10, 255, SO); Alijah Martin (6-2, 195, GR); Will Richard (6-4, 206, SR); Walter Clayton Jr. (6-2, 195, SR)

Florida State (3-0): Taylor Bol Bowen (6-10, 205, SO); Malique Ewin (6-11, 230, JR); Jamir Watkins (6-7, 210, GR); Chandler Jackson (6-5, 205, JR); Bostyn Holt (6-7, 200, SR)

OLIVIER RIOUX WILL REDSHIRT

Despite chants from the crowd “We want Ollie” Monday night, Golden wouldn’t play his 7-9, 305-pound freshman. In the final seconds, Golden went down to the end of the bench to have a short conversation with Rioux, making certain that there are no problems with the plan for a redshirt year.

“This is something that we've talked to with – I should say people out of our program have talked with – him and his family and his parents, his AAU coach, and just kind of trying to figure out what the best route for him is,” Golden said. “So that, I just went up to him and I was like, ‘Hey, I'm not trying to be disrespectful with you. I'm just not trying to burn your year putting you in for 30 seconds.’” 

ALEX LLOYD SIGNS

Alex Lloyd (6-4, 175, Fort Lauderdale, FL Westminster Academy) signed his national letter of intent to play for the Gators. A 4-star recruit who helped Westminster to the Florida Class 3A state championship a year ago, Lloyd is the No. 34-ranked player in the nation per ESPN.

Last season, Lloyd averaged 19.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game. He shot 45 percent from the 3-point line and 81.2 percent from the foul line.

“We are thrilled to welcome Alex Lloyd and his family into our Gator basketball program,” Golden said. “Alex is one of the best high school guards in the country, and we are really excited to add him to our group. He comes from a great family, and he has always been passionate about joining our program.  There is no doubt he will have great success within our program.”

The Gators are expected to get the signed NLOI this week from CJ Ingram (6-5, 205, Hawthorne, FL/Montverde, FL Montverde Academy). The son of former Gator quarterback/tight end Cornelius Ingram, CJ averaged 24 points and 8.5 rebounds per game last season at Hawthorne. As a quarterback, he also led the Hornets to the 2023 state 1A championship.

SEC BASKETBALL

Thursday’s scores

Missouri (3-1) 111, Mississippi Valley State (1-2) 39: Seven Tigers scored in double figures led by Marques Warrick, who hit 4-5 of his 3-pointers in a 16-point night.

LSU (3-0) 76, Kansas State (2-1) 65: UT-Martin transfer Jordan Sears filled up the box score with 15 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals as the Tigers scored a win over K-State of the Big 12.  

Today’s games

No. 20 FLORIDA (3-0) at Florida State (3-0)

No. 2 Alabama (3-0) at No. 13 Purdue (3-0)

Georgia (3-0) at Georgia Tech (2-1)

Ohio State (2-0) at No. 23 Texas A&M (2-1)

Saturday’s games

Stetson (1-2) at Oklahoma (2-0)

South Carolina (2-1) at No. 16 Indiana (2-0)

Jackson State (0-3) at Vanderbilt (2-0)

Colorado State (3-0) at No. 25 Ole Miss (3-0)

Mississippi Valley State (1-2) at Texas (2-1)

Sunday’s games

Austin Peay (3-0) at No. 12 Tennessee (2-0)

Utah (3-0) at Mississippi State (3-0)

UF MEN’S GOLF: NO. 2 CLASS NATIONALLY

The Gators signed three to the No. 2-ranked recruiting class in the country.

Josh Bai (Auckland, New Zealand):

Trevorn Gutschewski (Omaha, NE):

Parker Severs (Lakewood Ranch, FL):

UF WOMEN’S SWIMMING SIGNS FIVE

The 3rd-ranked Gators, expected to repeat last year’s SEC championship and challenge Virginia for the NCAA title, added five swimmers for the 2025-26 season.

Lilla Bogner (Traveler’s Rest, SC Eastside): No. 6 national recruit, member of the 2024-25 US National team.

Lynsey Bowen (Carmel, IN): No. 12 recruit nationally.

Zuri Ferguson (Attleboro, MA): No. 29 national recruit.

Grace Rabb (Austin, TX Dripping Springs): No. 10 national recruit, No. 1 recruit in Texas.

Sylvia Statkevicius (Missassaugua, Ontario, Canada): No. 1 recruit in Canada.

UF MEN’S TENNIS SIGNS TWO

Head coach Adam Steinberg signed two internationals who will enroll and compete in the 2025 spring semester.

Rafael Segada (Cartagena, Spain): Segada is the #73 ITF junior and the #44 junior in all of Spain.

Niels Villard (Meaux, France): Villard is the No. 15 ranked junior in France.

SEC FOOTBALL

Saturday’s games

No. 3 Texas (8-1, 4-1 SEC) at Arkansas (5-4, 3-3 SEC): Arkansas’ offense, No. 2 in the SEC at 483.6 yards per game, will be going against a Texas defense that ranks No. 2 nationally (251 yards per game). Texas is a 12-point favorite.

No. 7 Tennessee (8-1, 5-1 SEC) at No. 12 Georgia (7-2, 5-2 SEC):Chris Low of ESPN reports that Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava has made progress through his concussion protocol this week and is expected to start Saturday night against Georgia ... Trevor Etienne, who leads Georgia in rushing with 477 yards and seven touchdowns, has been ruled out of the UT game with a rib injury originally sustained in the Florida game. Georgia is favored by 9.5 points.

Mercer (9-1) at No. 10 Alabama (7-2, 4-2 SEC): Alabama will win this one big, but playing a D1AA team this late in the season can’t help Alabama in the College Football Playoff poll. The Crimson Tide is currently the No. 12 team for a 12-team playoff.  

New Mexico State (2-7) at No. 15 Texas A&M (7-2, 5-1 SEC): The Aggies are 39-point favorites over Conference USA New Mexico State.

No. 23 Missouri (7-2, 3-2 SEC) at No. 21 South Carolina (6-3, 4-3 SEC): Missouri needs a win to stay in the hunt for the College Football Playoff, but the Tigers are 14-point underdogs against South Carolina in Columbia.

Murray State (1-9) at Kentucky (3-6, 1-6 SEC): The Wildcats are heavily favored to break their 4-game losing streak.  

Louisiana-Monroe (5-4) at Auburn (3-6, 1-5 SEC): Auburn is favored by 25.5 points over Louisiana-Monroe from the Sun Belt Conference.