GatorBait Newsletter #3. Seeing Some Stars In Gainesville. Stand Back And Let The Big Gator Eat.

(UAA Graphic)

The biggest “get” was the flipping of a four-star edge rusher from St.Petersburg Lakewood. Florida’s seventh 2023 commit was 6-foot-4, 215-pound Isaiah Nixon.

By BUDDY MARTIN GatorBaitMedia.com Editor

For all the talk about four-or-five-star quarterbacks and the likes, Billy Napier and his recruiters quietly laid some solid bricks in the foundation of his Gator football program this week, that could have a significant impact.

The biggest “get” was the flipping of a four-star edge rusher from St. Petersburg Lakewood. Florida’s seventh 2023 commit was 6-foot-4, 215-pound Isaiah Nixon. And who would have thought getting a flipper from UCF would be such a big deal?

Meanwhile, of the seven 2023 commits Florida has added, four will play in the trenches — three offensive linemen and Nixon the edge rusher… the last three road graders averaging 6-5, 330.

Hopefully this will help tranquilize the terror among the recruiting crazies, who need to learn to chill and let Napier’s staff do its thing. There are no quick fixes.

CHEW ON THIS ONE IN AUBURN

Matt Hayes dropped the name of Urban Meyer on Tuesday’s Paul Finebaum Show as the leading candidate to replace Brian Harsin should Auburn fire him. Given his dislike for Urban, you can imagine how Finebaum gagged. So that will be a hot topic leading up to SEC Media Days.

IT SEZ HERE: A trio of NCAA titles led 11 top-10 team finishes as the University of Florida athletics program placed fifth in the 2021-22 LEARFIELD Directors' Cup standings. This is Florida's 13th consecutive top-five national all-sports finish. Florida is the only program to finish among the nation's top 10 in each of the last 38 national all-sports standings.

JUD’S BIG GAMBLE

From Maria Torres, the Athletic, on Jud Fabian’s bold decision:“The gamble to return to Florida seems likely to pay off, though perhaps just modestly. In his first mock draft, Law wrote that Fabian could sneak into the first round this summer as the 28th overall selection. The value of the pick, which is held by the Astros, is $2.62 million, some $760,000 more than Fabian’s slot last year. Even if he falls among the top three selections of the second round (Nos. 40-42), the slot value would be slightly more than that of his draft position in 2021.”

HE'S A PALADIN HALL OF FAMER

Billy Napier, the Paladins quarterback from 1999-2002, was named to the Furman University Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2022. It sez here Napier helped engineer one of the greatest seasons in Furman history connecting on all 12 pass attempts for 159 yards and a touchdown in a 24-17 triumph over Georgia Southern in the I-AA playoff semifinals, halting the Eagles’ 39-game home winning streak.

GATORBAIT BITES: Per Scott Carter of Floridagators.com. “Former #Gators RHP Jack Leftwich tossing up some good numbers with Lynchburg of Carolina League: 3-1, 2.06 ERA, 70 SO in 48 IP” … Florida will host against Missouri on Oct. 8 for homecoming. Gators are a 70-26-2 record in homecoming games all-time, including a 28-5 mark since 1989 – although that’s not all that impressive since the caliber of competition was below average ... Saturday Down South ranks these as top five schools for doing best in the transfer portal to date. 5. Oklahoma

4.LSU

3.Michigan St.

2.Ole Miss

1. USC

OFF THE BEATEN GATOR PATH: We golf fans got nostalgic over the recent U.S. Open, remembering the good ole days after the “perfect” major championship at Brookline. I tweeted out, “I saw the future of golf today, mano-a-mano, right down to the 72nd hole of the U.S. Open, Englishman (Matt) Fitzpatrick besting American (Will) Zalatoris in a spectacular finish and spectacular setting. The future is bright and I did not miss those LIV guys. Thank you gentlemen.” After he missed the putt for a playoff, Zalatoris went up to Fitzpatrick’s parents and said: “If I had to lose to anyone, I’m happy it was your son.”

It’s why I love golf. It is a game of honor. ANOTHER NOTE ABOUT GOLF’S FUTURE: Each of the last five men's major champions have been in their 20s, the longest streak since the 1920s. And its past: Wish he hadn’t done it, but Bruce Koepka won’t be missed that much on the PGA Tour. He chose another lifestyle because clearly golf is a job for him which he doesn’t love and finds difficult to commit to.

FALDO TO THE LIV? With the news that Nick Faldo is retiring and Trevor Immelman taking his place as CBS golf analyst, one of the Euro writers revisited the most major wins by Europeans since WWII.

6. – Nick Faldo 5. – Seve Ballesteros 4. – Rory McIlroy 3. – Padraig Harrington 2. – Tony Jacklin, Bernhard Langer, Jose Maria Olazabal, Martin Kaymer and Sandy Lyle 1. -- 14 other golfers MY PERSONAL FAVORITE MOMENT OF THE WEEK: My hero, Randy of Ocala Heating and AC, arrived at my house when the temperature was soaring above 90 as a heat wave was sweeping the country, to attend to my 25-year-old central air that went kapoot. I feared Randy would be giving it last rites. Do you know how much a new one would cost? After 45 minutes, the air was back on. When I asked him how much the bill was, Randy said: “Oh, just the amount of the service call, $99.” I’m not Catholic, but I wanted to genuflect.

IMPORTANT PROGRAMING NOTE: Both GatorBait and The Buddy Martin Show will be on hiatus next week, starting Monday June 27 through July 4. One of our rare pauses in two years. This week’s Double Issue should be enough to hold you over. My thanks to a dedicated staff of Franz Beard, Loren Meadows, Kyle Curtis, Madeline Lawson, Chris Spears and countless other contributors. (By the way, I made a major turnover in neglecting to mention two of our hardest working dudes who carry us every week — our Co-Captains and volunteer associate editors, Chad Ritch and Mike McGinnis. Take a lap Buddy, you dimwit!)

A TWEET WORTH REMEMBERING: To my pal Shane Matthews, this was about his home state: “The State of Mississippi is to College Baseball, what the State of Alabama is to College Football.” Well, maybe not for a long as ‘Bama, but yeah – that’s impressive.