Thoughts of the Day: May 20, 2026

(Photo by Chris Spears)

A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning:

Florida moved up to fourth in the 247Sports recruiting rankings Tuesday when 4-star wide receiver Elias Pearl (5-11, 185, Port Charlotte, FL) committed to Jon Sumrall and the Gators. The Gators are ranked eighth by Rivals/On3.

Pearl, who gained 1,680 all-purpose yards and scored 20 touchdowns as a high school junior in 2025, chose the Gators over offers from Georgia, Auburn and Ole Miss among others. He is the 16^th commitment for Sumrall’s 2027 recruiting class.

Per Jason Higdon of 1standtenFlorida, the Gators are very much in play for 4-star offensive tackles Kenedee Jackson (6-6, 300, Lithonia, GA) and Timi Aliu (6-4, 301, Locust Grove, GA) and 3-star tackle Terrance Smith (6-5, 275, Lansdale, PA). Smith is set to make his college choice public on June 15.

Higdon also notes that Florida defensive line coach Gerald Chatman spent Tuesday visiting Jalen Brewster (6-3, 307, Cedar Hill, TX), considered the top D-line prospect in the country. Brewster is committed to Texas Tech, but continues to entertain the possibility of changing his commitment to Florida.

UF BASEBALL: GATORS FACE VANDY IN SEC TOURNAMENT

Florida’s recent surge has moved the Gators (37-18) within striking distance of a top-eight national seed as they begin play in the Southeastern Conference Tournament against Vanderbilt (33-24) at 2 p.m. today (SEC Network) in Hoover, Alabama. Vanderbilt reached the second round with an 8-5 come from behind win over Kentucky Tuesday.

The Gators expect to send SEC Pitcher of the Year Aidan King (8-2, 2.50 ERA) to the mound against Vanderbilt, which is on the NCAA Tournament bubble after going 14-16 in SEC play during the regular season. Tuesday’s win over Kentucky might have punched Vandy’s NCAA ticket, but a win over the Gators would certainly do it.

So, while the Commodores have the pressure of making the NCAA field for the 20^th straight season, Florida is making a case for a top eight seed which would give the Gators the home field for both regional and super regional play. Most current projections have the Gators as a No. 11 seed, but a couple of wins in Hoover could enhance their chances of making the top eight. The Gators are No. 10 nationally in RPI and their 14-6 record against teams ranked in the top 25 is among the best in the country.

GATOR SOFTBALL: SHUMAKER, ERICKSON MAKE FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICA

Sophomore center fielder Taylor Shumaker and senior catcher/first base Jocelyn Erickson were named first team All-America by Softball America Tuesday. Shumaker is hitting .446 with 18 home runs and 59 RBI. Erickson is hitting .404 with 20 homers and 71 RBI.

The Gators (51-10) will play host to Texas Tech (55-6) in the NCAA Super Regional at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. Texas Tech is led by first team All-Americans Kaitlyn Terry and Nijaree Canady with former Gator and second team All-America Mia Williams playing second base.

GATOR GOLF: UF MEN LEAD COLUMBUS REGIONAL BY 16 SHOTS

Barring the sky falling or some other unheard of natural disaster, Florida’s men’s golf team will emerge today as the champs of the NCAA Columbus Regional. Going into the third and final round, the Gators hold a 16-shot advantage over second place Memphis. The Gators followed up their 7-under first round with an even par second.

Luke Poulter is tied for second place individually while Jack Turner, Parker Sands and Zach Swanwick are in a three-way tie for fourth.

The Gators are the No. 1 seed for the Columbus Regional.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: First they were willing to pay Brian Kelly $54 million not to coach football. Then they spent $6.5 million to buy out Lane Kiffin’s contract at Ole Miss and another $91 million to Lane Kiffin to take Kelly’s place. That doesn’t include all the money it took to buy out Kelly’s assistant coaches and bring in new ones. Next came basketball coach Matt Fortuna. Buying him out only cost $8 million, which pales in comparison to Kelly but then they had to buy out the contract of Will Wade at North Carolina State, a cool $3 million. LSU committed $30 million over the next seven years to pay for Wade. When you add in other expenses such as the operating budget for both football and basketball, LSU is on the hook for more than $200 million.

The fine folks in Baton Rouge figure Kiffin will recoup a chunk of that money by getting LSU in the championship hunt. In three years and eight games on the job, Kelly won 34 games, but he never got the Tigers into the College Football Playoff. Kiffin did it at Ole Miss and they believe he will replicate that success at LSU. They saw Kiffin load up in the transfer portal and they’re seeing greater success on the recruiting trail.

With Lane, you’re always teetering on the verge of having to defend the mouth that roared, but for LSU fans and administration, that’s merely the cost of doing business. To them, Lane’s outbursts make more sense than Brian Kelly doing a fake southern accent or trying to show off his dance moves. Compared to Kelly, Lane is a defendable bargain. To the LSU faithful it’s just Lane being Lane and we knew what we were getting when we got him.

Will Wade? Completely different story. This is his second go-round at LSU. He was fired with cause in 2022 when he was heard on an FBI wiretap bragging about the “strong-ass offer” he made to buy a recruit. He sat the next year then spent two years doing penance in the purgatory of the Southland Conference before taking the job a North Carolina State.

LSU hired him again since everything he did that got him fired in 2022 is now legal. Since returning to LSU he has run off every single player from last season’s roster and the two high school recruits McMahon signed. What he’s done in the portal has raised eyebrows everywhere because he’s pushing the NCAA envelope on eligibility.

Among the five players LSU has brought in from the transfer portal are UT-San Antonio point guard Austin Nunez, who has already played four years at three different schools. He isn’t that good and he will need a waiver to get a fifth year. He probably gets the waiver without causing an eye to blink up in Indianapolis where the NCAA, in its infinite wisdom, continues to chart a find a new way to bend our own rules course every single day.

Getting Nunez makes total sense compared to landing RJ Luis, Marcio Santos, Yam Madar and Saliou Niang. Luis (6-7, 196) was the Big East Player of the Year in 2025. He played three years of college basketball at UMass then St. John’s and then got a 2-way G-League/NBA contract after going undrafted. He didn’t play a game in the G-League and now is trying to come back to college basketball. Shades of Charles Bediako.

Santos (6-9, 250) has been playing professional basketball since leaving Brazil as a 15-year-old in 2018. Last season was spent in Israel playing for Maccabi Fox. He will be 24 when the college season begins. Madar (6-3, 190) will turn 26 in Israel. He’s been playing professional basketball since 2018. LSU reportedly spent $5 million to get him away from Hapoel Tel Aviv. Niang (6-5, 190), originally from Senegal, is a 22-year-old 5-year pro who played three NBA summer league games and spent last year playing in Italy.   

Of the eight scholarships Wade has committed for next season, five will require the NCAA to make eligibility decisions. Nunez is a probable, but it will take some serious rule-bending for Luis, Santos, Madar and Niang eligible.

Lane Kiffin won’t have any problems fielding a team in the fall. When the football magazines come out in the next two weeks, bet the far LSU will be ranked in the top 20 and given a legitimate shot to make the College Football Playoff. No doubt Lane will say things that make folks cringe, but he will win.

Will Wade is a totally different story. Winning seems a faraway dream. Right now he’s got to deal with the NCAA – again – and they’ve never been too happy with him. It’s hard to imagine the NCAA ruling in favor of Luis, Santos, Madar and Niang.

As my late friend Peter Kenny, the former British spy turned conflict diamond smuggler would say about LSU, “I believe these chaps are blinkin’ loopy.”