Four-star defensive lineman D’antre Robinson, who was granted release from his letter of intent by Texas, has chosen the University of Florida as his next destination. Originally from Orlando, Florida, Robinson, ranked as the No. 273 overall prospect and the 28th defensive lineman in the 2024 class, expressed his excitement about joining his childhood-favorite team.

A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning:

“Lord I was stung, shoulda seen it come a long time ago; When I realized the reality gave me a role. If things are the same then explain why your kiss is so cold, and that mist in your eyes feels like rain on the fire of my soul” – from “Smoke from a Distant Fire” by the Sanford Townsend Band

The Florida Gators have historically pumped out high-caliber NFL talent, and this year is no different. Heading into the Divisional Round in the NFL Playoffs, the Gators have more players on playoff rosters than any other college in the country. Florida leads the way with 15 players on active rosters or reserve/IR. Coming in behind the Gators are Georgia and Iowa (14), Penn State (13), Notre Dame and Alabama (12), and Ohio State and Michigan (11). Here is a full list of Florida Gators alumni heading into the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs: Baltimore Ravens Jeremiah Moon, OLB Buffalo Bills Kaiir Elam, CB O'Cyrus Torrence, G Justin Shorter, WR Detroit Lions Alex Anzalone, LB C.J. Gardner-Johnson, DB Green Bay Packers T.J. Slayton, DL Brenton Cox Jr., DL Houston Texans Dameon Pierce, RB Jonathan Greenard, DE Kansas City Chiefs Kadarius Toney, WR La'Michal Perine, RB Jawaan Taylor, OT Tommy Townsend, P Tampa Bay Buccaneers Kyle Trask, QB In terms of notable performances during Wild Card Weekend, Kaiir Elam came up big against the Steelers. He finished the win with five total tackles and a red zone interception. Alex Anzalone and C.J. Gardner-Johnson also turned in stellar deffensive performances in their Wild Card victories combining for 15 total tackles, two of which were for a loss.

Gator Nation received heartbreaking news on Monday after the announcement that Ronald Powell passed away at the age of 32. Powell spent three seasons at Florida (2010-13) after joining the program as the No. 1 ranked high school prospect, according to Rivals.com. He finished his time with the Gators totaling 79 total tackles, 18.5 tackles-for-loss and 11 sacks over the course of 53 games in the Orange & Blue. Following the 2013 season, Powell entered the NFL Draft, in which the New Orleans Saints selected him in the fifth round. His time in the NFL did not quite pan out as he hoped, although he did see action in 14 games during his rookie season before hitting the IR ahead of his second year in the league. He was eventually waived and proceeded to spend time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Chicago Bears practice squads as well as a short stint in Seattle. Powell last played professional football with the Orlando Apollos of the Alliance of American Football before the league halted operations in 2019. "It blows your mind," Urban Meyer said of Powell's passing in a conversation with Buddy Martin. "A young, healthy, great-looking young. Meyer recruited Powell and coached him for a season before retiring. "[He was a] great, great player...[and] an awesome person," Meyer added. "Loved to be around him...It's heartbreaking." As of now, there have been no details released about Powell's death. GatorBaitMedia.com will continue to provide updates as they become available.

Ole Miss was intense, loud and rowdy, an environment that played a part in Florida’s 18-point loss last Wednesday night in Oxford. Such is life on the road in the Southeastern Conference. If the Gators (11-5, 1-2 SEC), most of whom have never dealt with the hostility you face away from home in the SEC, think Ole Miss was a tough place to play, wait until they get a load of what they’ll be facing tonight in Knoxville. Thompson-Boling Arena is one of the more feared home court advantages in all of college basketball and it has a lot to do with why 6th-ranked Tennessee (12-4, 2-1 SEC) is a 9.5-point favorite heading into this evening’s matchup with Florida (5 p.m., ESPN2). The game was moved up to 5 p.m. due to heavy snow and bad weather in Eastern Tennessee. If the Gators have an advantage, it’s the fact they are coming off a win over Arkansas, their most complete victory of the season. Last week in Oxford, they were still trying to come to grips with what went wrong in an 87-85 loss to Kentucky, a game the Gators led most of the way only to collapse in the final minutes. Against Arkansas, the Gators trailed only 1:37 in a dominating, 90-68, win. The Gators shot the ball well, killed the Razorbacks on the backboards, 48-31, and they put together a defensive effort that smothered both the inside and perimeter games. Despite Arkansas leaving Gainesville still seeking its first SEC win of the season, Florida coach Todd Golden felt good about the win and the momentum he hopes will carry over against the Vols today. “Obviously, Arkansas is a really talented team,” Golden said Monday before the Gators left for the airport for the flight to Knoxville. “They struggled early in league play, but they're really good: they beat Duke. They've shown the capacity to play really, really well. So for us to come out, get off to that great start and then sustain it for 40 minutes, was huge for us. I thought that was something we can really build off of, and obviously this is going to be a really tough one tomorrow night, so good to get one like that under our belts before going to Knoxville.” Included in Tennessee’s 12 wins is a 26-point blowout of the same Ole Miss team that kicked Florida to the curb last week. The Vols have played one of the more aggressive schedules in the country with three of their four losses to now No. 2 Purdue; No. 3 Kansas and No. 4 North Carolina. The player who makes the Vols go is 5-9 point guard Zakai Ziegler, arguably the quickest player in the SEC. “Just a stud,” Golden said. “Really, really heady veteran point guard, obviously won a lot  of games. You saw what they looked like last year when he went down. They were a lot different. Now that he's back and healthy, they're playing at a really, really high level again.” Ziegler is critical to every phase of the Tennessee offense. He can score off the drive and can hit the open shot if you leave him alone, but more importantly, he gets the ball in the hands of shooters like Dalton Knecht and long range bomber Santiago Vescovi. The late, great Al McGuire would call Ziegler the head of the snake. So how does Golden plan to cut the head off the Tennessee snake, particularly one who makes his living blowing by defenders? “He’s super fast,” Golden said. “You just got to do everything we can to keep in front, whether it's containing him in the ball-screen coverage. We’ll give different looks, put different guys on him, but yeah, his speed is going to be an issue for sure.” Tennessee is probably the best defensive team the Gators have played all season. Opponents manage only 66 points per game, 38 percent from the field and 30.8 percent from the 3-point line. Scoring hasn’t been a real problem for the Gators, who rank third in the SEC and ninth nationally at 86.38 points per game. Florida’s offense is predicated on getting the ball up the court and into the offense quickly, aided by relentless rebounding. The Gators lead the nation in rebounding at 45.3 per game. Florida’s efforts on the offensive backboards (16.38 per game, second nationally) result in extra possessions and more scoring opportunities. For the Gators to leave Knoxville with their first win at Thompson-Boling in 10 years, Golden knows the Gators have to be prepared to play one of their most physical games of the season. “I think we need to be physical, you know,” Golden said. “You look at the tape when Tennessee kind of routed Ole Miss, and that was a football game. You know, it was really, really physical, and, you know, I think Ole Miss was a little surprised in in their first game that way, and then it definitely prepared them to play us, in terms of making sure they were good that way. But Knoxville, like, you got to go in there, you got to take care of the ball, you’ve got to be physical, whether it’s offense, defense … got to draw a line in the sand defensively and keep a guy in front, but if you bring physicality, you’re gonna give yourself a chance. If you don’t, it’s gonna be a long night, for sure.” Anticipated starting lineupsFLORIDA (11-5, 1-2 SEC): 6-10 Tyrese Samuel (13.6 points, 8.4 rebounds); 7-1 Micah Handlogten (6.6 points, 7.6 rebounds); 6-4 Will Richard (10.8 points, 3.6 rebounds); 6-2 Walter Clayton Jr. (15.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists); 6-4 Zyon Pullin (15.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists) Tennessee (12-4, 2-1 SEC): 6-6 Dalton Knecht (17.2 points, 4.2 rebounds); 6-11 Jonas Aidoo (11.2 points, 7.4 rebounds); 6-7 Josiah-Jordan James (10.1 points, 6.9 rebounds); 6-3, Santiago Vescovi (7.7 points, 3.9 rebounds); 5-9 Zakai Ziegler (10.5 points, 2.2 rebounds, 5.0 assists) SEC basketballFLORIDA (11-5, 1-2 SEC) at No. 5 Tennessee (12-4, 2-1 SEC); Missouri (8-8, 0-3 SEC) at Alabama (11-5, 3-0 SEC); Georgia (12-4, 2-1 SEC) at South Carolina (14-2, 2-1 SEC); Texas A&M (10-6, 1-2 SEC) at Arkansas (9-7, 0-3 SEC) Wednesday’s games: Mississippi State (12-4, 1-2 SEC) at No. 6 Kentucky (12-3, 2-1 SEC); No. 16 Auburn (14-2, 3-0 SEC) at Vanderbilt (5-11, 0-3 SEC); Ole Miss (15-1, 2-1 SEC) at LSU (10-6, 2-1 SEC) Associated Press top 25 poll: 1. UConn 15-2; 2. Purdue 15-2; 3. Kansas 14-2; 4. North Carolina 13-3; 5. Houston 14-2; 6. Tennessee 12-4; 7. Duke 13-3; 8. Kentucky 12-3; 9. Baylor 14-2; 10. Memphis 15-2; 11. Wisconsin 13-3; 12. Arizona 12-4; 13. Auburn 14-2; 14. Illinois 12-4; 15. Oklahoma 13-3; 16. Utah State 16-1; 17. Marquette 11-5; 18. Creighton 13-4; 19. TCU 13-3; 20. BYU 13-3; 21. Dayton 13-2; 22. Ole Miss 15-1; 23. Florida Atlantic 13-4; 24. Iowa State 13-3; 25. Texas Tech 14-2 Coaches top 25 poll: 1. UConn 15-2; 2. Purdue 15-2; 3. North Carolina 13-3; 4. Kansas 14-2; 5. Houston 14-2; 6. Duke 13-3; 7. Houston 12-4; 8. Wisconsin 13-3; 9. Baylor 14-2; 10. Kentucky 12-3; 11. Auburn 14-2; 12. Memphis 15-2; 13. Arizona 12-4; 14. Illinois 12-4; 15. Creighton 13-4; 16. Oklahoma 13-3; 17. Utah State 16-1; 18. Marquette 11-5. 19. BYU 13-3; 20. Iowa State 13-3; 21. Ole Miss 15-1; 22. TCU 13-3; 23. Dayton 13-2; 24. San Diego State 14-3; 25. Texas Tech 14-2 College football In addition to bringing offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb with him from Washington, new Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer is hiring South Alabama head coach Kane Wommack as his defensive coordinator. DeBoer will retain former Florida running back Robert Gillespie as his running backs coach and Freddie Roach as his D-line coach. Gillespie and Roach are two of the country’s top recruiters. Washington’s new head coach is Jed Fisch, a University of Florida graduate who was the defensive coordinator at P.K. Yonge in 1997 and a Steve Spurrier graduate assistant at Florida in 1999-2000. In three years as the head coach at Arizona, Fisch took the Wildcats from 1-11 to 10-3 and an 11th place finish in the final Associated Press rankings. Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh will interview today with the Los Angeles Chargers. There is plenty of speculation that Harbaugh will take the job. If he goes, will Michigan hire X, who led the Wolverines to three wins at the end of the season including Ohio State while Harbaugh was suspended? Justin Lustig is leaving Vanderbilt to become the special teams coordinator at Penn State. Lustig coached the tight ends and was Vandy’s associate head coach. Vandy, meanwhile, hired Kennesaw State offensive coordinator Chris Klenakis as its new offensive line coach. Former Florida secondary coach Travaris Robinson, is leaving Alabama to coach the Georgia secondary and serve as associate head coach to Kirby Smart. Making room for Robinson on the Georgia staff is Will Muschamp, who will take on an executive role in the program to spend more time with family. Muschamp’s youngest son Whit will be a freshman QB at Vanderbilt next season. Oldest son Jackson is a walk-on QB at Georgia. Ross Bjork, the Texas A&M athletic director and formerly AD at Ole Miss, is being targeted as the next athletic director at Ohio State. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon or brain scientist to figure out that the current model driving college football is unsustainable. The NCAA, in its infinite wisdom, is absolutely clueless, evidenced by Charlie Baker’s rich get richer plan that all but promises to make the entire Group of Five, D1AA, DII and DIII even more irrelevant than they currently are. What we need is leadership, something in short supply among Baker and his minions at the NCAA, and a common sense approach to the problems that are threatening to turn college sports, but especially football, into something unrecognizable. Here are a few suggestions: 1. Division I football should secede from the NCAA as soon as a commissioner can be found. 2. Find a high character, no-nonsense commissioner for college football. If Greg Sankey won’t take the job, go with Nick Saban. 3. Change the transfer rule. Athletes have to remain at their original school until their sophomore years unless the head coach is fired or leaves for a new job. Leave after the freshman year and athletes have to sit out a year. This would also require schools to make a 2-year commitment to their athletes. 4. Each conference should set a pay standard for football players. For example, SEC schools will be getting an annual media rights payout in the $100 million range within a couple of years, so maybe $100,000 per player, which would be an $8.5 million payout for the 85 scholarship players. Each conference would pay out according to what its schools can afford. 5. Require actual name, image and likeness services for NIL money. Any school caught paying NIL money without services rendered will be fined $25 million and made ineligible for the College Football Playoff for three years. Yes, that’s harsh, but the only way to stop the abuse is with real penalties. Athletes taking money without doing something to earn it would receive a 1-year suspension without pay. 6. Real penalties for cheaters. Any coach caught cheating, gets a 1-year suspension without pay or the first offense. That includes both head coaches and assistants. Second time offenders get a 5-year ban. 7. All athletes are under contract. If they opt out of bowl games or playoff games, they will be required to pay back every dime ever spent on them during their time at the school. 8. If boosters break the rules, fine the school $25 million and require the school to disassociate from the booster for a minimum of 10 years. 9. Expand the College Football Playoff to 16 teams with every conference champ invited and the rest of the field at-large. Seed the 16 teams 1-16, the first weekend (8 games) on campus. Quarterfinals, semifinals and championship game will be played either in warm weather sites or domed stadiums. 10. Once football is thriving in this new format, free all the other sports from the tentacles of the NCAA. If the NCAA is to have a role, allow it to stage championships for all sports not named football.

Florida is off and running in the 2025 recruiting cycle. Recently, they successfully recruited Josiah Abdullah from Woodward Academy and Waltez Clark, both committing to join the team. The latest addition is Jalen Wiggins from James Rickards High School in Tallahassee, Florida, who will be the first defender for Florida in this recruiting cycle.

Florida pounds Georgia behind the duo of Correa and Matharu to get the SEC win at home. By Loren Meadows, GatorBaitMedia.com The Florida Gators welcomed the Georgia Bulldogs to the O’Connell Center looking to take a bite out of their rival and get into the SEC win column after two close losses on the road. The Gators would get outstanding performances from the duo of Aliyah Matharu and Leilani Correa who combined for 51 points and six three pointers as the Gators defeated Georgia 78-69 Sunday afternoon. Correa and Matharu were motivated by a short pregame conversation with coach Kelly Rae Finley that set the tone for Sunday’s performance. “I grabbed them right before the game and I told them tonight is gonna be the night that you two excel together on the court”, Finley stated. “These two (Matharu and Correa) are explosive and dynamic when they are both hitting on the same night and that exactly what happened tonight”. Correa was extremely aggressive at the start of the game scoring five or her season-high 30 points in the first quarter then exploding for 13 in the second quarter aided by 3 of 4 shooting from three. Matharu would follow suit in the second half scoring 17 of her 20 points. Matahru, who moved to point guard for the Gators this season has really focused on distributing the ball to her teammates and scoring more efficiently. “I’m trying to stay consistent, watching film, learning my teammates, and myself as well.” Matharu would dish out four assists on the night including two long over the top passes to Correa for easy lay ups. “I really have been focusing on distributing the ball a little bit better, finding people, and get Leilani open.” Florida guard Aliyah Matharu (UAA photo) Along with the play of Matharu and Correa, Coach Finley also noted the role that forward Faith Dut played in the Gators neutralizing Georgia’s Javyn Nicholson and assuming more responsibility in the post with the absence of center Ra’Shaya Kyle. “Faith is so dynamic, she has a great basketball IQ, and for her size allows us to play a very fast game.” Dut harassed Nicholson into 50 percent shooting on the afternoon while limiting her to one offensive rebound. Nicholson would eventually foul out of the game in the fourth quarter. She would add nine points, four rebounds and two block including three clutch free throws late in the game as Georgia made a late push to get back in the game. Finally, Coach Finley made it clear that the Gators leaned on the energy that the Gator nation brought to the O’Connell Center this evening. "I don't know if that game goes our way if Gator Nation didn't show up the way they did today. We play a really fun style of basketball and I was really happy that our team was able to celebrate and showcase how we play. The crowd was absolutely outstanding in giving us that energy, they had the "Go Gators" chant near the end, which just empowers you– it makes you remember that there's a lot of people cheering for us, that believe in us, and can celebrate us." #kellyskicks (UAA photo)

A few thoughts to jump start your Monday morning: Montrell Johnson Jr. is returning for his senior year at Florida. He is a power runner with speed, a reliable pass catcher, and he can pick up a blitzer, something a more explosive back who transferred out couldn’t do. So Montrell is worth some fluff. Two years at UF have proven he can get the job done. Montrell has run for 2,496 yards in three years (1,679 at Florida) and 27 touchdowns. He ran for 838 yards and scored five touchdowns in 2023 while catching 30 passes for 236 yards and another TD. Those are good numbers that would have been better if the offensive line had produced with any consistency. To call the O-line disappointing would be giving them far more credit than they deserve. Fluff over. Now for the real. Guards Micah Mazzccua (to Nebraska) and Richie Leonard IV (to Florida State) are transferring. They started all season long on an underperforming offensive line that allowed 39 sacks (17 in 2022) and saw a 1.3-yard drop in the running game (5.58 per carry in 2022, 4.27 in 2023). Under most circumstances we would talk about how much two starters will be missed. That would be fluffy and quite undeserved. Reality is sometimes brutal and the reality is that Mazzccua and Leonard leaving is actually addition by subtraction. Mazzcua, for whom much was expected when he transferred in from Baylor, had attitude issues as well as inconsistent performance issues. He wasn’t terrible, but quite average in a league where average doesn’t cut it. He graded a very average 69.1 (per Pro Football Focus). Richie Leonard is a very nice kid, but his 64.2 grade tells you he had problems carrying out assignments at the level you need in the middle of the offensive line. Leonard struggled to consistently handle the guy across the line from him one-on-one. When you have a redshirt freshman center who requires help with the monster nose tackles you face in the SEC, the last thing you need is a right guard (Mazzccua) for whom you’re uncertain if he will show up mentally and a left guard (Leonard) who has to have help. When Billy Napier brought in two tackles from the portal – Devon Manuel from Arkansas and Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson from San Diego State – the handwriting was on the wall for Mazzccua and Leonard. The two new guys will be upgrades on the outside plus they will allow Rob Sale flexibility he didn’t have last year to move two outside starters inside where they figure to play at a more consistent level. Austin Barber, who played right tackle in 2022 and left tackle in 2023, dropped off considerably as both a pass blocker and run blocker in 2023. He’s better suited to play inside. The same holds true for Damieon George Jr., who spent most of his time at Alabama playing guard. He had a difficult year at right tackle after transferring to Florida in 2023. Gators get commitment from Colorado State transfer QB Billy Napier added a backup quarterback with experience Sunday when he got a commitment from Colorado State transfer Clay Millen (6-3, 210, RSO). Originally signed by Nevada, Millen transferred to Colorado State as a redshirt freshman in 2022. A 10-game starter in 2022, Millen played in only one game in 2023 and elected to enter the transfer portal. In his 10 games as the starter in 2022, Millen completed 169-234 passes (72.2 percent) for 1,910 yards and 10 touchdowns. On scholarship, January 15, 2024 (84) Quarterbacks (4): Graham Mertz (6-3, 215, RSR); Clay Millen (6-3, 210, RSO); QB Aidan Warner (6-3, 205, FR); DJ Lagway (6-3, 230, FR) Running backs (6): Montrell Johnson Jr. (5-11, 215, SR); Cameron Carroll (6-0, 230, RSR); Ja’Kobi Jackson (5-11, 220, RJR); Treyaun Webb (5-11, 210, SO); Kahnen Daniels (5-11, 190, FR); Jaden Baugh (6-1, 225, FR) Wide receivers (10): Chimere Dike (6-1, 200, SR); Ja’Quavion Fraziars (6-4, 215, SR); Marcus Burke (6-4, 200, RJR); Kahliel Jackson (6-3, 210, RJR); Taylor Spierto (6-0, 205, RJR); Trey Wilson (5-10, 170, SO); Andy Jean (6-1, 190, RFR); Aidan Mizell (6-2, 170, RFR); Jerrae Hawkins (5-9, 170, FR); Tawaski Abrams (5-11, 175, FR) Tight ends (5): Keon Zipperer (6-1, 240, GR); Arlis Boardingham (6-3, 240, RSO); Hayden Hansen (6-6, 265, RSO); Tony Livingston (6-5, 250, SO); Amir Jackson (6-4, 223, FR) O-linemen (16):  Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson (6-7, 310, SR); Austin Barber (6-6, 310, RJR); Jake Slaughter (6-5, 300, RSO); Damieon George Jr. (6-6, 350, RJR); Kamryn Waites (6-8, 365, RJR); Riley Simonds (6-3, 305, RSR); Devon Manuel (6-9, 310, RJR); Christian Williams (6-4, 310, RSO); Knijeah Harris (6-3, 315, SO); Roderick Kearney (6-4, 285, RFR); Bryce Lovett (6-5, 335, RFR); Caden Jones (6-8, 350, RFR); Fletcher Westphal (6-8, 335, FR); Mike Williams (6-7, 310, FR); Marcus Mascoll (6-5, 295, Snellville, GA South Gwinnett); Noel Portnjagin (6-5, 335, Germany) D-linemen (12): Joey Slackman (6-4, 300, GR); CamRon Jackson (6-6, 360, SR); Desmond Watson (6-5, 435, SR); Jaelin Humphries (6-3, 325, RSR); Justus Boone (6-4, 265, RJR); Brien Taylor (6-6, 270, Houston, TX, JR); Caleb Banks (6-6, 320, RSO); Jamari Lyons (6-4, 305, RSO); Kamran James (6-6, 270, SO); Gavin Hill (6-3, 255, RFR); LJ McCray (6-6, 260, FR); Michai Boireau (6-5, 390, FR) Linebackers/EDGE (14): Derek Wingo (6-1, 235, SR); Shemar James (6-1, 230, JR); Ja’Markis Weston (6-3, 230, RJR);  Tyreak Sapp (6-3, 275, RJR); Jack Pyburn (6-3, 250, JR); Quincy Ivory (6-3, 260, JR); George Gumbs (6-4, 242, JR); TJ Searcy (6-5, 245, SO); Kelby Collins (6-4, 270, SO); Deuce Spurlock II (6-0, 225, RSO); Jalen Robinson (6-0, 230, SO); Grayson Howard (6-4, 241, SO); Myles Graham (6-1, 212, FR); Aaron Chiles (6-3, 220, FR) Corners (7): Jason Marshall (6-1, 200, SR); Devin Moore (6-3, 200, JR); Ethan Pouncey (6-1, 170, RJR); Ja’Keem Jackson (6-1, 185, SO); Sharif Denson (5-11, 180, SO); Dijon Johnson (6-1, 200, SO); Teddy Foster (6-2, 170, FR) Safeties (7): RJ Moten (6-0, 220, SR); Trikweze Bridges (6-3, 198, SR); DJ Douglas (6-0, 205, SR); Bryce Thornton (5-10, 205, SO); Jordan Castell (6-2, 220, SO); Aaron Gates (6-0, 200, RFR); Josiah Davis (6-1, 185, FR) Special teams (3): Jeremy Crawshaw (6-4, 200, SR); Trey Smack (6-1, 200, JR); Rocco Underwood (6-3, 225, RJR) Gators in the portal Outgoing (22): OT Jordan Herman (6-8, 375, RSO) to Charlotte; WR Caleb Douglas (6-3, 200, SO) to Texas Tech; QB Max Brown (6-2, 220, RFR) to Charlotte; DL Will Norman (6-4, 300, RFR); S Kamari Wilson (6-0, 205, SO) to Arizona State; PK Adam Mihalek (6-2, 200, SO); DL Chris McClellan (6-3, 320, SO) to Missouri; TE Jonathan Odom (6-5, 250, RJR) to Eastern Michigan; WR Thai Chiaokhaio-Bowman (6-0, 200, SO); DT Keenan Landry (6-1, 305, RJR); TE Andrew Savaiianea (6-3, 270, RFR) to Nevada; OL Jalen Farmer (6-5, 310, RFR) to Kentucky; EDGE Princely Umanmielen (6-5, 255, JR) to Ole Miss; RB Trevor Etienne (5-9, 217, SO) to Georgia; Miguel Mitchell (6-1, 215, SO) to Arkansas; S Jadarrius Perkins (6-2, 190, SR) to Toledo; CB Jalen Kimber (6-0, 185, RSR) to Penn State; OG Micah Mazzccua (6-5, 325, RJR) to Nebraska; Scooby Williams (6-2, 230, RSO) to Texas A&M; G Richie Leonard IV (6-2, 320, RJR) to Florida State; CB Jaydon Hill (6-0, 195, JR) to Texas A&M; LB Mannie Nunnery (6-1, 225, JR) Incoming (10): Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson (6-6, 310, SR) from San Diego State; Joey Slackman (6-4, 300, SR) from Penn; DB Trikweze Bridges (6-3, 198, JR) from Oregon; WR Chimere Dike (6-1, 200, SR) from Wisconsin; LB Grayson Howard (6-4, 241, FR) from South Carolina; EDGE George Gumbs (6-4, 242, SO) from Northern Illinois; OT Devon Manuel (6-9, 310, SO) from Arkansas; S DJ Douglas (6-0, 205, JR) from Tulane; QB Aidan Warner (6-3, 205, FR) from Yale; QB Clay Millen (6-3, 210, SO) from Colorado State Gator hoops: A nice win over Arkansas; now for the hard part The Gators showed up in all phases of the game Saturday when they took down Arkansas, 90-68, at the O-Dome. Five Gators scored in double figures led by Riley Kugel with 20. Tyrese Samuel scored 17 with 11 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. The Gators, the top rebounding team in the nation, pounded Arkansas on the backboards for a 48-31 margin. Defensively, the Gators held the Razorbacks to 23-61 shooting from the field and only 5-15 from the 3-point line. It was the first SEC win of the season for Florida (11-5, 1-2 SEC) and easily the best overall game the Gators have played. Now for the hard part. The Gators next two games will be on the road, at No. 5 Tennessee (12-4, 2-1 SEC) and Missouri (8-8, 0-3 SEC) this week. SEC basketball Tuesday’s games: FLORIDA (11-5, 1-2 SEC) at No. 5 Tennessee (12-4, 2-1 SEC); Missouri (8-8, 0-3 SEC) at Alabama (11-5, 3-0 SEC); Georgia (12-4, 2-1 SEC) at South Carolina (14-2, 2-1 SEC); Texas A&M (10-6, 1-2 SEC) at Arkansas (9-7, 0-3 SEC) Wednesday’s games: Mississippi State (12-4, 1-2 SEC) at No. 6 Kentucky (12-3, 2-1 SEC); No. 16 Auburn (14-2, 3-0 SEC) at Vanderbilt (5-11, 0-3 SEC); Ole Miss (15-1, 2-1 SEC) at LSU (10-6, 2-1 SEC) ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: A week ago, Kalen DeBoer was leading the Washington Huskies into the national championship game with Michigan. Today, he has the responsibility of replacing the greatest coach of all time, Nick Saban. From a strictly coaching standpoint, Kalen DeBoer probably is as good a choice as can be found to replace Saban. He has started at the bottom of the head coaching ladder –Sioux Falls in the NAIA – and worked his way up, winning at every stop. He is 104-12 as a head coach with three NAIA national championships at Sioux Falls (67-3 record), 12-6 in two seasons as the head coach at Fresno State and 25-3 in two seasons at Washington. If we go simply by wins and losses, Kalen DeBoer is the best coach Bama could have hired. He is an innovative offensive mind whose teams know how to score points and win games. Coaching is only a part of the equation at Alabama, however. The off-the-field requirements at Washington were Algebra I for dummies. At Alabama what will be required away from coaching will seem like Astro-physics for graduate students with certified memberships in Mensa. Then there is life in the fishbowl. There is no place in the state of Alabama that Kalen DeBoer can go that he won’t be recognized. He should get used to having pen and paper shoved in his face by autograph seekers as he’s taking a bite of that medium rare 16-ounce T-bone. Just ask Steve Spurrier about that. He’s been dealing with it since he was a sophomore at the University of Florida, Romper Room on the fan fanatic scale when compared to Alabama. Months after his run at Florida that produced a 65-15 record with two national championships ended, Urban Meyer remarked to me that the time spent on the practice field was almost like a vacation due to the other job requirements. This was before there were such things as NIL, the transfer portal and an NCAA hell bent on turning college athletics into something unrecognizable. There is a reason there isn’t enough money in the world to entice Meyer, who was born to coach football, to return to the sidelines. Why deal with all the non-football distractions of coaching when you can live on Longboat Key, tool around the Gulf in his Sea Ray and get his football fix on weekends with Fox Sports Big Noon Kickoff show? If he can deal with all the non-football stuff and keep it from distracting from coaching, then Kalen DeBoer will do just fine at Alabama. If he can’t Alabama will be doing a coaching search in three or four years.

Finally, Todd Golden got the game he’s been looking for all season long. Sure, it took 16 games for it to happen, but Florida’s 90-68 win over Arkansas couldn’t have come at a better time than Saturday afternoon at the O-Dome before a sold out crowd of 10,445. “My goodness, it was an incredible environment and you know obviously after a tough start in the league fans can become fickle but our fans were not that and they did an incredible job of being present, being loud and one of the best homecourt advantages in college basketball here in Gainesville,”Golden said after the Gators (11-5, 1-2 SEC) notched their first Southeastern Conference win of the season while keeping Arkansas (9-7, 0-3 SEC) winless in league play. This was a must win for the Gators, who go on the road twice next week (at Tennessee Tuesday night; at Missouri next Saturday). A week ago the Gators dropped their SEC opener to Kentucky, a game they expected to win but allowed to slip through their fingers in the final five minutes. Wednesday night, they were blown out by Ole Miss in Oxford, one of those if it can go wrong it did go wrong kind of games. The Gators were down four (44-40) in the first half of that one, but Ole Miss cranked it up in the second and won the game by 18. To come back from that kind of disappointing start, Golden needed a focused, relentless effort. He got what he termed Florida’s best and most complete game of the season. “We played on the road a lot in preseason, ups and downs, and I think the key especially in this league – and I actually talked to Jimmy Dykes (ESPN color analyst) about this yesterday,” Golden said. “He was like you just can’t let a bad loss bleed into and set in. That’s the key in this league: you’ve got to be able to bounce back. You’re gonna lose games, and this is the second-best league in America, there’s plenty of top-25 teams, tough environments to play, and the fact that we were able to come back and play the way we did after that game at Ole Miss, which was definitely our worst effort of the year, I think says a lot about the character of the guys in our program.” Digging out of an 0-3 hole in the SEC, probably second only to the Big 12 as the toughest league in the country, is like scaling a cliff in that you can’t afford a single  misstep and that’s only half the problem. The other half is what that kind of start to conference play can do to crater confidence. If the O-Dome crowd had any doubts about Florida’s confidence, Florida’s first five minutes were encouraging. The Gators moved the ball offensively, scrambled defensively and picked up floor burns to build a 13-7 lead. Then came Tyrese Samuel with a doubt-eraser when he launched a 3-pointer from the top of the key. For a 6-10, 239-pounder whose previous two games produced a combined 14 points and nine rebounds, a 23-foot shot might have seemed questionable judgment, but Samuel shot with such confidence. When it found the bottom of the net with 14:29 remaining in the half Samuel had the look of a volume shooter who nails 3-balls for a living. The 3-pointer was simply sign of things to come for Samuel, who finished the game with 17 points on 8-13 shooting to go with 11 rebounds, one assist, one steal and one blocked shot. Samuel hit a couple of mid-range jumpers, had a couple of dunks including one on an alley-oop on a fast break. He dominated around the basket while he was in the game, quite a change from the two previous games. He looked like the Tyrese Samuel who had six double-doubles in the first 15 games of the season. “It was a confidence booster and I needed that,” Samuel said. Samuel wasn’t the only Gator that needed a confidence boost. Will Richard, who combined for seven points while hitting just 1-9 from the 3-point line in the losses to Kentucky and Ole Miss, was good for 13. Riley Kugel, who played only four minutes in the loss to Ole Miss, returned to form with 20 points, five rebounds, a blocked shot and two steals. Kugel had three power dunks on the night but none as monstrous as the throw down off a straight line drive with 11:25 left in the half that gave the Gators a 25-9 lead. He had a 2-handed jam off the baseline with 55 seconds left in the first half and a 2-hand dunk finish on a fast break with 9:48 left in the game. The dunks were spectacular, but he elevates so well that they are almost expected. What wasn’t expected was the beat-the-shot clock heave from just in front of the Florida bench a split second before the buzzer sounded. It was an odd angle Kugel had it going so well that he threw up a shot just in front of the Florida bench with the shot clock about to strike zero. Kugel was moving to his left so the shot was at an odd angle as he went airborne but it didn’t matter. The ball banked in for an 81-56 UF lead with 5:06 left in the game. . It was that kind of day for the sophomore from Orlando. “We were joking a bit – I shouldn’t say joking – when he hit that crazy shot-clock three, and I just went up to him and said ‘That’s the basketball gods right there, brother,’” Golden said. Three key players, each of them responding to a poor outing by getting the job done when teammates needed it most had plenty to do with the Gators looking like they’re very capable of beating any team on the schedule the rest of the way. Samuel, Richard and Kugel were supplemented Zyon Pullin (15 points, four rebounds, eight assists, 1 steal) and Walter Clayton Jr. (11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists) along with a relentless effort on the backboards. Florida, the No. 1 rebounding team in the country, lived up to the billing by outrebounding Arkansas, 48-31, with 15 offensive rebounds leading to 17 second chance points. The Gators shot 49.3 percent (33-67) overall and 36 percent from the 3-point line (36 percent). The 3-point percentage is a bit deceptive since the Gators missed their last four long after the game had been decided. The Razorbacks, known for their in-your-face man defense, hoped to find an edge by going unconventional with a zone. If it caught the Gators by surprise, the shock didn’t last very long. “Yeah, honestly we didn’t prepare for it much, but I feel good about our zone attack,” Golden said. “I think our personnel is good for zone. We have good, intelligent frontcourt players that are skilled and can pass and can read and make decisions, and, you know, we’ve got enough guys that can shoot it to where you have to be mindful of where Will, Walt, ZP, Riley are on the perimeter. “So sometimes it catches you off-guard, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a successful way to guard us for 40 minutes. Maybe it can steal a possession or two here or there, but, you know, the biggest key – and we didn’t do a good job early when we saw the zone – is you can’t turn the ball over. You know, you can’t turn the ball over, we did that a couple times, but in the second half we were pretty clean against the zone with no turnovers.” The zone was pretty much a spur-of-the moment decision by Arkansas coach Eric Musselman to see if it could shake up the way the Razorbacks have been playing defense lately. In their first two SEC losses, Arkansas gave up 83 to Auburn and 76 to Georgia. Musselman’s teams are known for high pressure, in-your-face defense that forces a lot of bad shots, hardly the case lately. So Musselman gambled with a change, in theory a good idea but in practice a bad decision. "We’re not guarding anyone 1-on-1 so the thought process was to put a zone in yesterday to try to help us with dribble drives,” Musselman said. “It helped for a little, thought it was going to be a change of pace and maybe slowed Florida down. But just as in any zone or man, you’ve got to be able to guard the guy in your area that you were assigned to whether it’s man or zone.” Florida, on the other hand, responded to the two-game prolonged defensive lapse with perhaps its best effort of the season. Defensively, the Gators showed up. Kentucky hung 87 on the Gators. Ole Miss lit them up for 103. Arkansas managed 68 on 23-61 shooting with only 5-15 coming from the 3-point line. The Razorbacks managed only 10-28 on layups. The Gators have been playing fairly well defensively in the first halves of games recently, but they’ve slacked off a bit in the second half. That was a point of emphasis in practice when the Gators came back from the loss at Ole Miss. “In practice, Coach kept on saying that we let up 50 points in the second half so he made that an emphasis,” Samuel said. “So, our goal was to go out there and make sure that doesn't happen again and it didn't happen and we came out with a win so that was most definitely an emphasis this week.” One of the leading indicators that the Gators were locked in defensively was the way the Gators fought for those 50-50 balls, when the team that hustles the most tends to come away with possession. The Gators stole a few possessions diving on the floor or outjumping the Razorbacks to come away with loose balls. Golden had very few reasons to complain about the defensive effort. “In the second half, I just thought our communication was much better, I thought our ball-screen coverage was much better, and over the course of both halves I thought our ability to get to 50-50 balls was the best today that it’s been all year,” Golden said. “ZP started by getting on the floor early for one, Will and ‘Rese, Riley got a huge one in front of our bench, and those are just such momentum plays, and the way I think about those, it’s a point. Every time you get one of those it’s a point, and we definitely won the 50-50 battle tonight, another area that improved.” The Gators played as well as they’ve played all season long in every phase of the game. This was the complete game Golden knew the Gators had in them, but he needed to see them put it all together. That they did it in response to adverse circumstances made the win all the sweeter. Now comes the tough part, putting a second consecutive complete game together, this time against a top ten opponent (Tennessee) that went on the road (to Georgia) and came from 10-down with a 15-1 run at the end to come away with a win. Although Arkansas isn’t the caliber team as Tennessee, the approach will have to be the same to come away with a win. “We’ve got to go on the road, play with poise, not let the environment take our team over and take care of the ball and just do the winning things that we do today," Golden said. SEC basketball Saturday’s scores: FLORIDA (11-5, 1-2 SEC) 90, Arkansas (9-7, 0-3 SEC) 68; No. 5 Tennessee (12-4, 2-1 SEC) 85, Georgia (12-4, 2-1 SEC) 79; Texas A&M (10-6, 1-2 SEC) 97, No. 6 Kentucky (12-3, 2-1 SEC) 92, OT; No. 16 Auburn (14-2, 3-0 SEC) 93, LSU (10-6, 2-1 SEC) 78; Alabama (11-5, 3-0 SEC) 82, Mississippi State (12-4, 1-2 SEC) 74; Ole Miss (15-1, 2-1 SEC) 69, Vanderbilt (5-11, 0-3 SEC) 56; South Carolina (14-2, 2-1 SEC) 71, Missouri (8-8, 0-3 SEC) 69, OT; Tuesday’s games: FLORIDA (11-5, 1-2 SEC) at No. 5 Tennessee (12-4, 2-1 SEC); Missouri (8-8, 0-3 SEC) at Alabama (11-5, 3-0 SEC); Georgia (12-4, 2-1 SEC) at South Carolina (14-2, 2-1 SEC); Texas A&M (10-6, 1-2 SEC) at Arkansas (9-7, 0-3 SEC) Wednesday’s games: Mississippi State (12-4, 1-2 SEC) at No. 6 Kentucky (12-3, 2-1 SEC); No. 16 Auburn (14-2, 3-0 SEC) at Vanderbilt (5-11, 0-3 SEC); Ole Miss (15-1, 2-1 SEC) at LSU (10-6, 2-1 SEC)

On Sunday, Colorado State quarterback Clay Millen revealed his decision to transfer to Florida. Millen's commitment provides the Gators with an experienced backup quarterback, especially since Graham Mertz is set to return as the starting signal-caller for Florida in 2024. Additionally, DJ Lagway, a highly-rated freshman recruit, is on a fast-track for potential playing time.