A few thoughts to jump start your Friday morning: ANOTHER WHITE KNUCKLES LOSS PROBABLY MEANS NIT FOR UF Hassan Diarra shoots 17 percent from the 3-point line in SEC basketball games. It would only figure that a guy who can’t find the ocean from the end of the pier would rattle home the game-winning 3-pointer in overtime with 0:00.4 left to give Texas A&M an 83-80 win over the Florida Gators in the SEC Tournament. Diarra’s three is just one more heartbreak for the Gators (19-13) who have lost five two or fewer possession games this season. Find a way to win three of those five white knucklers and the Gators are 22-10 and a no-brainer pick to join the 68-team NCAA Tournament field that will be announced Sunday. Because they’ve lost five close encounters, the Gators are in need of a miracle of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace proportions to make the Big Dance instead of the NIT. What makes this loss so painful is the way the Gators rallied from as much as 16 down in the second half – nine with 1:07 to go – to send the game into overtime. Down 67-58, Phlandrous Fleming Jr. and Kowacie Reeves put the Gators on their backs. Fleming hit a 3-ball and a pair of free throws. Reeves scored seven including a 4-point play with 37 seconds left in regulation and a 3-pointer from the corner with 17 seconds to go to tie the game at 70-70 to make overtime a necessity. Once in overtime, the Gators had their chances to win the game, but their chance to take the lead with 17.7 seconds left fizzled when Fleming’s three lodged between the rim and the backboard. The possession arrow pointed the Aggies’ way and Diarra settled the outcome with his touch-em-all three that banged in to win it. It was heartbreaking, not only because the Gators had played so valiantly to force an overtime, but also because of the unexpected heroics of Reeves, who scored all 21 of his points in the second half, and Niels Lane, who had career highs in both points (16) and rebounds (9). Their efforts helped make up for the absence of CJ Felder, who missed another game due to his bad hip, and limited duty from Anthony Duruji, nursing a bad leg that has been limiting him lately. We’ve come to expect injuries in the Mike White era. John Egbunu (2017) comes to mind prominently. His ACL tear in late February might have prevented the Gators from making the Final Four. The Gators have never compensated for Keyontae Johnson’s absence since his collapse on the floor in Tallahassee on December 12, 2020. Colin Castleton has played the entire season with a bum shoulder that keeps him from practicing and caused him to miss six games during a crucial stretch in January and early February. The injuries have been a real issue, so is a 37-52 record in games decided by two or fewer possessions since White became Florida’s head coach. The Gators play a lot of close games but far too often – Thursday against the Aggies is the perfect example – they can’t make the shot or turn the ball over at critical moments. The Gators hit a few threes in the last couple of minutes, but they were 5-24 overall from distance. Take away the 3-7 effort from Reeves and the rest of the team shot 2-17 from the 3-point line. The Gators also had more turnovers (18) than assists (17). The Gators seem capable of playing everybody close and while they’ve won some close ones, they’ve lost far too many. If they’re going to take the next step in developing the program, they’ve got to start winning more of these close ball games. SEC Basketball Thursday’s scores: Texas A&M (21-11) 83, FLORIDA (19-13) 80; LSU (22-10) 76, Missouri (12-21) 68; Mississippi State (18-14) 73; South Carolina (18-13) 51; Vanderbilt (17-15) 82, Alabama (19-13) 76 Friday’s games: Texas A&M (21-11) vs. No. 4 Auburn (27-4); LSU (22-10) vs. No. 15 Arkansas (24-7); Mississippi State (18-14) vs. No. 9 Tennessee (23-7); Vanderbilt (17-15) vs. No. 5 Kentucky (25-6) BRACKET WATCH Oklahoma (18-14) 72, No. 3 Baylor (26-6) 67: The game doesn’t affect Baylor, but another win in the Big 12 Tournament could get Oklahoma in and cost an SEC or ACC team a spot. Indiana (19-12) 74, Michigan (17-14) 69: Joe Lunardi and Jerry Palm still have Michigan in the tournament. This seems doubtful. Indiana is in the last four in line for Lunardi, first four out for Palm. Colorado (21-10) 80, Oregon (19-14) 69: Colorado could sneak in as the fourth team from the Pac-12 especially if it goes white knuckles today against No. 3 Arizona. No. 25 North Carolina (24-8) 63, Virginia (19-13) 43: If Virginia gets into the tournament it is because of tradition and everybody likes and respects Tony Bennett. Beware of the Tar Heels, who have now won six straight. They play Virginia Tech (21-12) Friday. It VaTech loses, it probably won’t make the tournament. TOM CREAN FIRED AT GEORGIA As expected, Georgia fired basketball coach Tom Crean Friday following a 6-26 season that is the worst in school history. Crean was 47-75 in his four years at Georgia. The Bulldogs never had a winning record in SEC play and were 1-17 this past season. Brian Hamilton of The Athletic says that the replacement coach should be one of the following: Xavier associate head coach Jonas Hayes and Cleveland State head coach Dennis Gates. Smart money is on Hayes, who played for Jim Harrick at Georgia. On the hot seat: In addition to Cuonzo Martin at Missouri, talk around Amalie Arena in Tampa is that Mississippi State’s Ben Howland could be leaving, perhaps not on his own volition. SEC FOOTBALL Arkansas: Arkansas extended the contracts of coordinators Barry Odom and Kendal Briles. Odom, the DC, got a bump to $1.85 million while Briles got a raise to $1.2 million. Both contracts were extended to 2024. Georgia: Former Georgia QB JT Daniels is remaining in Athens until he graduates so he can transfer without having to get a waiver to play immediately. Oregon State, Missouri and West Virginia are his top three transfer destinations … Lonnie “LB” Brown has been hired away from Arizona to be an assistant strength coach at Georgia. Tennessee: Former Jacksonville State interim head coach Maxwell Thurmond has been hired as an analyst. UF BASEBALL: SETON HALL Seton Hall (0-10) of the Big East comes to Gainesville for a 3-game set with the 11th-ranked Gators (11-3). Lefty Hunter Barco (2-1, 2.65 ERA, 28 strikeouts in 17 innings) is the expected starter for today’s 6:30 p.m. start (SEC Network+). Brandon Sproat (2-1, 1.17 ERA) probably gets the ball Saturday (4 p.m., SEC Network+) and lefty Timmy Manning (0.0, 4.38 ERA) could be the Sunday (12 noon, SEC Network+) starter. Led by Sterlin Thompson (.368, 5 homers), Colby Halter (.397 4 homers) and Jud Fabian (.280, 4 homers), the Gators rank second in the nation in home runs with 29. UF SOFTBALL: NO. 3 GATORS OPEN SEC PLAY WITH MISSISSIPPI STATE Florida’s 3rd-ranked softball team opens SEC play at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium Saturday (12 noon, SEC Network). The Gators (21-1) face the Bulldogs (15-8) Sunday at 4 p.m. and again on Monday evening at 7 p.m., both games on the SEC Network. The Gators are second in the SEC in batting (.372), first in stolen bases (64 in 70 attempts), third in ERA (1.45) and second in fielding percentage (.983). Kendra Falby (.514 batting average) and Skylar Wallace (.482) are tied for the SEC lead in stolen bases with 20 apiece. Falby has a 14-game hitting streak. Charla Echols is tied for the SEC lead in RBI with 28. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: I am not blaming the zebra crew of Pat Adams, Joe Lindsay and Steven Anderson for Florida’s 83-80 overtime loss to Texas A&M at the Southeastern Conference Tournament Thursday afternoon. What I am going to blame them for is calling an absolutely rotten game and rotten might be giving them far too much credit. In the first half, which was every bit as physical as the second half and the overtime period, the zebras called six fouls, ZERO against the Gators and six against Texas A&M. There were five free throws shot. In the ENTIRE half. Could they have called more fouls? Sure, but nobody was really complaining. The physicality seemed pretty much the same at both ends of the court. Those same zebras called FORTY (40) fouls in the second half and overtime. Whereas it seemed no body bag, no foul in the first half, there were way too many touch fouls and phantom calls in the 25 minutes. There were at least five no-calls that were head scratchers because there are people doing hard time in Raiford for less. The only thing consistent about the way the second half and overtime were called is the inconsistency. Adams, Lindsay and Anderson were all over the place to the point that fans from other schools were booing. The call that made the least sense was with 38.4 seconds remaining in overtime. On a too high inbounds pass that both Tyrece Radford of A&M and Florida’s Phlandrous Fleming Jr. were both going for, there was contact as the ball went out of bounds. The play was five feet from Anderson, who had a very good view. Anderson saw two players going for a high pass that neither player could have caught. A no call was the right call and Anderson awarded the basketball to the Gators, who had an 80-78 lead at the time. As soon as he pointed in Florida’s direction, Adams came rushing in as did Lindsay. They held a conference and Adams then signaled a foul on Fleming. Radford was awarded two free throws, which he hit to tie the game at 80-80. The right call was a no call. The wrong call was Adams overruling Anderson, who had the best and clearest view. Now, that call didn’t cost the Gators the game. They made too many mistakes and shot themselves in the foot far too many times. That call is just a good example of the inconsistency of the zebra crew. Adams, if you recall, was on the whistle in the Florida-Kentucky game. He was horrible in that game and quite frankly, has had the kind of year that lots of folks on media row believe ranks with the worst in recent SEC memory. Joe Lindsay isn’t much better and some think he’s worse. These guys aren’t the only bad officials in the league. I watched the crew of Terry Wymer, Tony Greene and Owen Shortt struggle Wednesday night when Missouri beat Ole Miss. Calling them disastrous would be one of the understatements of 2022. Tony Greene shouldn’t be allowed to call a game at the YMCA. The other two shouldn’t be calling games at this level. As much money as the SEC rakes in, it can afford to spend the money for the best officials whether it’s basketball or football. SEC football is unquestionably the best in the country. SEC basketball now ranks with the very best leagues in the country. The officiating stinks in both sports. It’s about time Greg Sankey takes charge of an untenable situation to do whatever it takes to make SEC games the best officiated in the country.

The kiss was spontaneous and so was the eruption at the O-Dome Saturday afternoon when Keyontae Johnson dropped down in push-up position and then lowered his lips to kiss the Gator head that on the playing floor of Billy Donovan Court. The hinges that hold the roof on the O-Dome were strained to their limits. The roof barely stayed on. The noise was deafening and it kept bouncing around. If you’ve ever wondered what it feels like when you hear someone say, “In one ear and out the other,” then this was it. The cheers from a mostly Florida – there were a couple thousand Kentucky fans in the arena, but they too were cheering – crowd said, “We love you!” a thousand times over. The kiss may have been symbolic, but it was like hearing voice of the O-Dome Tom Collette scream into his microphone, “I love you and I love everything about being a Florida Gator!” That kiss said more than that, however. A whole lot more. The kiss said farewell. Farewell to playing days as a Florida Gator for sure, but also farewell to an almost lifetime of dreams that had their origins when Keyontae Johnson was growing up in Norfolk, Virginia. These are dreams that grew stronger and more powerful as he learned the game and realized that he was a rare talent while earning national attention playing for the renowned Boo Williams Summer League AAU teams that seem to always finish among the nation’s best. After his sophomore year at Norview High School, he spent a year at IMG Academy in Bradenton and then his senior year at Oak Hill Academy, the same school that was a jumping off point for Kevin Durant and a whole host of NBA players. At Oak Hill, Keldon Johnson (Kentucky, then NBA one-and-done) and David McCormack (Kansas) were supposed to be the big stars. Keyontae was the glue that held the Warriors together and that had everything to do with why Mike White recruited him so heavily. “He was the only coach my senior year that constantly came up to Oak Hill,” Keyontae said Saturday. “He called late at night, constantly trying, showing how much he cared for me and wanted me to come. He never guaranteed me anything which was something I was looking for. I don’t want stuff handed to me, never let it get handed to me. Just the love behind him – he’s done a lot for me. Me kissing the court … this program basically changed my life. Me coming here changed everything for me. I’ll never forget it.” There were no guarantees at Florida but that never stopped Keytonae from continuing to dream big dreams. After an All-SEC sophomore year, he was the preseason SEC Player of the Year for the 2020-21 season only to see his entire world turned upside down a month into the season when he collapsed on the floor at the Donald Tucker Center in Tallahassee just minutes into a game with Florida State on December 12. Life hasn’t been the same since and will never be what it was, or at least what he dreamed it would be. In the 450 days since the fateful collapse that took a medically induced coma to save his life, Keyontae has clung to his dream of regaining his health and playing basketball again but all the dreaming, all the wishing, all the hoping and all the prayers haven’t restored his health. He’s still on scholarship at UF but he can’t play. Doctors won’t let him. He’s become known as “Coach Key,” working as a student assistant for Mike White. He has been an asset to the UF basketball team – a real coach, big brother and father-confessor all rolled into one – but it kills him inside to know that if he could only play again at the level he was at before the collapse, the Gators would be so much better. And his dream of playing in the league would be reach out and touch close. I see him around the O-Dome on a regular basis. He’s quick with a smile and a hug. Always, I ask how he’s doing and always, the answer is the same: “Waiting for the doctors to tell me I can play again.” Whether or not he knows exactly what’s wrong with him and why he isn’t allowed to play, he’s not telling. He has his reasons and so do the doctors who keep testing but haven’t released anything to the public to say exactly what happened back on December 12, 2020, what continues to happen and when, if ever, he will be allowed to play again. The suspicion is that it has something to do with his heart. Given what we know about COVID-19, whose after-effects can be heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular related issues, the dots seem to connect since Keyontae tested positive for the virus in the months preceding his collapse. But we don’t know for sure, and Keyontae offers no clues. Waiting for the doctors is his story and he’s sticking with it. While he’s been doing his “Coach Key” and being a normal student at the University of Florida, he hasn’t been able to play or practice. He still shoots. If you happened to arrive at the O-Dome an hour or so prior to any Florida home game this past season, then you saw him hoisting shots. Whatever ails him may have taken away his opportunities to run up and down the court and explode off the floor – the vertical was 45 inches plus prior to the collapse – but it hasn’t taken away his shooting eye or his touch. The ball still floats above the rim and then drops quietly through the net just like it always did. That he is still able to drain the shots has to be one of the reasons this entire ordeal has been so frustrating for him. He smiles every time I see him. He always smiles. That’s almost his trademark, but his eyes tell a different story. Whenever he talks about “waiting for the doctors” his eyes almost shout out, “I can still do this. If they’ll just give me one more chance, I’ll prove it!” We are required to trust the doctors on this one. There is a reason UF Health and Shands Hospital are so highly regarded, not just in this country, but internationally. They should put a giant-sized sign on the roof that says, “Some of the greatest doctors in the world work here!” We also are required to understand their reluctance to let Keyontae play again. The doctors know all about Hank Gathers. Nobody wants to see another Hank Gathers moment, not now, not ever again. Keyontae Johnson isn’t much younger than Hank Gathers was when he collapsed on the court the first time in 1989 when Loyola Marymount was playing UC-Santa Barbara. An abnormal heartbeat was the diagnosis for which Gathers was prescribed a beta blocker. Over the next three months his medication was decreased. When he was allowed to play again later that season, Gathers was spectacular. He lit up Shaquille and LSU for 48 one night. The good times came crashing down on March 4. After one of his spectacular alley-oop dunks in Portland, Hank Gathers collapsed again. This time he didn’t get up. He died that night. Hank Gathers was barely 23. No one is saying it out loud, but you have to know that no one at Shands or at UF wants to take a chance that Keyontae Johnson could be the next Hank Gathers. He’s too special a young man to lose him, not if simply never playing basketball again is all it takes to keep him with us. There is also an element of common sense involved here. Keyontae has a $5 million insurance policy that he can collect at the end of this season. Every time he thinks about playing again and every time the doctors say no, there is that $5 million reminder. In a weak moment, if you gave him the option he might walk away from the money. Every star athlete I’ve ever interviewed tells me the ability to perform at a high level is so addicting that they’d do it for free. As impossible as it may be for dreams to die, sometimes they have to be ignored. Sometimes you have to realize that even if you’re healthy, playing basketball will come to an end one day anyway. Just in Keyontae’s case, coming to an end is sooner and not later. Keyontae will be 23 on May 24, same age as Hank Gathers. Hank was a marvelous young man, too, but he’s gone. We still have Keyontae with us. When Keyontae Johnson was the last Gator senior introduced at the annual Senior Day celebration before the Gators played 7th-ranked Kentucky Saturday afternoon, the O-Dome erupted. Love was a two-way street, flowing to him and flowing back at the fans screaming “Key! Key! Key!” Before he walked out of that tunnel for the Senior Day ceremony he made a vow. He broke it even before he emerged from the tunnel. “I wasn’t trying to cry in front of the team and just be sad,” he said. “Once I saw the videos of my God-mom and my sisters telling their speech, it just hit. Walking out with my parents, just hearing the crowds, it was the best feeling I had in awhile.” So many emotions. It couldn’t have been easy. When he came to UF as part of that celebrated recruiting class in 2018, he dreamed about winning championships. Saturday standing there at midcourt with his parents, and looking at the line of adoring coaches and teammates, it was a grim reminder. He’s the last one standing as a Gator from that 2018 class. Andrew Nembhard left for Gonzaga. Noah Locke left for Louisville. Omar Payne left for Illinois. The four of them still talk, but it isn’t the same and never will be. Even when he couldn’t play, Keyontae Johnson stayed in Gainesville rather than go home to Norfolk. With so many unknowns regarding his health, so many unknowns regarding the possibility of playing again and being so far away from family and friends in Norfolk, going home would have been all too easy. Instead, he stayed. Some of it had to do with the doctors at Shands. They’re really, really good, but they have lots of good doctors in Norfolk, too. Still, he stayed. Staying in Gainesville had a lot to do with love. Keyontae loves being a Gator. He loves his Gator teammates, even the newbies who he never got to suit up and play a game with – the four transfers from the portal and the three new freshmen. They’re his brothers by different mothers, just like Colin Castleton, Tyree Appleby, Anthony Duruji, Jason Jitoboh and Niels Lane, who were there in Tallahassee when he collapsed. After the Senior Day ceremony ended, Keyontae went into the locker room and slipped into his familiar No. 11 jersey one last time. When he trotted onto the court and went through the layup line a couple of times, the buzz in the O-Dome was electric. When he was introduced as a starter, the O-Dome lit up once again. No one knew it was only for a symbolic opening tap that would all be over in 10 seconds. It didn’t matter. Keyontae Johnson was on the court wearing his Gator uniform one more time. Seeing him there, 450 days were erased. He looked every bit as fit and healthy as he did prior to the collapse. Oh what we would have done to see him leap high above the rim and dunk it so hard that the backboard shook one more time. Kentucky coach John Calipari felt the same way. He had offered to let it be more than just an opening tap to Keyontae. Cal said let him score even if it was just walking the ball up the court. “It was a 40-minute game,” Calipari said on Kentucky’s postgame radio show, telling the audience that if those two points had been the difference in a win or a loss, so be it. A lot of opposing fans despise Calipari. I’ve known him for years. He’s a classy guy and that gesture proved it. If you don’t believe he has a heart of gold then give Dick Vitale a call and ask about the millions for cancer research that Cal has helped him raise over the years. Cal wasn’t the only one who wanted to give Keyontae a going away score. Tyree Appleby suggested one last alley-oop. A throw-down like that and I doubt any of us, whether at the O-Dome or watching on TV, would have had a voice on Sunday. And then we would have cried. Happy tears. Lots of them. As much as Mike White would have loved seeing Keyontae score two final points, everyone from doctors to administrative people said no. They were okay with the ball being tapped to him, okay with maybe a dribble or two, but that was about it. Nothing more. So when those ten seconds were over, Keyontae handed the ball to zebra in charge Pat Adams then one-by-one hugged his Florida teammates and then the five Kentucky starters. Then he kissed the court. It was I love you and farewell combined into one gesture that spoke to the heart of everyone who has a favorite college team, but especially to Gators. There is something all college sports fans feel about loving our school and living vicariously through our teams. For a few fleeting years they are with us and then they are gone, off to the real world. Some of them have the opportunity to extend their playing careers to the professional level. Most of them join the rest of us who were never as athletically talented in the real world, holding down jobs and trying to understand everything that life throws at us. We will probably never know why tragedy struck Keyontae Johnson at a point in time when the world was about to be his own personal oyster, but we can know this: For all he has had to endure the last 450 days, for all the hopes and dreams that have been crushed and for all the uncertainty that he has had to wear like a migraine that won’t go away, he has never forgotten to smile. He has never forgotten to be polite. He has never forgotten to be a great teammate even though his teammates get to play the game and he doesn’t. He has never once forgotten to be the marvelous young man that Mike White loves like one of his own sons. There is a bond between those two that no solvent will ever dissolve. When I chatted with Keyontae at the Florida-Oklahoma gymnastics meet at the O-Dome a couple of weeks ago, I asked about the relationship between coach and player, and player and school. “If I ever play college basketball again, it will be for Coach White,” he told me. “If I ever play college basketball again, it will be for the Florida Gators.” Seal that with a kiss.

“I came in with the mindset I am a freshman, just come in earn your spot, work hard, and honestly it’s paid off,” said Falby. By KYLE CURTIS GatorBaitMedia.com The Florida Gators' softball team has had one of the hottest starts in the nation. A large part of the Gators’ success has freshman phenom, Kendra Falby. Falby, originally from Odessa, Fl., was a standout for her high school squad. She played on multiple Canadian national teams, earned medals and even was the 2019 Canadian junior athlete of the year. An outfielder, Falby is known for her instincts as not only a fielder but also a hitter to lead the #4 nationally ranked Gators. She recently gained SEC Freshman of the Week Honors to add her to the tall list of accolades, two weeks in a row. Most recently Falby also shared the award with Georgia’s Kylie Macy. The Odessa native turned in four multi-hit games over the span of a week and scored at least once in all six games. In addition to producing 10 hits throughout the week, Falby also showcased her outfielder speed on the bases with six total bases stolen. “I came in with the mindset I am a freshman, just come in earn your spot, work hard, and honestly it’s paid off,” said Falby. Despite being a freshman, Falby boasts an astounding above .500 average at the plate, leading the Gators. Falby is also the team leader in hits as well up to this point in the season with 34. “I’ve always been kind of a fast kid, so taking that into softball and how quick the game is, it is all kind of combined together,” Falby said. At week’s beginning, Falby led the team in stolen bases with 19 (along with Skylar Wallace). When asked how she gained her speed she said that she ran track in middle school and cardio has always been a main focus of hers. Falby and the rest of this talented Gators squad look destined to make another deep postseason run. Many more years of success are in the future thanks to Coach Tim Walton and his staff having put together one of the best young and talented rosters in the country.

“In the spring a young man’s fancy turns to love.” Tennyson wrote that in 1835. Two things are quite obvious here: (1) Football hadn’t been invented yet; and (2) Tennyson wasn’t from the south. Otherwise he would have known that spring in the south means that thing the guys and girls in shorts do with that round ball is charging toward a finish line punctuated by the song “One Shining Moment” and the third most important sport of all – football in the fall is most important followed by recruiting season which runs from December until the first Wednesday in February. With the exception of Kentucky, where the fans know that basketball wasn’t invented but modernized, the third most important sport is spring football practice. It is upon us once again. Florida’s football players have gone through the identity program, presumably none of them needing Norton 360 with Lifelock to ensure their identity wasn’t stolen, and since they know who they are – do you? – they can now move on to spring practice. This is Florida’s first spring practice under Billy Napier. It is 15 days of practices in which the Gators have the opportunity to get on-the-job training from their new head coach and the all-star staff of assistants he’s brought to Gainesville with the sole intent of restoring Florida football to championship level greatness. It has been 13 years since the Gators won a championship. Sure, they won two SEC East Division championships during the Clarabelle the Quarterbacking Dog Era, which some refer to as the Jim McElwain Error, and they got a COVID year East title for Dan Mullen, recently seen doing hot yoga on Instagram and living large on buyout money. Division championships are nice, but until you are man enough, big and bad enough to stick it to the man in the straw hat up in The Tusks Are Loosa, you’re just a wannabe. That is Napier’s task. To stop the Gators from doing their fabulous Brando impersonations – “I coulda been a contenda!” – and instead of contending, actually win a championship that earns the respect of both the Florida fan base but recruits all over the state, the south and country who will decide that being a Gator is where it’s actually at. Why is it that the Florida Gators, who from 1990-2009 won more games (202) than any team in the country now trail Alabama by 55 games in the win column from 2010-21? From 1990-2009, the Gators won eight Southeastern Conference and three national championships. They regularly landed recruiting classes that ranked among the top five or six nationally and when the NFL drafted, there were always plenty of Gators hearing their names called. Zook recruited well but lost five games every year. Meyer was a lights out recruiter but he couldn’t recruit and maintain his health. You can’t blame Napier that Florida’s recruiting class isn’t top ten this year – it’s 16th – and you can bet the farm the Gators won’t fall outside the top ten ever again as long as he’s the head coach at UF. It’s not his fault that only three Gators will get drafted this year while Georgia and Alabama may each have a dozen or more. He will change the level of talent on the Florida roster, whether it’s with high school kids or using the transfer portal, but do know this – Billy Napier will elevate Florida’s talent to a level we haven’t seen in years. I have a theory about why UF is trying to exorcise the ghost of Spurrier, and understand this, it’s not about making people forget Spurrier, but eliminating the awful and undeserved comparisons, hence the ghost. This is something similar to what happened at Alabama, Oklahoma and Georgia and what is going on continually at Nebraska. It’s called the Exorcising the Ghost Of theory. Alabama went through six coaches with only a pocket of success before the Ghost of Bear Bryant was exorcised with the hire of Nick Saban. Oklahoma has had to exorcise two ghosts – Bud Wilkinson and Barry Switzer – and now that Lincoln Riley has bolted for Southern Cal, OU will have to exorcise the ghost of Bobby Stoops. Georgia went 41 years between national championships so it’s safe to say that Kirby Smart has finally exorcised the ghost of Vince Dooley. Nebraska? They’re still trying to find the next Tom Osborne. They’re on their fifth (Scott Frost) since Dr. Tom retired. They fired Frank Solich, whose 58-19 record wasn’t good enough. They fired Bo Pelini who never won fewer than nine games and had 67 wins in seven years. At Florida, we’re still trying to exorcise the ghost of Steve Spurrier, and it isn’t easy. Spurrier went 122-27-1, won at least nine games every year, won a national title (1996) and six SEC championships, and had the Gators in the national championship conversation all but a couple of years. Ron Zook tried but couldn’t get it done. Urban Meyer won two national championships and two SEC titles in his first five years but then came the meltdown, an 8-5 season and a one-year self-imposed exile before he left for Ohio State. Since then Will Muschamp, McElwain and Mullen have tried without success to restore Florida to the greatness achieved during Spurrier’s 12 years on the job. Now it’s Billy Napier’s turn and this feels different than the five coaches who have come and gone since Spurrier shocked the world by retiring after the 2001 season. Napier has taken organization and focus to unseen levels in just three months. He brought in a coaching staff that several publications say is the most impressive of any new head coach in the country. He promised “an army” of analysts and support people. More than 70 have been hired and he’s still hiring. He has a new stand-alone football facility that is nearing completion that will give him a boost on the recruiting trail as well closing the gap with Alabama, Georgia, Clemson and others when it comes to training and development. Napier has broken the calendar year into eight phases. Spring football is the third and an extension of the identity program, which was an intense month of getting stronger, getting tougher and developing the kind of discipline Napier expects. Starting Tuesday, all the lessons learned during the identity program will spill over to the practice field. Napier has 15 practices to grill into his team exactly what to expect when they reconvene in August. Understand this, Billy Napier didn’t come to Florida to lose, so expectations for this team are already shoot for the stars high. Here is a look at the roster that takes the field on Tuesday. Please note that freshmen who are not already enrolled are not included. QUARTERBACKS (5) Emory Jones (6-2, 201, RJR); Anthony Richardson (6-4, 237, SO); Jack Miller III (6-3, 215, SO/Transfer from Ohio State); Carlos Del Rio-Wilson (6-2, 228, RFR); Jalen Kitna (6-4, 205, RFR) The skinny: Emory Jones hasn’t transferred. Will he? What happens if he lights it up this spring? What happens if Anthony Richardson stays healthy and adapts to the offense immediately? He’s got the great body, the speed and he has a rocket launcher for an arm. Jack Miller III didn’t come to Florida to sit. Big time arm talent. Del Rio-Wilson and Kitna can throw. Well enough to challenge? Does anyone transfer out? RUNNING BACKS (4) NayQuan Wright (5-9, 201, JR); Lorenzo Lingard (6-0, 205, RJR); Demarkcus Bowman (5-10, 183, SO); Montrell Johnson (5-11, 210, SO/Transfer from Louisiana) The skinny: Wright broke his leg in the FSU game. Does he take any contact this spring? Lingard and Bowman are former 5-star guys who finally will get their chance to show what they can do. Montrell Johnson ran for 838 yards and 12 TDs playing for Napier at Louisiana. Napier likes 3-headed monsters at running back. This is a position of strength. Will there be a transfer? WIDE RECEIVERS (8) Jordan Pouncey (6-1, 210, RSR); Justin Shorter (6-5, 228, SR); Trent Whittemore (6-4, 210, RSO); Ja’Markis Weston (6-3, 216, RSO); Xzavier Henderson (6-3, 193, SO); Ja’Quavion Fraziars (6-3, 212, SO); Marcus Burke (6-4, 183, RFR); Daejon Reynolds (6-2, 208, RFR) The skinny: From all accounts, Justin Shorter had a great offseason and is ready to be the stud receiver everyone thought he would be when he was 5-star in high school. He was open all last year and didn’t get the ball nearly enough. Who complements him? That’s the real question. Shorter, Trent Whittemore and Xzavier Henderson have seniority. Will the younger guys step up and command playing time? TIGHT ENDS (4) Keon Zipperer (6-3, 234, JR); Jonathan Odom (6-5, 245, RFR); Gage Wilcox (6-4, 241, RFR); Nick Elksnis (6-6, 232, RFR) The skinny: Zipperer has the best resume of the tight ends, but he’s never really stood out. Elksnis is an athletic freak who has tremendous potential. How much does Napier use a tight end in his offense? OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (13) Richard Gouraige (6-5, 310, RJR); O’Cyrus Torrence (6-5, 335, JR/Transfer from Louisiana); Ethan White (6-5, 334, JR); Kingsley Eguakun (6-4, 305, RSO); Josh Braun (6-6, 357, SO); Michael Tarquin (6-5, 301, RSO); Riley Simonds (6-3, 301, RSO); Will Harrod (6-5, 333, RSO); Richie Leonard (6-2, 315, SO); Austin Barber (6-6, 311, RFR); Yousef Mugharbil (6-4, 311, RFR); Jake Slaughter (6-5, 302, RFR); Kamryn Waites (6-8, 358, RFR/Transfer from Louisiana) The skinny: By all accounts, look for this to be the most improved position group on the team. Richard Gouraige, Ethan White, Kingsley Eguakun, Josh Braun and Michael Tarquin have starting experience but the two that have everybody’s attention are Louisiana transfers O’Cyrus Torrence and Kamryn Waites. Torrence is going to start. Where is the question. He was first recruited as a right tackle, but moved inside at Louisiana. Will he play outside? Waites has monstrous size. If his feet move with any lateral quickness he could be a beast at tackle. New coaches Rob Sale and Darnell Stapleton have gotten rave reviews so far. DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (12) Griffin McDowell (6-4, 283, RJR); Dante Zanders (6-5, 261, RJR); Gervon Dexter (6-6, 313, SO); Princely Umanmeielen (6-4, 259, SO); Jaelin Humphries (6-3, 330, RSO); Desmond Watson (6-5, 415, SO), Jalen Lee (6-2, 305, SO), Lamar Goods (6-2, 351, RFR); Justus Boone (6-4, 245, RFR); Chris Thomas Jr. (6-5, 309, RFR); Tyreak Sapp (6-2, 264, RFR); Chris McClellan (6-3, 305, FR) The skinny: This is the position that has everyone holding their collective breaths. The Gators lost four experienced and large defensive tackles. Gervon Dexter is the only tackle with real experience. This is a position that probably gets help from the transfer portal. LINEBACKERS/EDGE (10) Ventrell Miller (6-1, 228, RSR); Amari Burney (6-2, 236, RSR); Brenton Cox Jr. (6-4, 253, RJR); David Reese (6-2, 236, RJR); Diwun Black (6-3, 221, JR); Lloyd Summerall III (6-5, 236, RSO); Derek Wingo (6-1, 225, SO); Antuan Powell (6-2, 245, RFR); Chief Borders (6-4, 232, RFR); Scooby Williams (6-2, 232, RFR) The skinny: Ventrell Miller coming back for a super senior season was huge. He’s that tackling machine in the middle who plugs holes and puts people on the ground. A lot of folks think that if Brenton Cox Jr. stays healthy he will dominate. Diwun Black has a ton of potential that needs to show itself on the field. Derek Wingo, Antuan Powell and Scooby Williams have lots of speed and mobility. Miller, Cox and Amari Burney are likely starters. The fourth starter and depth have to be dealt with. SECONDARY (18) Trey Dean III (6-3, 201, RSR); Jadarrius Perkins (6-1, 182, JR); Jaydon Hill (6-0, 193, RSO); Avery Helm (6-1, 174, SO); Jason Marshall Jr. (6-0, 192, SO); Rashad Torrence II (6-0, 197, SO); Tre’Vez Johnson (5-11, 192, SO); Kamar Wilcoxson (6-1, 183, SO); Donovan McMillon (6-1, 200, SO); Mordecai McDaniel (6-1, 194, SO); Fenley Graham Jr. (5-9, 166, SO); Ethan Pouncey (6-1, 166, SO); Jordan Young (6-0, 188, RFR); Corey Collier Jr. (6-1, 179, RFR); Dakota Mitchell (5-11, 171, RFR); Jalen Kimber (6-0, 170, RFR/Transfer from Georgia); Kamari Wilson (6-0, 201, FR); Devin Moore (6-2, 190, FR) The skinny: There is no lack of talent and there is certainly depth out the wazzoo. Add to this mix co-defensive coordinator Patrick Toney, who will coach the safeties, and corners coach Corey Raymond, who but the DB in DBU at LSU and the Gators will be better coached than they have in years. Trey Dean III is getting raves for his offseason work ethic and leadership. Jadarrius Perkins, Rashad Torrence II and Jason Marshall Jr. are likely day one starters. Will they still be starting after 15 practices. Freshmen Kamari Wilson and Devin Moore along with Georgia transfer Jalen Kimber add talent and speed. This group will be vastly improved. It needs to be. SPECIAL TEAMS (3) Long snappers (2): Marco Ortiz (6-4, 235, RJR); Rocco Underwood (6-3, 227, RFR) Punter (1): Jeremy Crawshaw (6-4, 188, SO) The skinny: Crawshaw has the big leg to be one of the best in the country. This is the most eagerly anticipated spring practice since 2006 when Tim Tebow, Reggie Nelson and Brandon Spikes enrolled early to supplement a veteran returning cast. Billy Napier inherits a lot of experience. Can he bend it and shape it into what he’s looking for? His success at Louisiana tells us he knows what he’s doing and how to build a successful football program. He may be the latest one to chase the ghost of Spurrier, but he might be poised to be the long- term answer who can actually live up to the hype and make Florida a championship football program once again. It’s not going to be an easy task, but every great football team has to start somewhere. Spring practice is the next starting point as Billy Napier re-shapes the Florida football program into one after his own image.

"I’m a fast, quick aggressive guy. I could play corner even, just versatile. I just like physical competing. You're going to have to work if you want to beat me." -- Incoming freshman safety Kamari Wilson. By KYLE CURTIS. GatorBaitMedia.com From the transcript of The Buddy Martin Show/Gator Collective Corner with Buddy Martin/Ben Troupe/ and Franz Beard. Interview with Kamari Wilson. Question: Why did you choose Florida? WILSON: “I chose Florida because it was my dream school. When I was in 9th grade, I didn’t know much about recruiting then I went on a visit to Florida and I was just amazed by the crowd and the fans, just Gator Nation. I was honestly leaning toward Georgia, then the new hire happened, and I wanted to give Coach Napier a chance. Coach Napier had a good plan and I wanted to hear what he had to offer. During my recruitment, God was giving me signs of the Florida Gators. I made my decision that day at the table, I knew then I wanted to be a Florida Gator.” Question: Can you talk about your instincts and presence as a safety? WILSON: “I’m a very violent player, I’m aggressive. Going to IMG, my 11th-grade year, gave me patience. I’m a fast, quick aggressive guy. I could play corner even, just versatile. I just like physical competing. You're going to have to work if you want to beat me. Question: Can you touch on Coach (Patrick) Toney and how he is the defensive coordinator and the safety guy? WILSON: “He is a very smart guy. I’m going to be prepared to go to the NFL probably by the end of the season the way he is teaching us. He is also the DC and my coach. “ Question: How dangerous can this secondary be? WILSON: “It’s going to get really scary, Coach PT (Patrick Toney) and Coach (Corey) Raymond together, that’s a crazy mix. They’re all about togetherness. We are all a brotherhood. Us being so close we have each other’s back. DBU is going to be Florida this year. Trey Dean and some of those older guys are really showing me the way, it is going to be scary.’” Question: What was your experience like at IMG? WILSON: “It was a hard decision. A lot of people don’t have the people to guide them and push them to the right path. I was blessed enough to have a good mother and father that showed me you have to be a student-athlete first. Going into 8th-grade year I always said I was going to IMG, and I was going to be the #1 safety in the country and people laughed at me because I had a disability when I was younger, it was hard for me to read. People told me I couldn’t have the grades to play football, I proved all of them wrong. When I was there (IMG) I had a 3.2 GPA. Sophomore year I had 34 offers from everywhere around the country and I was the first 5-star at my high school. The best decision was going to IMG because everyone is working towards the same goal as you. IMG got me ready for the next level.” Question: Can you talk about how you are goal orientated? WILSON: “My mom and dad always told me I was going to be different. I learned from my brothers and sisters because I'm the youngest, they used to always pick on me. That itself motivated me. I wanted to prove them wrong. People were surprised when I got my first offer to Florida, they thought it was fake. That just drives me to be better. Being where I come from, that drives me to be great too, to show the young kids you don’t need to be a part of gangs. The young kids motivate me.” Question: What was it about the Gator Collective that made you want to hop on board with them? WILSON: “It gets me to connect with fans, and people in general, to know the real me underneath the helmet. Some people just get the persona of someone, and they don’t really know them. I get to do things like go to elementary school and hand out candy and help the community of Gainesville. It has been of the best decisions I’ve made since coming to campus. I get to show people who I am personally.” Question: What other players on the team have really impressed you? WILSON: “Trey Dean, all the DBs period. But Trey Dean, he doesn’t stop, he is like a machine, and I love it. Jason Marshall is about business and is a great leader. Devin Moore, an incoming freshman is a great worker. The whole team is honestly all working with Coach Napier, if you didn’t want to be here and work you hit the transfer portal. We’re connected, we got way better as the weeks went by and you can tell by the effort.” Question: What is your impression of Patrick Toney? WILSON: “He is the smartest dude I’ve ever met. I promise you. The way he’s teaching us makes it easy for us, just in bits and pieces, he’s a great coach. Everything has a reason, everything we do in practice is justified. I feel like after this season the stats are going to show he's the best DC in the country. He’s taught me so much already. He’s technical on everything such as footwork. I have all my trust in him that when the combine comes around, I’ll be 100% ready.”

A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning: WILL THE GATORS REMAIN ON THE BUBBLE OR WILL THE BUBBLE BURST TODAY? Amid all the speculation about Florida’s post season chances, one thing is for certain: If the Gators (19-12) beat Texas A&M (20-11) today in the second round of the SEC Tournament at Tampa’s Amalie Arena (12 noon, SEC Network), they will still be on bubble watch for the NCAA Tournament. Lose, however, and it’s a no-brainer – the NIT will be calling. One reason the Gators are on the bubble is because they lost to the Aggies, 56-55, in College Station back on February 15. At that time, the Aggies had lost eight straight SEC games, but they finished strong with five wins in their last six. The Gators scored only 20 first half points in that one, hitting a miserable 2-15 from the 3-point line. Florida trailed by 12 points in the second half, but the Gators rallied to take a 4-point lead on a 3-pointer by Phlandrous Fleming Jr. with 1:44 to go. That was the last time the Gators scored. The Aggies were 13-4 at home during the regular season, but 5-5 in true road games and 2-2 on a neutral floor. The Gators were 12-5 at home, 4-6 on the road and 3-1 on a neutral court. Critical for the Gators will be containing Quenton Jackson, a second team All-SEC selection who scored 16 points in the first game. Jackson is the team’s leading scorer (14.5 per game). Jackson is adept at picking up fouls in bunches. He’s been to the line 147 times this season (made 125). The Gators also have to keep Duke transfer Henry Coleman III (10.7 points, 6.2 rebounds) off the offensive glass. Florida is coming off one of its worst shooting games of the season. In losing to Kentucky in the regular season finale, Florida’s inability to hit from the perimeter (3-20 on 3-pointers) more than offset the damage Colin Castleton did on the inside (23 points, 11 rebounds). For Florida to win this game, Castleton has to be a consistent scorer in the paint and has to stay out of foul trouble plus Tyree Appleby has to rebound from a 6-point, 0-assist and 4-turnover game against Kentucky. Appleby only scored three points and was 1-6 from the 3-point line in the first meeting with the Aggies. SEC Basketball Tuesday’s scores: Missouri (12-20) 72, Ole Miss (13-19) 60; Vanderbilt (16-15) 86, Georgia (6-26) 51 Wednesday’s games: FLORIDA (19-12) vs. Texas A&M (20-11); Missouri (12-20) vs. LSU (21-10); Mississippi State (17-14) vs. South Carolina (18-12); Vanderbilt (16-15 vs. Alabama (19-12) BRACKET WATCHING Here are some games that could affect the Florida Gators on Selection Sunday: Boston College 82, Wake Forest 77, OT: Wake Forest was on Joe Lunardi’s last automatic qualifier line and they lost to a bad BC team in overtime in the ACC Tournament. The Deacons are on Jerry Palm’s first four out. Wake Forest is 23-9 but they only played five Quad 1 games (won one). Butler 89, Xavier 82, OT: Xavier (18-13) was on Lunardi’s last four in line but a No. 9 on Palm’s bracket. Butler is 14-18 and 1-13 against Quad 1 teams. Xavier should get bounced. Michigan (17-14) vs. Indiana (18-12): Lunardi has Michigan on his last four auto qualifier line and Indiana on his first four out line. Michigan won the head-to-head handily but that was six weeks ago. Neither team is very good but at least one of them will go to the NIT. Wyoming (24-7) vs. UNLV (18-13): UNLV beat the Cowboys the last time they played. The MWC Tournament is at the Thomas and Mack Tournament on the UNLV campus. Lunardi has Wyoming on his last four in line while Palm has the Cowboys as a nine seed. Watch what these teams do: SMU (22-7): Lunardi and Palm both have SMU on their last four in lines. Among the seven losses are a bad Missouri team and an even worse Loyola Marymount. Rutgers (18-12): Another team on both last four in lines. NCAA Net Ranking of 76. Bad juju: Rider 77, Iona 71: Iona (25-7) won the regular season MAAC title but lost to a 14-18 Rider team. This is typically a 1-bid league. Iona owns a win over Alabama when the Tide was ranked No. 10. Will the league get two bids, which will take a bid away from a team from a power conference? Or, will the NCAA see this as a chance to stick it to Pitino? After having the 2013 national championship at Louisville vacated and being implicated in the college basketball corruption scandal, Pitino is viewed as a pariah by the NCAA. SPRING BREAK IS ALMOST OVER … SPRING FOOTBALL STARTS NEXT WEEK Spring break is almost over and that means spring football practice is nearly upon us. Here are five things I’m going to be looking for as Billy Napier conducts his first spring practice as Florida’s head coach: 1. Who emerges at quarterback?: Emory Jones has not transferred out yet despite all indications that he will. Anthony Richardson is healthy but for how long? He seems to get injured a lot. We’ve never seen Carlos Del-Rio Wilson or Jalen Kitna throw. They’ve all but been written off by most folks. Can one or both of them make the quarterback battle interesting? Finally, there is Ohio State transfer Jack Miller III. He has the big arm, the great pedigree and he certainly didn’t come to the University of Florida to sit. 2. A 3-headed monster at running back?: Billy Napier spent four seasons at Louisiana rotating three running backs in and out with great success. We don’t know if Nay’Quan Wright will be medically cleared (broke his leg against FSU) for spring practice. Let’s assume he won’t be. That means the three running backs who will get the ball will be former 5-stars Lorenzo Lingard and Demarkcus Bowman and Louisiana transfer Montrell Johnson, who ran for 838 yards and 12 touchdowns as a true freshman last year in that 3-back rotation Napier used. Lingard had an absolutely brilliant spring last year but didn’t see the ball in the fall. Bowman was one of the best high school backs in the country but after transferring from Clemson, he, too, rarely saw the ball. Napier knows what he’s getting in Johnson so expect him to give plenty of work to Lingard and Bowman, both of whom have the breakaway speed we haven’t seen from a UF running back in years. 3. Well, we don’t have John Hevesy to kick around anymore, do we?: For four years, we heard a constant barrage about how Hevesy couldn’t recruit and darn sure couldn’t coach the offensive line. He’s been replaced by not one, but two assistants – Rob Sale and Darnell Stapleton. They inherit five O-linemen who have starting experience (Richard Gouraige, Ethan White, Kingsley Eguakun, Josh Braun and Michael Tarquin). Those five will be joined by Louisiana transfers O’Cyrus Torrence (6-5, 335, twice All-Sun Belt) and monstrous Kamryn Waites (6-8, 358). I keep hearing that the UF O-line will be the single most improved position on the team this year, particularly in the area of toughness. I keep hearing the days of a finesse O-line are in the rearview. 4. Are you as concerned as I am about the defensive line?: The Gators gave up 163.9 yards per game on the ground last year, 4.46 per carry. The Gators were lit up by LSU (321 yards, 7.13 per carry), South Carolina (284, 6.76) and UCF (288, 5.76). Granted the Gators didn’t have great inside linebackers and that would have certainly helped, but the Gators got pushed around way too often and that was with experienced guys like Zachary Carter, Antonio Valentino, Daquan Newkirk and Tyrone Truesdell at the tackles. 5. How much improvement will we see in the secondary?: The dropoff from 2018-19 to 2020-21 was significant. The Gators intercepted 30 passes (14 in 2018, 16 in 2019) the first two years of the Dan Mullen era, just 18 combined in the last two. We just didn’t see the same aggressiveness these last two years. I think much of that has to do with coaching, an area that should be vastly improved with Corey Raymond (Mr. DBU from LSU) handling the corners and co-defensive coordinator Patrick Toney (came here from Louisiana) the safeties. Raymond’s LSU corners pretty much played on an island. Toney’s safeties at Louisiana were well known for knocking people into next week. I’ve been told to keep a close eye on Trey Dean III. He’s exerted himself as a leader and his hard work in the weight room and in mat drills has everyone impressed. What continues to resonate is how the coaching staff has quickly healed the wounds and any leftover apathy from last season. Napier and all his coaches demand discipline and they won’t tolerate slackers. We’ve come to expect attrition every spring. That’s just the way it is nearly everywhere you go in college football, but especially since the advent of the transfer portal and NCAA rules that allow immediate eligibility for first time transfers. I’ll be very interested to see what kind of attrition we have at the end of spring practice. The NCAA transfer portal is expected to be overflowing but that’s a two-way street. Every player who transfers out opens the door for someone to transfer in. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: I’ve been biting my tongue all week. I watched the Coach K canonization show after North Carolina poleaxed Duke last Saturday night in Cameron Indoor Stadium. It was supposed to be the going away night to end all going away nights except for one teensy little thing. The Dookies got their collective butts handed to them on a platter and Coach K, the winningest college basketball coach of all time, was outcoached by a novice. Hubert Davis X’d and O’d circles around Coach K that night. Hubert must not have gotten the memo that he was supposed to do his dead skunk in the middle of the road routine so Coach K wouldn’t have to look like he hadn’t pooped in a month as he sat there hearing his name spoken in worshipful tones after the game. I respect Coach K for all the winning he’s done. You don’t last 42 years in the same place and hoist the big trophy at the end of the year five times if you don’t know how to win. Don’t like him personally, however, nor do I agree that he’s this bastion of integrity. I’ve been to too many AAU events and talked to too many 5-star recruits through the years to believe that Coach K hasn’t mastered the art of bending a few rules along the way (Chris Duhon and Zion Williamson come to mind immediately). It turns out that I’m not the only one who thought the postgame lovefest after the UNC-inflicted beatdown was all but unbearable. On the Packer and Durham Show on the ACC Network, Tyler Hansbrough offered this goodie: “The only thing I can really compare it to – and I know I’ll take some heat for this – is Larry David, the Larry David show [“Curb Your Enthusiasm”]. This season they have a guy that goes to his funeral while he’s still alive so people can tell him how good he is. I thought it was one of those situations. I thought it was funny.” I’m sure Dick Vitale almost went into apoplexy when he heard that.

A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning: “The NCAA is so mad at Kentucky it will probably slap another two years probation on Cleveland State.” – Jerry Tarkanian Oh my, the NCAA must really be mad at LSU because not only did it finally hit Will Wade and the basketball program with a Notice of Allegations but it included the football program – sacre' bleu! – in its notice. The allegations against Wade date back to an FBI wiretap of a conversation between Wade and an Adidas exec regarding a cash offer he made for recruit Javonte Smart. The football allegations involve former LSU All-American Odell Beckham giving cash to players in the locker room after the 2019 national championship game and booster John Paul Funes paying the father of an offensive lineman $180,000 of money he embezzled from Baton Rouge hospitals. The wheels of justice have been turning slowly and they aren’t going to move quickly now that the NOA has been served because LSU has several weeks to respond to the NOA and then it will be a few months before there is hearing in front of the Independent Accountability Resolution Process (IARP). The IARP is like a court trial whose judges, unlike the NCAA Infractions Committee, are not currently employed by any university. With the IARP, schools hope to get what they perceive is a “fairer” trial but there is a catch since they cannot appeal any decision. This is why an NOA that combines both basketball and football allegations is most interesting. LSU had tried desperately to separate the two of them by self-imposing a bowl ban in 2020, cutting eight scholarships over two years and banning Beckham from the LSU athletic facilities for two years. Including football in the NOA means the NCAA ignored the self-sanctions and essentially gave LSU the fickle finger of fate. Including the two sports also makes it more difficult for LSU to avoid the dreaded “lack of institutional control” tag. When you get, any violation in any sport no matter how small can be written up and sanctioned as major. That is huge. The initial allegations against Wade were during the administration of Crazy Joe Alleva, who suspended Wade for the NCAA Tournament in 2019 only to reinstate him after the season. Since then, Scott Woodward has taken over as the AD and has spent the last couple of years saying there is no concrete evidence against Wade. An NOA is the NCAA’s way of saying, “We’ve got the goods on you. You’re guilty as hell. Now we get to decided how hard we’re going to stick it to you.” What happens at LSU does affect both Florida basketball and football. A hard probation to both LSU’s football and basketball programs – considered highly likely after today’s revelations – may have a noticeable affect on Florida’s recruiting in both sports. Mike White runs a clean program but he’s lost high level recruits to LSU and Wade over the past five years. LSU football is Florida’s permanent SEC West opponent. Billy Napier is recruiting Louisiana heavily and LSU traditionally has recruited hard in the state of Florida. Publicly, if they’re asked about what’s happening with the NCAA and LSU, Mike White and Billy Napier will say all the right things. In private, they’re busting a gut because they’re giggling so hard. CASTLETON MAKES SECOND TEAM COACHES ALL-SEC For the second day in a row, Florida’s Colin Castleton was named to the All-SEC second team, this time by the league’s coaches. It is the second year in a row Castleton has been selected second team. First team: JD Notae, Arkansas; Jaylin Williams, Arkansas; Walker Kessler, Auburn; Jabari Smith, Auburn; Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky; Tari Eason, LSU; Iverson Molinar, Mississippi State; Santiago Vescovi, Tennessee; Scotty Pippen Jr., Vanderbilt Second team: Jaden Shackleford, Alabama; Colin Castleton, Florida; TyTy Washington, Kentucky; Sahvir Wheeler, Kentucky; Darius Days, LSU; Kobe Brown, Missouri; Kennedy Chandler, Tennessee; Quenton Jackson, Texas A&M All-Freshman: Charles Bediako, Alabama; JD Davison, Alabama; Jabari Smith, Auburn; TyTy Washingotn, Kentucky; Brandon Murray, LSU; Devin Carter, South Carolina; Kennedy Chandler, Tennessee; Zakai Ziegler, Tennessee All-Defensive: Keon Ellis, Alabama; Jaylin Williams, Arkansas; Walker Kessler, Auburn; Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky; Zakai Ziegler, Tennessee Coach of the Year: Bruce Pearl, Auburn; Player of the Year: Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky; Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Jordan Wright, Vanderbilt; Freshman of the Year: Jabari Smith, Auburn; Sixth Man of the Year: Tari Eason, LSU; Defensive Player of the Year: Walker Kessler, Auburn SEC Tournament Wednesday’s games: 1. Ole Miss (13-18, 4-14 SEC) vs. Missouri (11-20, 5-13 SEC); 2. Georgia (6-25, 1-17 SEC) vs. Vanderbilt (15-15, 7-11 SEC) Thursday’s games: 3. FLORIDA (19-12, 9-9 SEC) vs. Texas A&M (20-11, 9-9 SEC); 4. Game 1 winner vs. LSU (21-10, 9-9 SEC); 5. Mississippi State (17-14, 8-10 SEC) vs. South Carolina (18-12, 9-9 SEC); 6. Game 2 winner vs. Alabama (19-12, 9-9 SEC) GATORS SHUT OUT JU, 1-0 Tyler Nesbitt, Ryan Slater and Nick Ficarrotta combined to limit Jacksonville to three hits and Kendrick Calilao drove home the game’s only run with a sixth-inning single as the Gators (11-3) shut out the Dolphins, 1-0, Tuesday night at the Florida Ballpark. Nesbitt, who missed last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, pitched the first two innings, giving up a hit and a walk while striking out three. Slater gave up one hit and struck out two over the next five innings to earn the win while Ficarrotta went the final two innings, allowing a hit and two walks with two strikeouts for his third save of the season. With two out in the bottom of the sixth, Wyatt Langford walked and moved to second on a bunt single by BT Riopelle. Calilao hit the first pitch he saw to left field to score Langford with the game-winner. The Gators and JU will go at it again this evening at 6 p.m. (SEC Network+) at the Florida Ballpark. KELLY RAE FINLEY NAISMITH COACH OF THE YEAR SEMIFINALIST Kelly Rae Finley did such a great job of coaching the Gators after she was named the interim head coach back in the summer that athletic director Scott Stricklin removed the interim tag just last week. A day later, Finley was named the SEC Coach of the Year by the USA Today network of newspapers. Tuesday, Finley was named a semifinalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year Award, which is presented yearly by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. Finley took over a team that had not experienced a winning season in five years and proceeded to direct the Gators to a 21-10 record and a fifth place finish in the SEC. Along the way, the Gators beat five ranked SEC opponents for the first time since 2004. REPORT: GEORGIA WILL PINK-SLIP TOM CREAN Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting that Tom Crean will be cleaning out his office and seeking gainful employment elsewhere once Georgia’s basketball season comes to a merciful end in Tampa. Crean is 6-25 this season at Georgia, 1-17 in SEC play. In his four years on the job, Crean is 47-74 overall, 15-57 in the SEC. Predecessor Mark Fox was 163-133 overall, 77-79 in the SEC. By comparison, Fox seems like John Wooden. Towers is also reporting that Georgia’s four candidates to replace Crean are Cleveland State head coach Dennis Gates, Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes, Southern Cal head coach Andy Enfield and former Bulldog and now Xavier associate head coach Jonas Hayes. Forbes was just named ACC coach of the year and got a brand new deal at Wake Forest, so forget him. Gates, a former Florida State assistant, is 50-38 in three years at Cleveland State. Enfield, who has Southern Cal 25-5 and ranked No. 21, makes about $1.5 million. Given California taxes and sharing a city with UCLA, me might be ready to make a move eastward. He’s 182-115 since taking the USC job. Hayes is the twin brother of Jarvis Hayes, a former first round draft pick of the Washington Wizards and two-time All-SEC selection. Jonas Hayes was an assistant for Mark Fox from 2013-18. He is considered the odds-on favorite to get the job. HERB MAGEE RETIRES: 1,144-450 RECORD This is a name that basketball purists know quite well but someone most outside of Philadelphia have never heard of. Herb Magee spent 54 years as the head coach at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, which was known as Philadelphia Textile before changing its name to Philadelphia University and then merging with Thomas Jefferson University in 2017. He took his team to 31 NCAA Division II tournaments and won the national championship in 1970 with a stunning upset of Tennessee State and its stud guard Ted “The Hound” McClain. A great shooter who scored 2,235 points in his collegiate career, Magee became the head coach at Philadelphia Textile when he was 26 years old. Known as “The Shot Doctor,” I saw Magee teach shooting fundamentals at a clinic back in the 1970s. Impressive would be an understatement. The only other person I ever saw who had shooting down to a science was the late, great Bill Sharman. Every college basketball coach should make “Sharman on Basketball Shooting” required reading by every player on his team. Magee was offered plenty of Division I jobs but he stayed loyal to the school that gave him a chance. He’s 81, plans to play plenty of golf and has his “The Shot Doctor Is In” shingle out in case some coach needs shooting fundamentals taught to his team. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Considering his bloodlines – grandson of Archie Manning and nephew of Peyton and Eli – it’s no surprise that Arch Manning (6-4, 215, New Orleans, LA Isidore Newman) is the hottest quarterback prospect to come along in years. Tuesday it was reported that Manning has narrowed his choices to six schools – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss and Texas. We’ve known of his interest in Alabama, Georgia and Texas for some time. Archie and Eli played at Ole Miss so it’s no surprise the Rebels are on the list. LSU is an hour down the road in Baton Rouge. Tennessee, where Peyton played, isn’t on the list nor is Clemson, which worked Arch hot and heavy for the past year. The surprise to most of the nation is the inclusion of Florida on that list. Maybe it surprises everyone else, but I get the feeling it’s not the least bit surprising to Billy Napier. Judging by the comments he’s made at the few press conferences he’s held since becoming Florida’s coach back in December and by things I’ve read or heard others say about him, I don’t think Billy Napier is ever surprised when a 5-star recruit has the Gators on the short list. I get the impression that Billy Napier EXPECTS 5-star recruits to not only consider the Gators, but sign an LOI to play for the University of Florida. Napier doesn’t have the brash personality of Steve Spurrier and he doesn’t talk 800 miles an hour like Ron Zook. He is every bit as intense as Urban Meyer, but unlike Meyer, who you felt was going to burst a vein any minute, Napier comes across laid back. It is a very quiet, yet self-assured presence, yet you’re very aware of his presence. Already the recruiting gurus are saying this is going to come down to a battle between Alabama, Georgia and Texas and it very well may. Something about the way Billy Napier goes about his business tells me it’s not smart to write off Florida’s chances. Arch Manning may choose someplace other than Florida, but I would be surprised if he doesn’t give the Gators a long and very serious look.

These beauties are called "Jordan 4 Hot Punch" (Photo courtesy UAA) By LOREN MEADOWS Gator Bait Media Lighthouse “It’s Gotta Be The Shoes!!!” was a famous statement by Spike Lee’s fictional alter ego Mars Blackmon in 1989 to usher in the cultural revolution that would become the Air Jordan sneaker phenomenon. As it turns out, some 30-plus years later, the Florida Women’s Basketball Program has become the talk the SEC. These Gators are gritty, play together, and have a style all their own. That style is personified in their leader Coach Kelly Rae Finley who has taken this opportunity to not only provide us with a fun style of hoops to enjoy but also a stylish, vibrant collection of Air Jordan footwear to admire as well. I sat down with the new Gators women’s basketball coach to discuss what could become her signature “swag.” She has an understated look, but is beginning to enjoy a bit of fashion (Chris Spears Photo) In this case, the Air Jordan 1 Low Diamonds work. (UAA Photo) Ironically #KellysKicks has an interesting backstory involving All-SEC point guard Kiki Smith. Coach Finley noticed that Jordan Brand shoe boxes were constantly delivered for the lightning quick point guard (as it turns out Smith has smaller feet than most of her teammates. Finley then reached out to a longtime friend who happens to represent Jordan brand and jokingly asked when her package of shoes would arrive. What followed shortly thereafter was a plethora of vibrant, uniquely styled Air Jordans delivered to the basketball practice complex and just like that #KellysKicks had begun. When asked about her love of basketball shoes, Kelly Rae admits that she is just a “simple girl from the Midwest” who wasn’t always into the Jordan Brand growing up in Minnesota. She spoke fondly about hasty trips to the mall with her father and future coach to pick out basketball shoes that were more about fit and function than fashion. Coach Finley is very humble in the way she goes about coaching her team and that humbleness filters down to her choice in shoes for each game as she was quick to give Head of Basketball Operations Serena Lamar credit for her advice on which styles fit best for each game. Finley does admit, however, that she looks forward to continuing to wear new styles and repeating some of her favorites in the future, including the Air Jordan 1 Low Diamond. Originally for comfort, Coach Finley would often wear her favorites, the traditional Air Jordan 1 in basic Blues, Black, and White to begin the season. However, it was a 13-5 start and a trip to Lexington for the Jordan 1 Barely Green Low to catch the eye of social media, sneakerheads, and #KellysKicks. In this case, the Air Jordan 1 Mid Blues get it done. (UAA Photo) Since then, shoe reveals on the Women’s Basketball Instagram and Twitter have seemed to precede some of the Gators’ best wins of the season. There was the Air Jordan 1 Low SE Crater (made with recycled materials) for the big win vs LSU, the Air Jordan 1 Mid Blue for the historical defeat of Tennessee, followed by sneakerhead favorites, the Air Jordan Retro Rust Pink for the big win at rival Georgia, and the Air Jordan 4 Hot Punch as the Gators vanquished Arkansas. The women on the team had grown accustomed to certain pregame activities: Obviously, who will be defending who, what play may be run at the tip, but also what J’s will coach be wearing for the game. #KellysKicks has drawn interest from UF staff at many gyms – including mine -- to the Gator fan who stopped freshman guard Alberte Rimdal in the elevator last week in Nashville with interest in what shoes her coach would be wearing for the game. I asked Coach Finley if #KellysKicks is something that she thought she would like to develop as her signature swag. Along with such things as Kim Mulkey’s unique jackets, Muffet McGraw’s scarves, or Pat Summit’s iconic pants suits. “Why not? It could be a lot of fun!” she responded. To die for: Air Jordan 3 Retro Rust Pink (UAA Photo) She definitely loves the “Kicks” but also expressed that she planned to carry on patiently one day at a time one win at a time. As a bonified sneakerhead myself, I look forward to looking at the Women’s Basketball Twitter or Instagram page to see what Coach Finley will be wearing for games to come. As her presence grows, no doubt future recruits and Gators fans will continue to tune in to the “shoe reveals” as well. With a new five-year contract just signed, the UF Women’s program has positioned itself for a promising future. It is hoped by many fans that #Kelly’s Kicks -- along with the coach of the same first name -- will be around for quite some time. As the program continues to improve, and gain prominence in the SEC, when others ask what’s going on in Gainesville, you can look forward to the fans answering in unison, “ITS GOTTA BE the SHOES!”

A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning: CASTLETON MAKES USA TODAY NETWORK SECOND TEAM ALL-SEC Florida’s Colin Castleton was named second team All-SEC by the USA Today Network on Monday. Castleton, who averages 16.4 points (8th in the SEC) and 9.1 rebounds (3rd) per game, missed five SEC games and Florida’s win over Oklahoma State in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Castleton is hitting 54.3 percent of his shots from the field (3rd) and 70.7 percent from the foul line. He is second in the league in blocked shots (2.44 per game). All-SEC First team: Walker Kessler, Auburn; JD Notae, Arkansas; Scotty Pippen Jr., Vanderbilt; Jabari Smith, Auburn; Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky Second team: Colin Castleton, Florida; Kennedy Chandler, Tennessee; Tari Eason, LSU; Iverson Molinar, Mississippi State; Jaden Shackleford, Alabama Awards Player of the Year: Tshiebwe, Kentucky Coach of the Year: Bruce Pearl, Auburn Newcomer of the Year: Smith, Auburn Defensive Player of the Year: Kessler, Auburn Pre-SEC Tournament Thoughts Alabama (19-12, 9-9 SEC): A loss on Thursday and Alabama will have a losing record in SEC play. Bama still makes the tournament easily thanks to those wins over Gonzaga, Houston, Baylor, Arkansas and Tennessee. Jerry Palm has Alabama a No. 5 in the West while The Athletic has the Tide a No. 6 in the East. No. 15 Arkansas (23-7, 13-5 SEC): The Hogs have won 15 of their last 17. If they make the semifinals they will be a four or better in the NCAA. The Athletic and CBS both have Arkansas a No. 4 in the West. No. 4 Auburn (27-4, 15-3 SEC): Does Bruce Pearl sort of tank it in the SEC Tournament to get the extra rest for the NCAA or does he go all-out to win it and ensure a No. 1 seed for the Big Dance? Jerry Palm of CBS has Auburn as a No. 1 in the Midwest while Brian Bennett of The Athletic has the Tigers No. 1 in the East. FLORIDA (19-12, 9-9 SEC): The Gators play everybody including the best teams tough. Hence the problem. You have to win more of those games than you lose and you need more than two wins against SEC teams that have a winning record. That’s why the Gators probably need two wins in Tampa. The Athletic and CBS Sports both have the Gators listed on their First Four Out line. If true, one win could get them in, but two – considering the second would be over Auburn – will get the job done. Georgia (6-25, 1-17 SEC): The only question for Georgia is will Tom Crean still have a job Thursday morning? No. 5 Kentucky (25-6, 14-4 SEC): Cal wants a two seed in the Big Dance and the way to ensure that he gets one is to win the SEC Tournament. CBS places Kentucky No. 2 in the East while The Athletic has the Wildcats No. 2 in the Midwest. LSU (21-10, 9-9 SEC): The Tigers have three wins over ranked teams which certainly helps their NCAA resume. They get the winner of Missouri and Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament so it’s pretty much a free pass to the quarterfinals and a rematch with Arkansas. Both CBS and The Athletic have LSU a No. 5 in the Midwest. Mississippi State (17-14, 8-10 SEC): Talent says the Bulldogs should be sitting pretty. Results say otherwise. How can a team with Iverson Molinar, Garrison Brooks and D.J. Jeffries have a negative record in SEC play and 14 losses overall? Missouri (11-20, 5-13 SEC): The Countdown to Firing Day clock is rapidly heading toward a flatline. Cuonzo Martin shouldn’t be investing long term in real estate in Columbia. Ole Miss (13-18, 4-14 SEC): Kermit the Frog’s job is safe even if the Rebels are going nowhere. South Carolina (18-12, 9-9 SEC): Frank Martin and the Chickens only have two wins against SEC teams that posted winning records, no wins against ranked teams and a weak non-conference schedule. They probably need to make the SEC Tournament championship game to get into the Big Dance. No. 9 Tennessee (23-7, 14-4 SEC): The Vols are scary good at home. The SEC Tournament is in Tampa. We’ll find out quickly how good they are. Both The Athletic and CBS have the Vols No. 2 in the South. Texas A&M (20-11, 9-9 SEC): The Aggies lost eight straight SEC games and yet they’re 9-9 in league play. One of life’s great mysteries. Vanderbilt (15-15, 7-11 SEC): If the SEC coaches don’t vote Jerry Stackhouse coach of the year then the voting is rigged. Vanderbilt was, by far, the single most improved team in the league and one of those teams that nobody wanted to play by season’s end. Associated Press Top 25: 1. Gonzaga 24-3; 2. Arizona 28-3; 3. Baylor 26-5; 4. Auburn 27-4; 5. Kentucky 25-6; 6. Kansas 25-6; 7. Duke 26-5; 8. Villanova 23-7; 9. (Tie) Tennessee 23-7 and Purdue 25-6; 11. Providence 24-4; 12. Wisconsin 24-6; 13. UCLA 23-6; 14. Texas Tech 23-8; 15. Arkansas 24-7; 16. Illinois 22-8; 17. Saint Mary’s 24-6; 18. Houston 26-5; 19. Murray State 30-2; 20. UConn 22-8; 21. Southern Cal 25-6; 22. Texas 21-10; 23. Colorado State 24-4; 24. Iowa 22-9; 25. North Carolina 23-8 Coaches Top 25: 1. Gonzaga 24-3; 2. Arizona 28-3; 3. Baylor 26-5; 4. Auburn 27-4; 5. Kentucky 25-6; 6. Kansas 25-6; 7. Duke 26-5; 8. Villanova 23-7; 9. Purdue 25-6; 10. Providence 24-4; 11. Tennessee 24-7; 12. Wisconsin 24-6; 13. UCLA 23-6; 14. Texas Tech 23-8; 15. Illinois 22-8; 16. Arkansas 24-7; 17. Saint Mary’s 24-6; 18. Houston 26-5; 19. Murray State 30-2; 20. UConn 22-8; 21. Southern Cal 25-6; 22. Texas 21-10; 23. Iowa 22-9; 24. Colorado State 24-4; 25. Ohio State 19-10 SPROAT SEC PITCHER OF THE WEEK Brandon Sproat, who dominated Miami Saturday, was selected SEC Pitcher of the Week. Sproat gave up pitched 6-1/3 shutout innings, allowing four hits while striking out eight. During the week he also pitched two shutout innings against North Florida. Last week the Gators (10-3) were 4-1, winning two of three against then No. 22 Miami to move up in the polls that were released Monday. The Gators advanced to No. 10 in the USA Today Coaches poll and No. 11 in the D1Baseball poll. The Gators, who rank second nationally with 27 home runs, are at home tonight and Wednesday to face Jacksonville (8-4). Both games are set for 6 p.m. at the Florida Ballpark. D1Baseball top 25: 1. Texas 11-1; 2. Ole Miss 10-1; 3. Arkansas 7-3; 4. Vanderbilt 10-2; 5. Stanford 8-3; 6. Oklahoma State 6-4; 7. Oregon State 9-1; 8. Florida State 7-4; 9. Notre Dame 8-1; 10. Tennessee 10-1; 11. FLORIDA 10-3; 12. LSU 9-3; 13. Georgia Tech 10-2; 14. Liberty 10-1; 15. North Carolina 11-1; 16. Arizona 9-3; 17. Texas Tech 10-2; 18. Tulane 10-2; 19. Clemson 11-0; 20. Georgia 9-2; 21. TCU 8-3; 22. North Carolina State 8-4; 23. Mississippi State 6-6; 24. Maryland 9-2; 25. Gonzaga 8-2 USA TODAY Top 25: 1. Texas 11-1; 2. Vanderbilt 10-2; 3. Ole Miss 10-1; 4. Tennessee 10-1; 5. Stanford 8-3; 6. Oregon State 9-1; 7. Arkansas 7-3; 8. Notre Dame 8-1; 9. LSU 9-3; 10. FLORIDA 10-3; 11. Texas Tech 10-2; 12. Oklahoma State 6-4; 13. Georgia Tech 10-2; 14. Arizona 9-3; 14. Arizona 9-3; 15. Georgia 9-2; 16. Liberty 10-1; 17. Florida State 7-4; 18. North Carolina 11-1; 19. Virginia 11-0; 20. TCU 8-3; 21. Clemson 11-0; 22. North Carolina State 8-4; 23. Maryland 9-2; 24. Tulane 10-2; 25. UCLA 8-4 SOFTBALL: GATORS REMAIN NO. 3 IN D1SOFTBALL POLL The Gators bounced back from their first loss of the season over the weekend with five straight wins in the Bubly Invitational, which kept them at No. 4 in the D1Softball poll, trailing unbeatens Oklahoma and Alabama. The Gators are idle until Saturday when they open the Southeastern Conference portion of their schedule with Mississippi State at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. A year ago, the Gators stole 56 bases in 59 attempts in 56 games. Through 22 games, the Gators have stolen a nation-leading 64 bases in 70 attempts, led by Kendra Falby and Skylar Wallace, who are tied for the national lead with 20 each. Falby and Wallace have each scored 29 runs, which is also tops in the country … Charla Echols ranks fourth nationally with 28 RBI … The Gators rank 3rd nationally in on-base percentage (.455) and batting average (.372). D1Softball Top 25: 1. Oklahoma 16-0; 2. Alabama 20-0; 3. FLORIDA 21-1; 4. Florida State 19-1; 5. UCLA 17-3; 6. Virginia Tech 14-3; 7. Duke 16-3; 8. Arkansas 14-4; 9. Northwestern 15-4; 10. Missouri 16-4; 11. Washington 15-5; 12. Oklahoma State 12-5; 13. Oregon 16-3; 14. Kentucky 16-2; 15. Michigan 12-6; 16. Tennessee 15-6; 17. Clemson 12-6; 18. Georgia 19-2; 19. Auburn 21-1; 20. Arizona 15-4; 21. LSU 17-6; 22. South Florida 17-3; 23. Oregon State 18-3; 24. Charlotte 18-3; 25. Arizona State 13-5 ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Awhile back I wrote that for Florida to have a chance at elbowing its way back into the consistent top 25/NCAA Sweet 16 conversation on a consistent basis that it would take a greater commitment of resources including facilities and staff upgrades. Some people agreed and others went off on tangents that the only thing that was needed was a new coach. I’m going to point out a huge difference in allocation of resources and maybe some of you will conclude that if UF wants to upgrade the basketball program devote the resources to significantly close the gap that exists and will continue to grow. Saturday, the buses bringing Kentucky from its team hotel to the O-Dome arrived. I say buses. Not bus. Buses. Two of them. One of the buses held players and coaches. The second bus was filled (every single seat) with analysts, training and support staff, and managers. Pre-game shootaround there were more than a dozen team managers on the floor, each of them with an assignment. Some of them retrieved errant shots. Some of them were designated passers. Others were getting in the face of shooters so that there were few uncontested warmup shots or making the guards protect the ball on the bounce. There were several from the training staff stretching players and putting them through their paces to get ready. Analysts, who would later sit behind the UK bench charting every single play, were charting every single shot taken by the Wildcats pre-game. That might seem trivial to some of you, but this is just one example of why – in addition to tradition – Kentucky is consistently in the national championship picture. They spare no expense to make sure John Calipari has everything necessary to produce championship level teams and it definitely influences recruits. Look also at what is going on at Alabama and Tennessee. Since they made the decision to devote more resources to basketball, both programs are recruiting better than ever before. I know a lot of folks will say Kentucky, Alabama and Tennessee are only good because they have turned cheating into an art form, but look at how they’re spending on staff and other resources (Alabama is going to build a brand new arena, by the way). I am not going to get in the coach debate with anyone here. Everybody has an opinion about the coach, but whether you opine that UF has the right coach or needs a new one, we should all agree on one thing: Other schools in the SEC are devoting more money than ever before to basketball and it shows in facility upgrades, more analysts and other staff upgrades. No matter who is Florida’s coach this or in years to come, until there is a commitment to devote greater resources to the basketball program, it will be more and more difficult to compete at the level all of us would like to see.

A few thoughts to jump start your Monday morning: CALIPARI THINKS THE GATORS BELONG IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT With an NCAA Net Ranking of 53, the Gators (19-12, 9-9 SEC) are firmly on the NCAA Tournament Bubble. If we go strictly by the Net Rankings – they aren’t the only criteria the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee takes into consideration – then the Gators will have to win two games at the Southeastern Conference Tournament at Amalie Arena in Tampa this week. The Gators won’t get any bump if they beat Texas A&M (20-11, 9-9 SEC) in their first game Thursday because the Aggies have a Net Ranking of 56, so it would take beating SEC champion Auburn (Net Ranking 10) in the quarterfinals to ease into the tournament. Kentucky coach John Calipari doesn’t necessarily agree with the Net Rankings or with ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi, who touts six SEC teams making the tournament, one of which isn’t Florida, which lost to UK, 71-63, Saturday night on Twitter, Cal stated: “Any team in the SEC that’s 9-9 should be in the tournament. The top four teams in our league went 35-1 at home. Crazy. We are the best league and our teams deserve that respect.” Lunardi has eight from the Big Ten, seven from the Big East and six each from the SEC and Big 12. Five SEC teams finished the season tied for fifth in the final regular season standings with 9-9 records – South Carolina, LSU, Texas A&M, No. 25 Alabama and Florida. Based on RPI, the SEC isn’t the top league in the country but it is second. The top ranking belongs to the Big 12, which is interesting when you consider the SEC beat the Big 12 6-4 head-to-head in the annual SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Among the wins were Kentucky’s 80-62 blowout of then No. 5 Kansas and Alabama’s 87-78 win over then No. 4 Baylor. The NCAA Tournament Committee also takes strength of schedule into consideration. According to Kenpom.com, here is the strength of schedule ranking for all SEC teams that had at least a 9-9 record in league play: 1. Alabama; 7. Tennessee; 27. LSU; 28. South Carolina; 31. Auburn; 36. Kentucky; 45. Florida; 50. Arkansas; and 66. Texas A&M. SEC Basketball Tournament Wednesday’s games: 1. Ole Miss (13-18, 4-14 SEC) vs. Missouri (11-20, 5-13 SEC); 2. Georgia (6-25, 1-17 SEC) vs. Vanderbilt (15-15, 7-11 SEC) Thursday’s games: 3. Florida (19-12, 9-9 SEC) vs. Texas A&M (20-11, 9-9 SEC); 4. Winner game 1 vs. LSU (21-10, 9-9 SEC); 5. Mississippi State (17-14, 8-10 SEC) vs. South Carolina (18-12, 9-9 SEC); 6. winner game 2 vs. No. 25 Alabama (19-12, 9-9 SEC) Friday’s games: 7. Game 3 winner vs. No. 5 Auburn (27-4, 15-3 SEC); 8. Game 4 winner vs. No. 14 Arkansas (24-7, 13-5 SEC); Game 5 winner vs. No. 13 Tennessee (23-7, 14-4 SEC); 10. Game 6 winner vs. No. 7 Kentucky (25-6, 14-4 SEC) SEC CHAMPS! UF GYMNASTICS MAKES IT FOUR IN A ROW The final score Friday night was Florida 198.575, Auburn 198.575, important because a tie not only gave the Gators sole possession of their fourth Southeastern Conference championship, Florida’s fourth in a row, but the fourth highest team score in NCAA history and the highest score for two teams in NCAA history. Florida has been involved in six of the nine highest scoring meets in NCAA history. Florida got a perfect 10 from Trinity Thomas on vault and another 10 from freshman Sloane Blakely on floor. For Thomas it was her NCAA-leading sixth 10 of the season and the 14th of her career. The win moved the Gators up to No. 2 nationally, trailing only Oklahoma, the same OU team the Gators beat a week ago. Florida owns wins this season over No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 5 (tie) Alabama and Auburn, No. 7 LSU, No. 9 Kentucky, No. 11 Missouri, No. 18 Arkansas and No. 24 Georgia. UF BASEBALL: TWO OUT OF THREE AIN’T BAD After taking the series opener with Miami on the chin at Mark Light Stadium in Coral Gables, the 14th-ranked Gators (10-3) bounced back with two dominating wins to take the series from the Hurricanes. UF took out the Hurricanes, 8-1, Saturday evening and then finished off the series with an 11-3 blowout win. The Gators couldn’t get the bats untracked Friday night when they fell to the Hurricanes, 5-2, but Saturday and Sunday were completely different stories. Home runs from Jud Fabian and Kendrick Calilao backed the combined six hit pitching of Brandon Sproat and Nick Ficarrotta Saturday to even the series at a game apiece. Fabian hit a 2-run homer in the second and Calilao hit a 3-run shot in the ninth. Sproat (2-1) pitched 6-1/3 strong shutout innings (4 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts) to earn the win and Ficarrotta (2-2/3 innings, 2 hits, 1 unearned run, 5 strikeouts). Jud Fabian’s RBI double highlighted a 3-run first inning on Sunday as the Gators jumped all over the Hurricanes and then kept pounding away. Fabian had only that one hit all day, but the Hurricanes walked him four times. Calilao hit his second homer in two days as part of a 3-run sixth. Wyatt Langford, who went 3-3 on the day, had a 2-run double in the sixth. Florida’s 9-hit attack was helped out by 14 walks and one hit batter. Blake Purnell (2-0) got the win with 3-2/3 innings of relief of starter Timmy Manning. Purnell held the Hurricanes scoreless, gave up two hits and struck out four. The Gators will face Jacksonville Tuesday and Wednesday night at the Florida Ballpark and host Seton Hall for a 3-game weekend set. BUBLY INVITATIONAL: GATORS 42, EVERYBODY ELSE 2 Now, granted the competition wasn’t exactly the kind that keeps Tim Walton up at night, but a couple of very good things happened at the Bubly Invitational. The 5-0 weekend improved the 3rd-ranked Gators to 21-1 heading with SEC play beginning next Saturday with Mississippi State. Elizabeth Hightower (5-0), who has had a nagging back injury, got two starts and went four innings in each. She got one win, allowed three hits two earned runs, walked six and struck out nine. The walks are most likely from the layoff. Her control is usually pretty sharp. Lexie Delbrey (7-1), who has struggled in the early innings, got two wins in 11 innings. She allowed three hits and struck out 15 but she walked seven so she still has to get sharper with her location. Maybe the biggest news of the weekend was sophomore lefty Haley Pittman (1-0). In the first start of her career, she went four innings, gave up one hit, walked two and struck out two. If she is able to give Walton some innings, it will allow him to get rest for Hightower, Delbrey and Natalie Lugo. Skylar Wallace went 7-12 on the weekend with two homers, a triple, nine RBI and six stolen bases. Leadoff Kendra Falby kept her average above .500 with a 7-15 weekend with three RBI and four stolen bases. Hannah Adams went 8-15 with four RBI, Reagan Walsh had a pair of homers and four RBI. OTHER UF SPORTS The 5th-ranked Florida men’s tennis team (9-2, 2-0 SEC) opened its SEC schedule with a 7-0 win over No. 6 South Carolina and a 4-3 win over No. 9 Kentucky ... The 13th-ranked Florida women’s tennis team (8-3, 1-1 SEC) split its first two conference matches of the season, knocking off LSU 6-1 in Baton Rouge before dropping a 5-2 decision to No. 8 Texas A&M in College Station … The 13th-ranked UF women’s golf team tied with Michigan for the championship in the VyStar Invitational … The 7th-ranked lacrosse Gators (1-3) dropped a 14-13 decision to No. 5 Stony Brook. PIERCE GETS HIGH COMBINE MARKS Of all the running backs at the NFL Combine, only two had a higher prospect grade than Dameon Pierce. Imagine that. Pierce measured 5-10 and weighed 218. He ran 4.59 in the 40, benched 225 pounds 21 times and had a 34.5 vertical. He was given a 6.29 prospect grade, which according to NFL analytics makes him an eventual starter. The only two backs who were given a higher grade were Kenneth Walker III (Michigan State, 6.35) and Breece Hall (Iowa State, 6.34), both of whom are considered elite prospects. Isaiah Spiller of Texas A&M also has a 6.29 prospect rating. Here are the prospect grades of all the SEC backs who were at the Combine: Zamir White, Georgia (6.25), James Cook, Georgia (6.00), Brian Robinson, Alabama (6.21), Tyler Badie, Missouri (6.14), Snoop Conner, Ole Miss (6.14), Jerrion Ealy, Ole Miss (5.93) and Tyler Davis-Price, LSU (6.19). Other Gators at the Combine: Kaiir Elam ran a 4.48 in the 40 … Zachary Carter (6-4, 282) ran a 4.99 40, did 19 reps on the bench and had a 27.5 and has a prospect grade of 6.20. He is considered an eventual starter in the NFL … Jeremiah Moon (6-5, 249) is going to need a strong pro day to enhance his draft status after the Combine. He ran a 4.76 in the 40 and had a 40.5 vertical. He has a 5.68 prospect grade, which analytics say he’s a candidate for bottom of a roster or practice squad. SEC FOOTBALL Alabama: Heisman Trophy QB Bryce Young has an NIL deal with BMW of Tuscaloosa. Interesting, because Nick Saban owns Mercedes-Benz dealerships. Georgia: Jordan Davis, all 6-6 and 341 pounds of him, ran a 4.82 in the 40 at the NFL Combine. That’s a better time than quarterbacks Brock Purdy (Iowa State, 4.84), Bailey Zappe (Western Kentucky, 4.88), Jack Coan (Notre Dame, 4.90) and Skylar Thompson (Kansas State, 4.91). LSU: Former Arizona State quarterback Jayden Daniels is transferring to LSU. In 29 career games at Arizona State, Daniels threw for 6,025 yards (8.3 per attempt) and 32 touchdowns with 13 picks. He ran for 1,288 yards and 13 touchdowns ... LSU says it is unaware of any Title IX allegations against running backs coach Frank Wilson during the time he was a member of Les Miles’ staff. Tennessee: Former Georgia Tech DB Wesley Walker has committed to Tennessee. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: The late Tom Butters doesn’t get enough credit for being an astute judge of talent. A former Major League Baseball pitcher and former Duke baseball coach, he served as the AD from 1977-97. In 1980 he raised eyebrows when he hired Mike Kryzyzewski, who was 73-59 at Army and coming off a 9-17 season to coach the Duke basketball team which had played for the national championship in 1978 and finished ranked 11th in 1979 and 14th in 1980. When Duke went 38-47 from 1981-83, there were calls for the heads of Butters and Coach K on a platter. Well, we know how that worked out. Butters also hired former Elon football coach Red Wilson in 1979, another controversial hire since he hadn’t coached in three years. After a 2-8-1 first season, Wilson hired Steve Spurrier, recently fired as the quarterbacks coach at Georgia Tech by new coach Bill Curry. Legend has it that Curry suggested Spurrier find a new profession and offered to help him find a job selling insurance in Atlanta. After a 2-9 1980 season, Duke went 6-5 the next two years. Wilson turned the offense over to Spurrier. After Duke beat Curry and Georgia Tech in Atlanta in 1981, Wilson told the media he asked Spurrier what play he called and Spurrier responded, “Touchdown coach!” Spurrier left to be the head coach of the Tampa Bay Bandits in the USFL in 1983. That gig lasted three years and then the USFL folded. After a year out of football, Butters came calling, offering Spurrier the head coaching job at Duke, which hadn’t had a winning season since Spurrier left the first time. It was thought to be another controversial hire, but after a 5-6 1987, Spurrier went 7-3-1 and 8-4, winning the ACC championship in 1989. Three controversial hires, two of which went on to become legends. I wonder what might have happened at Duke if there had been an internet and message boards when he hired Red Wilson, Coach K and Steven Orr Spurrier.

A few thoughts to jump start your Friday morning: HEART ATTACK CITY! GATORS RALLY PAST VANDERBILT, 53-52 You can’t cut it any closer than the Florida Gators did Thursday afternoon in the second round of the SEC Tournament against Vanderbilt. Two Nina Rickards free throws with 8.2 seconds remaining gave the Gators a 53-52 lead, their first lead of the entire game. There was still time for Vanderbilt to beat the Gators for the second time in eight days, but Jordyn Merritt blocked a shot by Iyana Moore under the basket with 0:00.4 remaining. Replay determined Merritt was the last one to touch the ball so the Commodores had a chance for a catch and shoot on the inbounds. Vandy tried to get the ball in the lane to Jordyn Cambridge, but Florida’s Jeriah Warren reached out, got a hand on the ball and knocked it harmlessly away to prevent a last second game-winner. This was an epic comeback by the Gators who made Kelly Rae Finley 1-0 in her first game coaching without the interim label attacked. Starting with the first quarter when Vanderbilt came out scorching hot to take a 12-0 lead, the Gators were in a continuous uphill battle. UF tied the game at 18-18 in the second quarter on a layup by Jordyn Merritt but Vandy surged back for a 31-22 lead at the half. Vanderbilt stretched the lead to 14 in the third quarter and the Commodores led by 11 with 8:13 to play but the Gators just wouldn’t go away. The turning point from a defensive standpoint was with 8:36 to go in the game when UF forced a shot clock violation. From that point on the Gators outscored Vanderbilt 18-8 by forcing the Commodores to make mistakes or take bad shots on the perimeter and limiting the touches in the paint by Sacha Washington. Coming back was made that much more difficult with 4:16 to go when All-SEC guard Kiki Smith had to leave the game after suffering a lower leg injury. That only seemed to make the Gators more determined to win the game. “I think we did a good job looking each other in the eye, believing in ourselves and knowing that Kiki believes in us so we just buckled down, gave it all we had and played for Kiki,” Rickards said. Twice in the final four minutes the Gators cut the Vandy lead to a single point – 50-49 with 1:17 to play on a Zippy Broughton jumper; 52-51 with 37 seconds to go on a driving layup by Broughton. The Gators caught a break with 11 seconds to go when Washington missed two free throws that would have given Vanderbilt a 3-point lead but Emanuella De Olivera rebounded and Finley called a 30-second time out. When the Gators inbounded the ball, Rickards saw a crease down the left side of the lane so she blew by one defender and got fouled. Her two free throws that provided the winning margin found only the bottom of the net. When the final horn sounded, it was an emotional scene on the court. The Gators definitely wanted this game for Finley, voted SEC Coach of the Year by the USA Today network, but especially for Smith, who has spearheaded several fourth quarter comebacks this season. “It was emotional, yes, but it wasn’t difficult at all on the way Kiki influences us on and off the court,” Zippy Broughton said. “We know she always has our back so we had to contribute that for her. So, we just responded in the best way we could so we just had to give our all. No matter if we won or lost we just had to give our all for Kiki.” This was a game the Gators seemed intent to give away until the last eight minutes. Eight days ago they lost to Vanderbilt when they turned the ball over 28 times. They gave it away 21 times Thursday, which gave Vandy 23 points but the Gators offset their benevolence by playing tough, lockdown defense. Vandy only shot 30.2 percent overall and 26.3 percent on 3-pointers. Jordyn Cambridge, who had a triple-double (13 points, 15 rebounds, 10 assists) Wednesday afternoon when Vanderbilt beat Texas A&M in the first round of the tournament, was held to four points. She was 1-11 from the field and only had two rebounds and four assists. Rickards and Broughton got it done for the Gators on the offensive end. Rickards scored 15 points to go with eight rebounds, one assist and a steal, and Broughton had 14 points, four rebounds, one assist and a steal. The Gators improved to 21-9 with the win. The 5th-seeded Gators face 4th-seeded Ole Miss at 3:30 today in the quarterfinals but they’ll have to do it without Smith. “She sacrificed a lot coming back this year to help us write the story about how the Gators became,” Finley said while choking back the tears. “And for that …she didn’t have to do that but she did because she is really selfless.” Thursday’s scores: NO. 23 FLORIDA (21-9) 53, Vanderbilt (14-18) 52; Alabama (17-12) 74, No. 24 Georgia (20-9) 62; Arkansas (18-12) 61, Missouri (18-12) 52; Kentucky (16-11) 83, Mississippi State (15-14) 67 Friday’s quarterfinals: Arkansas (18-12) vs. No. 1 South Carolina (27-1), 1 p.m.; NO. 23 FLORIDA (21-9) vs. Ole Miss (22-7), 3:30 p.m.; Kentucky (16-11) vs. No. 6 LSU (25-4), 7 p.m.; Alabama (17-12) vs. No. 18 Tennessee (22-7) CAN THE GATORS TAKE OUT NO. 7 KENTUCKY? There are times when the 7th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats look like a team that can destroy anything in their path on the way to a Final Four and potentially a 9th NCAA championship in school history. The Wildcats looked that good back on February 12 at Rupp when they manhandled the Gators, 78-57. The Wildcats also have their moments like February 15 when Tennessee did to them what they had done to the Gators three days earlier. It was 76-63 and seemed much worse. Although Kentucky has been consistently good more often than Florida, the Gators have also had their moments when they looked like world beaters. When Auburn came to Gainesville two weeks ago, the Tigers were ranked second nationally. They left on the short end of a 63-62 score in which the Gators played a sensational defensive game. For Florida to have a chance to not send Kentucky home with a loss Saturday (2 p.m., CBS) at the O-Dome, the Gators will have to sustain a defensive effort like the one they had against Auburn and they’ll need to shoot the way they have the past two games (combined 51.6 percent from the field overall; combined 43.6 percent on 24-55 from the 3-point line). Two other factors that have to play well in Florida’s favor: (1) Colin Castleton (17.5 points, 9 rebounds per game since coming back from a shoulder injury) has to stay out of foul trouble because he’s the only Gator capable of going toe-to-toe with Kentucky big man Oscar Tshiebwe (16.9 points, 15.3 rebounds) and (2) Phlandrous Fleming Jr. has to play like he has the last two games (43 points, 9 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 blocks, 4 steals) and not like he did at Rupp (8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists). Florida has the incentive of the NCAA Tournament to play for. Should the Gators upset UK, they will likely be off the bubble and solidly into the NCAA Tournament. Saturday’s games: No. 7 Kentucky (24-6, 13-4 SEC) at FLORIDA (19-11, 9-8 SEC); No. 14 Arkansas (24-6, 13-4 SEC) at No. 13 Tennessee (22-7, 13-4 SEC); No. 25 Alabama (19-11, 9-8 SEC) at LSU (20-10, 8-9 SEC); South Carolina (18-11, 9-8 SEC) at No. 5 Auburn (26-4, 14-3 SEC); Georgia (6-24, 1-16 SEC) at Missouri (10-20, 4-13 SEC); Vanderbilt (14-15, 6-11 SEC) at Ole Miss (13-17, 8-9 SEC); Mississippi State (17-13, 8-9 SEC) at Texas A&M (19-11, 8-9 SEC) GYMNASTICS: GATORS CAN CLINCH OUTRIGHT SEC TITLE AT AUBURN The 3rd-ranked Gators clinched a share of their fourth straight Southeastern Conference championship back on February 18 when they beat 10th-ranked Kentucky in Lexington. Tonight (8 p.m., SEC Network+) the Gators can clinch the SEC title outright when they hit the road to face 6th-ranked Auburn. Not only is this a battle of the top two teams in the SEC, it could be the deciding factor in who win’s SEC Gymnast of the Year. Florida’s Trinity Thomas has five perfect 10s this season (13 in her career) and the top all-around score in the country (39.850). Auburn’s top gymnast is freshman Sunisa Lee, the Olympic all-around gold medalist. Lee, who has two perfect 10s this season, has a high all-around score of 39.825. BASEBALL: UF TRAVELS TO MIAMI The 14th-ranked Gators (8-2) put their 7-game winning streak on the line tonight at Mark Light Stadium in Coral Gables against 22nd-ranked Miami (7-1). Lefty Hunter Barco (2-0, 0.75 ERA, 23 strikeouts in 12 innings) will get the Friday night start for Florida. Expected to start Saturday afternoon is Brandon Sproat (1-1, 2.00 ERA, 13 strikeouts in 9 innings) and the Sunday starter should be lefty Timmy Manning (0-0, 5.63 ERA, 10 strikeouts, 8 innings). The Gators have scored more than 10 runs and pounded out more than 10 hits in each of the last four games with 16 home runs including six in Wednesday night’s 17-0 win over Florida A&M. As a team, the Gators have a .319 batting average. Florida’s 24 home runs ranks second nationally. SOFTBALL: BUBLY INVITATIONAL This might be a good time for Tim Walton to work on pitching depth as the 3rd-ranked Gators (16-1) host Georgia State (5-8), Coastal Carolina (7-6) and Tennessee State (6-7) in the Bubly Invitational at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. The Gators will face Georgia State at 3:30 p.m. and Coastal Carolina at 6. The Gators have a solid starter in Natalie Lugo (5-0, 0.43 ERA) but with All-American Elizabeth Hightower (4-0, 0.69 ERA) nursing a back injury, the rest of the pitching is spotty. Lexie Delbrey (5-1, 2.27 ERA) can dominate when she has command of the strike zone, but she has 25 walks in 37 innings so far. Rylee Trlicek has pitched well in spots, but she struggled last Sunday in relief of Delbrey in a 12-11 UF win over UCF. Marissa Mesiemore (1-0, 4.38 ERA) needs to get some innings in and have some success. The Gators are led at the plate by freshman Kendra Falby, who is hitting .527 with 23 runs, a nation-leading 29 hits and a nation-leading 16 stolen bases in 17 attempts. Charla Echols (.327) has three homers and 24 RBI while Skylar Wallace (.444) has 14 stolen bases and 15 RBI. COMBINE WARRIORS Here are some 40 times from SEC players at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis: Velus Jones, Tennessee 4.31; Wan’Dale Robinson, Kentucky 4.44; George Pickens, Georgia 4.47; Braylon Sanders, Ole Miss 4.48; Treylon Burks, Arkansas 4.55; Makai Polk, Mississippi State 4.59; Dontario Drummond, Ole Miss 4.65; Slade Bolden, Alabama 4.66 ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Billy Napier’s Identity Program ended this morning and spring break officially begins. When the Gators get back from their week off from all things football, they’ll crank up spring football, which will be the first chance we’ll have to get a look at a team that is going through a metamorphosis. From all accounts, there are two things Napier does not tolerate: (1) Soft football teams and (2) teams that lack discipline. Transforming from a team that opponents always characterized as soft and lacking toughness probably will take longer than just one spring since it’s about getting stronger and changing from a team that looked like a bunch of boys last year when Alabama’s grown men took the field. We probably will get a better glimpse of team discipline immediately since Napier’s Identity Program is all about instilling a measure of discipline individually and collectively. Players who expect to play in the fall by now understand that the kind of mistakes the Gators made all last year won’t be tolerated. I know many in the Gator Nation are expecting a miracle of the walls of Jericho tumbling down proportions next year. While I hope Napier can get 9-10 wins in his first year on the job, I’ll be very happy to see a team that not only looks tougher when they run out on the field, but play tougher, too. I’ll also be very happy to see a team that doesn’t throw games away with silly mental errors like the ones that were the undoing of Dan Mullen. I feel confident that those days are over.

Photo by Chris Spears Trinity Thomas is a must see, put down the phone or your beverage, type of athlete. By DAN BOND GatorBaitMedia.com Don’t get me wrong. Trinity Thomas is special, beyond special. The Gator Gymnastics team puts on a remarkable Friday night competition. There really is a different entertainment value for these Friday meets. It’s the feeling that your team is going to win because Florida has been so dominate recently. Growing up going to football games, you really pull against the other team. In gymnastics you kind of enjoy the show and watching Trinity Thomas is a must see, put down the phone or your beverage, type of athlete. You don’t want to miss a second of what she is doing. I was first introduced to NCAA Gymnastics in 2015. The Championship round is held in Ft. Worth every April. It’s just a few miles west of where I live in Dallas Texas. Florida was going for it’s third NCAA National Championship in a row and I had a front row seat for the Bridget Sloan show. Back then you could get your ticket and sit wherever. Unlike this year. The meet is almost sold out already. Florida was ending the evening on the Uneven Bars. Utah just finished their Vault routine to complete the competition at 197.800. Sloan had already scored a 9.90 on Vault, 9.850 on Beam and 9.950 on Floor. The Uneven Bars last two competitors were Bridget Sloan and Alex McMurtry, another Gator great. They both had fabulous routines, almost perfect for a 9.950 each, giving Florida the win and the title 197.850 to Utah’s 197.800. How incredible! I was hooked! Bridget Sloan would go on to win The Honda Sports Award for gymnastics that year too, her second time. She was SEC Female Athlete of the Year, that says a lot. In four years she won three national championships and when the team didn’t win in 2016, she won the all around national title. Sloan was clutch and she seemed to really get it done in those crucial championship meets. Sloan also did have some strong teammates, future Honda award winners Kytra Hunter and Alex McMurtry on the squad to name just two. For me that’s what put Sloan above Thomas. Trinity puts up those 10s and there are some that say there are too many 10s given now. I think they are good for the sport and get the crowd fired up. No harm, no foul on that, in my opinion. Plus, a little nugget, for comparison: Sloan has six 10s versus Trinity’s thirteen. You hear that one often however Trinity has twenty three 9.975’s vs Sloan’s twelve 9.975 and that’s with the injury year in 2021 and the COVID year in 2020. Definitely Florida was robbed of a national championship in 2020 when they stopped competition. Without that bad ankle injury to Thomas last year, Florida could have won one last year, too The sport has grown so much in those years from the first national championship to now. Bridget Sloan made me a fan. Trinity Thomas is making a lot of people fans and the new Gators like Leanne Wong, she already has two 10s as a freshman. More than Trinity had as a freshman. Sloan Blakely and injured Morgan Hurd will keep Florida loaded and in the hunt for titles the next four years. It’s a great time to be a Gator Gymnastics fan. Whoever the “GOAT” might be.