WHO STEPS UP IF BLACKSHEAR CAN’T GO? As of Tuesday afternoon, Mike White was unsure whether he’ll have Kerry Blackshear Jr. available Thursday afternoon when the Florida Gators (19-12, 11-7 SEC) open play in the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Nashville against the winner of the first round matchup of Georgia (15-16, 5-13 SEC) and Ole Miss (15-16, 6-12 SEC). “It’ll be a pain tolerance, flexibility-type factor,” White said of Blackshear and his sprained wrist. This, obviously, is one of those assume the worst and hope for the best situations for the Gators. They hope Blackshear will be ready to play, even if for limited minutes, but they are preparing as if Blackshear won’t be able to go. If he can’t go, then White is going to go with a center by committee approach of 6-10 freshman Omar Payne, 6-11 freshman Jason Jitoboh and 6-9 fourth-year junior Dontay Bassett. In Saturday’s 71-70 loss to Kentucky with Blackshear injured and on the bench for all but 12 minutes due to his injury, the three of them combined for 11points and four rebounds. White certainly would like more production from them but there is nowhere else to turn if Blackshear can’t play. “That’s what we have,” White said. “It’s going to be one of those three guys, two of those three guys, maybe all three of those guys getting opportunities on Thursday.” Payne hasn’t had a good offensive game since Auburn back in January. Jitoboh’s best offensive game was six points against LSU a couple of weeks ago. Bassett hasn’t played much all season due to a couple of injuries, but he did score four against Kentucky on Saturday. Since none of those guys has produced much recently, the Gators are going to have to lean more heavily on All-SEC first team Keyontae Johnson, whose three-game totals at last year’s SEC Tournament in Nashville were 41 points and 30 rebounds. Noah Locke, who is shooting 48.1% from the three-point line in SEC play, broke out of a recent shooting funk against Kentucky when he scored 14 points, and the last time he played in Nashville – albeit at Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gym – he hit 6-8 from the three-point line. Scottie Lewis is coming off a career-high 19-point game against Kentucky. Andrew Nembhard has scored a collective 15 points in the last three games although he does have 21 assists. So someone is going to have to pick up the slack. The question is who? SEC Awards: Johnson was selected first team All-SEC by the coaches while Blackshear made second team. Lewis was named to the All-Freshman team. SEC BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT WEDNESDAY’S GAMES GAME ONE: #13 Georgia (15-16, 5-13 SEC) vs. #12 Ole Miss (15-16, 6-12 SEC) GAME TWO: #14 Vanderbilt (11-20, 3-15 SEC) vs. #11 Arkansas (19-12, 7-11 SEC) THURSDAY’S GAMES GAME THREE: #9 Alabama (16-15, 8-10 SEC) vs. #8 Tennessee (17-14, 9-9 SEC) GAME FOUR: Georgia-Ole Miss winner vs. #5 FLORIDA (19-12, 11-7 SEC) GAME FIVE: #10 Missouri (15-16, 7-11 SEC) vs. #7 Texas A&M (16-14, 10-8 SEC) GAME SIX: Vanderbilt-Arkansas winner vs. #6 South Carolina (18-13, 10-8 SEC) FRIDAY’S GAMES GAME SEVEN: Game three winner vs. #1 Kentucky (25-6, 15-3 SEC) GAME EIGHT: Game four winner vs. #4 Mississippi State (20-11, 11-7 SEC) GAME NINE: Game five winner vs. #2 Auburn (25-6, 12-6 SEC) GAME TEN: Game six winner vs. #3 LSU (21-10, 12-6 SEC) FSU HANDS GATORS FIRST LOSS OF THE SEASON The best start in Florida baseball history came to an end Tuesday night at McKethan Stadium when 15th-ranked Florida State (11-5) got three-hit pitching and 14 combined 14 strikeouts from lefties Antonio Velez and Parker Messick to handcuff the top-ranked Gators (16-1), 2-0, before a crowd of 5,276. FSU got the only run it needed in the top of the first when Albert Reese’s blooper to left center fell between Austin Langworthy, Jud Fabian and Josh Rivera to drive in Tyler Martin. The Seminoles added an insurance run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly to left field. The closest the Gators came to scoring was in the bottom of the first when Kirby McMullen’s home run bid to right field was hauled in on a leaping grab at the fence by Robby Martin. McMullen broke up Velez’s no-hit bid in the bottom of the fourth with a double down the left field line with one out but Velez struck out Jordan Butler and induced Jacob Young into an inning-ending ground out. Young got an infield hit in the seventh to extend his hitting streak to 18 games. Kendrick Calilao had Florida’s other hit in the eighth. Next up for the Gators is the first SEC weekend of the season against third-ranked Georgia (14-3). OTHER UF SPORTS Florida’s 7th-ranked softball team improved to 22-4 with a 3-1 non-conference win over Pennsylvania of the Ivy League Tuesday afternoon. Two homers by Hannah Adams and one by Kendyl Lindamin provided all the offense. Elizabeth Hightower (4-0) gave up two hits and one run in four innings for the win. Natalie Lugo earned her fifth save of the year with three innings of two-hit relief. Next up for the Gators is 12th-ranked Florida State (17-6) tonight at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium (6 p.m.). The 8th-ranked Florida lacrosse team improved to 6-2 Tuesday afternoon with a 17-9 win over 19th-ranked Navy at Donald Dizney Stadium. Kassidy Bresnahan, Shannon Kavanaugh and Brianna Harris led the Gators with five goals apiece. The Gators travel to Providence, Rhode Island Saturday to face Brown. WASTING AWAY ON WEDNESDAY (1) The Southeastern Conference led all of Division I in football attendance in 2019 with an average of 72,723 per game, a dip of 1.7% from the previous year. That was the lowest average per game attendance for the SEC since 2000. Next up was the Big Ten, which averaged 65,065, a dip of 0.5% and its lowest average since 1993. Of the power conferences, only the Big 12 showed an increase, 0.1% to 57,467 per game. My theory for declining attendance has everything to do with big screen televisions and fluctuating game times set by television. I know too many former season ticket holders at UF who tell me they watch the game in air-conditioned comfort in their recliner on a 70-inch screen, don’t have to stand in line to pee, don’t have to pay $5 for a skinny weenie and they can drink Coca-Cola instead of Pepsi. (2) Prior to the NBA Season, Street and Smith magazine and nearly every other publication predicted the Oklahoma City Thunder to finish last in the Northwest Division. With 18 regular season games left, the Thunder are 40-24 and just a game out of fourth place in the race for eight Western Conference playoff spots. All this with a patchwork of a roster. Imagine what Billy Donovan is going to do in the next couple of years with all those first round draft picks he picked up for trading Russell Westbrook to Houston and Paul George to the LA Clippers. (3) Georgia’s Anthony Edwards, who will probably be the first player selected in the NBA Draft in June, didn’t make either the Associated Press or Coaches All-SEC first teams. More surprising, John Calipari was selected SEC Coach of the Year. Cal did a terrific job at Kentucky, but how can you pick a coach with that roster as the Coach of the Year over Buzz Williams of Texas A&M? Buzz won ten SEC games with the least talented roster in the entire league. Since we’re on the subject of coaches of the year, Sporting News selected Dayton’s Anthony Grant as its national coach of the year. (4) Gonzaga (31-2) looked the part of a number one seed in taking down Saint Mary’s (26-8) in the final of the West Coast Conference. Figure they’ll get the top seed in the West Regional and play what is essentially a home game in Spokane to start the tournament. The Zags might have the nation’s best front line in Filip Petrusev, Killian Tillie and Corey Kispert. As of Tuesday night, Saint Mary’s was a #8 and paired against #9 Florida in the East, opening in Cleveland. GOOD QUOTES FOR WEDNESDAY Andy Staples of The Athletic on how Dan Mullen has embraced the higher expectations for Florida football rather than try to hide from them: “Mullen has seen the beast at its worst. He has been cussed and jinxed by the people wearing his colors. That’s why, like (Kirby) Smart in Athens, Mullen understands exactly what he and his team must do to be considered a success. Smart, who inherited a program in a better place than Mullen did, is expected to win a national title. Mullen? At this point he just needs to win the SEC and/or make the Playoff. Never mind that a completely different SEC program that happens to be on Florida’s schedule every year (LSU) just won the national title and that Alabama has made the Playoff five of six years. These are the expectations. Mullen could choose to fight them as predecessor Jim McElwain did. Or he can embrace them. Mullen has chosen the second option.” On the Dan Patrick Show, Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley, who has an ongoing verbal feud with Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors, offers this latest shot: “I like Draymond. He’s a good player. But you know what he is? He’s like the guy in the boy band who’s the least important member and he thinks the crowd is like cheering for him. He doesn’t realize he’s standing next to Justin Timberlake.” Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on the overall lack of respect in the Atlantic Coast Conference for Florida State even though the Seminoles won the league regular season championship and are ranked fourth nationally in the latest Associated Press poll: “Nobody who works in any other league would believe it’s possible to remain undefeated in the conference that trumpets itself to the heavens. But consider Florida State, which finished first over the ACC regular season and was clearly the class of the Tiffany League. No Seminole made first team all-conference though two Duke players did; 18-loss Carolina had as many players on the three all-league teams as did 26-win FSU. To be fair, Leonard Hamilton was voted coach of the year not that there was any real competition. Factoid: The Ham, as he was known in his younger days as a Kentucky assistant, is fifth among ACC coaches in victories. The top four – Kryzyzewski, D. Smith, R. Williams, G. Williams – are in the Naismith Hall of Fame.” RANDOM THOUGHTS: UCF athletic director Danny White, brother of Florida basketball coach Mike White, signed a new 5-year contract with a base salary of $1,081,500 guaranteed to increase by 5% every year … Kentucky wide receivers coach Michael Smith has resigned … Ohio State has four assistant coaches making more than $1 million per year: Defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs $1.4 million; offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson $1.2 million; and co-defensive coordinator Greg Mattison and D-line coach Larry Johnson $1.13 million each … Punching their tickets to the NCAA Tournament were Hofstra (26-8, Colonial Athletic Association), Robert Morris (20-14, Northeast Conference), Northern Kentucky (23-9, Horizon League) and North Dakota State (25-8, Summit League).

MULLEN CAN'T WAIT TO DO SOME COACHING One week until spring football practice begins and it’s fairly obvious Dan Mullen can’t wait to do some coaching. August will be about getting offense, defense and special teams ready for the rigors of a 12-game schedule. Spring is about coaching and teaching and developing players. “I think spring ball is such a learning time,” Mullen said at his pre-spring practice press conference Monday afternoon. “I use springtime as a coach. I mean we’re going to do a lot of competitive things, but as a team, in the end of the spring, we’re 0-0.” And that means 15 practices to see who has used the offseason to get bigger, faster and stronger; who is ready to expand last year’s backup role into a starting position; which of the redshirts are ready to make a move up the depth chart; which of the veterans are ready to assume or increase their leadership roles; and which of the wet behind the ears freshmen are ready to prove they’ll be contributors on the field in the fall and not on the scout team. Mullen does his best to give all his players plenty of repetitions in the spring. “I think our guys understand if you watch our practices, everybody gets reps,” Mullen said. “One thing guys aren’t going to complain about is their reps. They’re going to get their reps and their opportunities throughout the spring.” First teamers are not only going to work with other first teamers. The way the coaches break things up, they give opportunities for everyone to work at every level. If you don’t think that pays off then check out Exhibit A – Kyle Trask. A career backup who hadn’t started a game since his freshman year in high school, Trask made the seamless transition to effective starter in the Kentucky game when he became the QB out of necessity when Feleipe Franks went down with a season-ending injury. Because he had been getting first team reps the entire time Mullen had been Florida’s HBC, Trask was well prepared, leading the Gators to a come-from-behind win against UK and an 8-2 record as the starting QB. It all started with spring practice two years ago. “Coach Mullen’s always done that, ever since we’ve gotten here, especially in the spring,” Trask said. “Everyone’s going to get their opportunity. We just have to take it upon ourselves to compete every day and make sure we are getting better.” #1 GATORS GO FOR 12TH STRAIGHT WIN OVER FSU Two streaks will be on the line tonight when the #1-ranked Gators (16-0) take on 15th-ranked Florida State (10-5) at McKethan Stadium (6:30 p.m.). Not only are the Gators the last unbeaten baseball team in Division I, but they’ve won 11 straight over Florida State dating back to the NCAA Super Regionals in 2016. Since 2012, the Gators are 24-5 against the Seminoles. Two other streaks on the line for the Gators: Right fielder Jacob Young has a 17-game hitting streak dating back to last season and catcher Nathan Hickey has hit a home run in four straight games. Florida will send righthander Nick Pogue (1-0, 6.14 ERA) against FSU lefty Antonio Velez (0-0, 0.79 ERA). IF BLACKSHEAR CAN’T GO, CAN THE GATORS WIN IN NASHVILLE? There was good news and bad news from the Florida basketball training staff Monday. The good news was there isn’t the kind of serious damage to Kerry Blackshear Jr.’s wrist that will require surgery. The bad news is that Blackshear is day-to-day heading into the Southeastern Conference Basketball Tournament in Nashville on Thursday and his status is questionable for the Gators game against the winner of a round one matchup between Georgia and Ole Miss. Blackshear does so many things for the Gators at both ends of the floor. With him in the lineup, the Gators are capable of beating every single team and winning the tournament. Without him, they’re going to struggle even in that first round game. The Gators remained at #28 in the NCAA NET rankings Monday. Combined with their #15 national strength of schedule, they’re pretty much locks to make the NCAA Tournament no matter what happens in Nashville. But, if Blackshear can play and the Gators win at least a couple of games, they could seriously enhance their seeding. As of Monday, ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi had the Gators a nine seed and playing Saint Mary’s in Cleveland in the first round. SEC BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT WEDNESDAY’S GAMES GAME ONE: #13 Georgia (15-16, 5-13 SEC) vs. #12 Ole Miss (15-16, 6-12 SEC) GAME TWO: #14 Vanderbilt (11-20, 3-15 SEC) vs. #11 Arkansas (19-12, 7-11 SEC) THURSDAY’S GAMES GAME THREE: #9 Alabama (16-15, 8-10 SEC) vs. #8 Tennessee (17-14, 9-9 SEC) GAME FOUR: Georgia-Ole Miss winner vs. #5 FLORIDA (19-12, 11-7 SEC) GAME FIVE: #10 Missouri (15-16, 7-11 SEC) vs. #7 Texas A&M (16-14, 10-8 SEC) GAME SIX: Vanderbilt-Arkansas winner vs. #6 South Carolina (18-13, 10-8 SEC) FRIDAY’S GAMES GAME SEVEN: Game three winner vs. #1 Kentucky (25-6, 15-3 SEC) GAME EIGHT: Game four winner vs. #4 Mississippi State (20-11, 11-7 SEC) GAME NINE: Game five winner vs. #2 Auburn (25-6, 12-6 SEC) GAME TEN: Game six winner vs. #3 LSU (21-10, 12-6 SEC) TUNING IN ON A TUESDAY (1) Maybe you’re of the opinion that Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari is the sludge on the bottom of the septic tank, but on the SEC Basketball Coaches Teleconference he raised some important issues about the proposed transfer rule that will grant a one-time transfer without consequence for athletes in every NCAA sport. Calipari doesn’t think enough thought has been given to the proposal. “This – if they go through with it, which I hear they are – it doesn’t hurt Kentucky, it helps us,” he said. “We’re going to have all kinds of calls, kids wanting to join our program … Okay, but what does it do to all the mid-majors, low majors, or even the bottom half of the power fives?” Calipari thinks kids should be allowed to transfer, for example, if they were lied to or if kids and coaches agree that it’s just not working out at a certain school, but as for wholesale free agency, he thinks it needs to be studied more carefully and a very good rule put in place rather than rush into things with a rule that might have to be tweaked several times to get it right. I agree. (2) Tua Tagovailoa has been cleared to resume football activities which gives him a month to prep for Alabama’s pro day (April 9). Because of the ankle surgeries the last two years and now the broken hip from which doctors say he has recovered, there are always going to be questions about his durability but if Tua throws the ball at pro day with anything close to the precision he showed during his Alabama career, there is going to be a scramble to move up in the NFL Draft. Joe Burrow is a mortal lock for #1 with the Cincinnati Bengals and perhaps the Washington Redskins aren’t going to waiver from their preference of Ohio State DE Chase Young with the second pick. That means the third pick, currently held by the Detroit Lions, is going to be very, very hot. The Lions have an established QB in Matt Stafford, but would they be willing to part with Stafford, who is 32 years old, for a potential QB talent of a lifetime in Tua? (3) As I read the Andrew Baggerly story about Barry Bonds in The Athletic, I wondered when – if ever – Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, in particular – will ever be forgiven for juicing. I’ve had mixed feelings about it over the years, but even before I read the Bonds story I thought back to 1998 and how McGwire and Sosa brought Major League Baseball back from the dead with their historic home run chase. Fans were still angry about the 1994 lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the World Series, but when McGwire and Sosa started launching homers at an historic clip, the fans came back and the TV ratings began to spike. In the last couple of years, I’ve talked to a lot of people who were close to the game during that year and the subsequent years when it became evident that Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro, Roger Clemons and others were using performance enhancing substances. They tell me that everyone in baseball knew what was going on but didn’t do anything about it. And they ask me, “Did it harm the game irreparably?” I know a lot of people seem to think so. I’m not so sure. I’m starting to think it’s time to forgive. (4) For a guy whose seat is supposedly molten hot, Clay Helton is getting a lot of love from the Southern Cal administration. They’ve given him more money for assistant coaches, added analyst positions and doubled his recruiting budget. Either AD Mike Bohn and school prez Carol Folt think Helton will deliver if he’s got the support or else they’re covering their butts so that if USC comes up short this year they can fire Helton and say, “We gave him everything he needed and he still couldn’t get it done.” GOOD QUOTES FOR TUESDAY From Tom Reed of The Athletic, Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett is trying to deal with the lack of discipline in his game that led to a brawl that caused his suspension for striking Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph with his helmet: “Garrett says he has been speaking to a therapist recommended by the Browns, trying to manage the fine line between aggression and recklessness. Even before he struck Rudolph, Garrett contributed to the undisciplined play that helped sink the Browns season. He committed three personal fouls in the first two games, including one for punching Titans tight end Delanie Walker.” Tom Archdeacon (America’s best sports columnist) of the Dayton Daily News, describes the night Dayton’s Obi Toppin had Saturday, which included a number of ESPN-worthy highlights: “Toppin had several Saturday night. In that run he had four dunks, including the spin move, as well as the slam right over GW’s 6-foot-7 freshman Jamison Battle and, finally, the breakaway, take the ball beneath his right leg during midflight and jam, a play that made the UD players on the bench erupt as [Dayton coach Anthony] Grant laughed and the crowd went nuts. Saturday’s performance – 27 points on 11 of 15 shooting, five rebounds, five assists and seen dunks which lifts this season’s total to 107, top in the college game – may have cemented his spot as the national player of the year.” From Jeremy Schaap of ESPN’s “Outside the Lines,” Jalen Hurts talks about the 2017 national championship game in which he was benched in favor of Tua Tagovailoa, who led Alabama’s comeback win over Georgia: “I’m a competitor and I would’ve loved to come back and bring the team back like I’d done many times before, but it happened the way it did, and we were national champions at the end of it. Put emotions to the side. I’m not a robot but you [grow] out of yourself and into the team. Me being emotional, what good would that have done to the guys around me? The joy of being able to hold up a national championship trophy and achieve that goal as a team regardless of how I got there. It’s a joyful moment.” RANDOM THOUGHTS: Auburn Director of Football Recruiting Operations Mollie Moore is leaving. No reason given … Antonio Alfano, the former 5-star defensive lineman who left Alabama during the 2019 season, didn’t last long at his transfer destination. A little less than two months into a fresh start at Colorado, Alfano has been suspended indefinitely for violation of team rules … Second-ranked Gonzaga (30-2) beat San Francisco to move into the West Coast Conference semifinals … East Tennessee State (30-4) punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament with a win over Wofford.

A VERY WINNABLE GAME LOST One hand doesn’t have enough fingers to point out all the reasons the Gators blew an 18-point lead and lost 71-70 to Kentucky Saturday afternoon at the O-Dome. The obvious reasons have something to do with Kerry Blackshear Jr.’s prolonged absence after he left the game for good with a sprained wrist with 18:12 left in the game and with a zebra crew that swallowed its whistles in the last 8:18 when they looked the other way at numerous collisions instigated by Kentucky. There are people doing hard time in Raiford for less than what the zebras let Kentucky get away with. We could argue until the cows come home about Mike White. He didn’t coach a perfect game and he was quick to take responsibility for mistakes he made in the post game press conference but as Scottie Lewis said: “Coach White told us exactly what they [Kentucky] were going to do and they continuously did it … Coach White put us in position to do certain things [offensively] and it was up to us to go out there and do them.” In other words, a coach can call all the right plays and tell a team what it’s supposed to do but at some point the team has to execute. In the last 12 minutes of the game, Kentucky executed on both ends and Florida didn’t. If the Gators had executed, nobody would be talking about the missed calls today. If the Gators had executed, they would have won the game, with or without Blackshear. The fact is, the Gators should have beaten Kentucky twice this season. “With or without KJ (Blackshear), they’re a beatable team,” Lewis said. And he’s right. Kentucky is beatable and Florida is a team capable of beating just about anybody in the country, but something has to give here. At some point, these guys have to figure out that the game lasts 40 minutes and if you don’t play as hard as you can and continue to execute on both ends of the floor for 40 minutes, you end up with losses like the one Saturday. Or the one two weeks ago in Lexington. Or the one in Knoxville. Or the one at UConn. Or the one vs. Utah State. Or the one at LSU. Those six losses – all of them by a handful of points – were games the Gators could have and should have won if they hadn’t had lapses at one end of the court or the other, sometimes for prolonged periods of time. Win those six games and the Gators are 25-6 instead of 19-12. Win those six and the Gators are SEC champs and most likely sitting on the four line or better with the bracketologists. If frogs had wings they wouldn’t bump their butts every time they jump. Instead, the Gators are a fifth seed in the SEC Tournament and might need two wins in Nashville to avoid the dreaded eight/nine line in the NCAA Tournament. We’ll be talking about what might have been for a long time. SEC BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT WEDNESDAY’S GAMES GAME ONE: #13 Georgia (15-16, 5-13 SEC) vs. #12 Ole Miss (15-16, 6-12 SEC) GAME TWO: #14 Vanderbilt (11-20, 3-15 SEC) vs. #11 Arkansas (19-12, 7-11 SEC) THURSDAY’S GAMES GAME THREE: #9 Alabama (16-15, 8-10 SEC) vs. #8 Tennessee (17-14, 9-9 SEC) GAME FOUR: Georgia-Ole Miss winner vs. #5 FLORIDA (19-12, 11-7 SEC) GAME FIVE: #10 Missouri (15-16, 7-11 SEC) vs. #7 Texas A&M (16-14, 10-8 SEC) GAME SIX: Vanderbilt-Arkansas winner vs. #6 South Carolina (18-13, 10-8 SEC) FRIDAY’S GAMES GAME SEVEN: Game three winner vs. #1 Kentucky (25-6, 15-3 SEC) GAME EIGHT: Game four winner vs. #4 Mississippi State (20-11, 11-7 SEC) GAME NINE: Game five winner vs. #2 Auburn (25-6, 12-6 SEC) GAME TEN: Game six winner vs. #3 LSU (21-10, 12-6 SEC) GATORS ARE LAST UNBEATEN STANDING IN COLLEGE BASEBALL Thanks to Nathan Hickey’s tie-breaking solo homer with two outs in the bottom of the eighth Sunday afternoon, the #1-ranked Gators (16-0) got a 2-1 win over South Florida to remain the last unbeaten team in college baseball. Hickey lined the first pitch he saw from USF reliever Orion Kerkering over the right field wall for his fourth homer in as many games. After two games of battering USF pitchers for 24 runs, the Gators ran into problems with Sunday starter Carson Ragsdale, who threw what Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said was the best breaking ball UF has seen this year. Ragsdale went four innings, striking out 10 but it was his wild pitch in the bottom of the fourth that scored Jacob Young with the first run of the game. Florida, meanwhile, got a strong performance from starter Hunter Barco, who gave up only two hits and one run in six innings. In lowering his ERA to 1.40, Barco walked two and struck out seven. Barco was relieved by Christian Scott, who pitched two hitless innings to earn the win. Ben Specht pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his third save of the season. Jacob Young extended his hitting streak to 17 games (two last season, 15 this season). Next up for the Gators is 11th-ranked Florida State (10-5), which dropped two out of three to Duke in the ACC season opening weekend. The Gators have beaten FSU 11 straight games dating back to 2016. OTHER UF SPORTS: Saturday, Trinity Thomas earned her fourth perfect 10 of the season, this one on floor exercise, as the 2nd-ranked Gators remained unbeaten with a 198.10-196.225 bashing on the road of 25th-ranked Penn State. It was a day of perfection for the Gators as Rachel Goway (balance beam) and Sierra Alexander (vault) also scored 10s. Thomas is the first gymnast this season to have 10s in three different events. She also won the all-around title for the seventh consecutive meet at 39.525 … The 8th-ranked Gators opened the SEC portion of their softball season with a sweep of Auburn. Freshman Rylee Trlicek had a pair of bookend shutouts (6-0 on Friday, 11-0 on Sunday). Katie Chronister picked up the Saturday win in relief as the Gators nipped Auburn, 2-1 in 11 innings. Next up for the Gators is Pennsylvania Tuesday afternoon with 12th-ranked FSU coming to town Wednesday … Florida’s 5th-ranked lacrosse team (5-2) tuned up for Tuesday’s match with Navy by knocking off High Point, 17-10, Saturday afternoon … Florida’s 9th-ranked women’s golf team won the VyStar Gators Invitational by 18 strokes over runner-up Virginia Tech … The women’s tennis team dropped to 5-4 on the season with home losses to LSU and Texas A&M … The 6th-ranked men’s tennis team (15-3) beat LSU in Baton Rouge on Friday but fell to 12th-ranked Texas A&M in College Station on Sunday. NOW THE FUN BEGINS FOR COLLEGE BASKETBALL What I love most about college basketball once we get to conference tournament week is the impending sense of desperation at all levels. For a full third of the teams in Division I, it’s the last week of the season unless they win the conference tournament. For teams that won the regular season championship in the bottom feeder leagues, it’s that kick in the gut feeling that if you don’t win the tournament, your season is over. For teams that are sitting on the bubble, it’s prayers that the favorites in the mid-major leagues win their tournaments because if they don’t the NCAA might add a bid to what was going to be a one- or two-bid league. And, for teams that know they’re going to get in, there is that feeling that if you don’t do well at the conference tournament, you’re going to get an unfavorable seed and first round destination. It’s the desperation that creates the tension and drama, and the reason why I’ll be glued to my TV all week. There is a ripple effect of San Diego State’s loss to Utah State in the Mountain West Conference championship game. First, there is the possibility that the loss cost some mid-major league it’s second bid since most of the its second bid or doomed some bubble team to the NIT. Second, San Diego State might have lost a number one seed. In the NET rankings, San Diego State is still fourth, which would mean a number one seed, but Baylor and some others could bump the Aztecs down a line at their conference tournaments. Utah State winning its league also makes Florida’s loss to the Aggies look a little better for the tournament selection committee. I’m still trying to figure out how Duke (#6, 11-5 against quadrants one and two) and Louisville (#8, 10-7 against quadrants one and two) gets a higher NET ranking than Florida State (#10, 14-5 against quadrants one and two). FSU won the ACC regular season championship outright and should have beaten Duke at Cameron if the Blue Devils hadn’t gotten a little zebra magic late in the game. This is what John Calipari was talking about post game Florida when he said, “This team loses three of four (Duke did that) and your NET score stays the same. How does that work?” Liberty (30-4) punched its ticket to the big dance by clobbering Lipscomb in the finals of the Atlantic Sun Conference. Bradley (23-11) is a surprise winner of the Missouri Valley Conference, which means regular season champ Northern Iowa (23-6, #48 NET ranking) has to sweat. Winthrop (24-10) won the Big South Tournament. The West Coast Conference is going to get three teams in. Gonzaga (29-2, #2 NET ranking) figures to be a #1 seed in the West. BYU (24-7, #8 NET ranking) and Saint Mary’s (24-7, #31 NET) play tonight in the WCC semifinal. Regardless of the outcome, both teams will be in the NCAA Tournament. Based on what I’ve seen and not the NET rankings, I would give one seeds to Kansas, Gonzaga, Dayton and Florida State. On my two line I would have Baylor, Kentucky, San Diego State and Villanova. My three line would have Creighton, Louisville, Maryland and Michigan State. My four line would have Duke, BYU, Virginia and Auburn. My five teams nobody in their right mind wants to play: East Tennessee State, Utah State, Butler, UCLA and Houston. GOOD QUOTES FOR MONDAY Kentucky coach John Calipari on the national disrespect for Southeastern Conference basketball: “Can I tell you what bothers me? In other leagues, what do they call it? Parity. Oh my gosh. Road wins in this league are ridiculous. I mean, and I’m hearing all this, in our league, go play Mississippi State. Have fun. Go play Texas A&M and the job Buzz [Williams] is doing. You still have Auburn, you still have LSU, you still have Florida. I mean, we should be getting six and seven teams in [the NCAA Tournament].” From Andrew Baggerly of The Athletic, Barry Bonds dealing with his pariah status with Major League Baseball: “I feel like a ghost. A ghost in a big empty house just rattling around. A death sentence. That’s what they’ve given me. My hear, it’s broken. It’s really broken.” RANDOM THOUGHTS: There are reports the Dallas Cowboys will offer quarterback Dak Prescott a new contract worth $33 million a season with a total of $105 million in guaranteed money … The XFL had a major officiating blunder Saturday when officials ruled game over after the Houston Roughnecks QB took a knee. Unfortunately, there were two seconds remaining, time enough for Seattle to have a miracle finish. The XFL admitted the blunder afterwards. Of course, that does nothing to help the Seattle Dragons, who didn’t get a shot at tying the game … Former NFL exec Michael Lombardi, now of The Athletic, thinks Tom Brady to the San Francisco 49ers makes perfect sense. If I wagered on such things, I’d put money on Brady staying right where he is in New England.

BY BUDDY MARTIN He’s been flying under the radar for months, but sometimes without the plane. A short visit here or there -- in late February, giving the hand of daughter Gigi in marriage to Brian Pruett. If needed, a long flight to South Africa for Tim Tebow’s wedding. Or sailing on a ship, the lucrative money-raising Buckeye Cruise for Cancer. Most of all, the freedom to move about, even if sometimes just hanging out the new Sarasota home with Shelly and grandkids. Urban Meyer seems to be enjoying the ride without football. At least without coaching football. Sure, he misses the game, but he’s found a sweet spot with home cookin’, for real. And he absolutely loves his current gig -- doing Fox's new college football pregame show, Big Noon Kickoff. Which begs the question, Where In The World Is Urban going? Maybe nowhere. But more on that later. Meanwhile, Urban’s former graduate assistant at Notre Dame and offensive coordinator at Utah and Florida is getting more notice. Dan Mullen is 21-5 after two years at Florida and expected to improve substantially this season. Some experts are picking Mullen’s Gators to break through and contend for the SEC title -- and possibly a Final Four bid. The producers of Fox’s Big Noon Show, where Urban currently employed, asked each co-host to pick their “breakthrough team” in 2020. Urban’s’ choice was easy: The Florida Gators “I think they should be in the playoff,” Urban said of the 2020 Gators. “I think it’s time. Dan’s built a good program. But I spent six years at Florida. Georgia is a BIG game. Until you beat Georgia you can’t say a thing. And I think this is the year.” Which adds even more fuel to the fire for the Oct. 31 WLOCP in Jacksonville in what promises to be one of the most-discussed SEC games of the year starting with spring football. As for the Bulldogs, Meyer says: “Georgia has a good squad but it’s a transition year at quarterback (Jamie Newman) and with the offensive coordinator (Todd Monken). If Dan can keep that team healthy I think they’ll be there right at the end.” I agree about Georgia, given that its entire focus is going to be on Kirby Smart’s ability to create the new chemistry around the coaching staff and a new quarterback in time to compete at the highest level for the Bulldogs’ big game in Tuscaloosa Sept. 19. Like Urban said, “you gotta beat Georgia.” Keep in mind that Newman has never taken a snap in the SEC. Meanwhile Meyer continues dodging the questions regarding his future, those wanting to pin him down on his coaching future: Southern Cal? Cleveland Browns? He’s not doing any interviews on that subject. The Urban Meyer I spoke with for 45 minutes seemed calm, relaxed and in no hurry to make a life-changing professional decision. For the most part, he no longer talks publicly much about issues at Ohio State, although he keeps an office there and fund raises for OSU. About the only thing as polarizing as politics these days, when it comes to Florida football, is the name Urban Meyer. Some Gators still don’t embrace him and never forgive him for leaving, although he went to ESPN and not another school. And many people think they know the inside scoop on him, which they don’t. I’ve lost friends in arguments over Urban’s motivation for leaving Florida. As for Ohio State, the whole Zach Smith episode was probably mishandled, but Urban’s role in his was exaggerated. And a “blue ribbon panel” convened by Ohio State found no evidence that Urban knowingly contributed to any kind of coverup. In fact, I know one of the attorneys who worked on the case and he explained that some key information was not made available to everyone, including Meyer. That attorney is a good friend and I trust him. And yeah, I know about Aaron Hernandez, but I don’t agree with all those who contend Meyer was harboring a murderer. And frankly, I’m tired of litigating all of that. Go ahead – get your licks in now on the Urban health jokes. I know for a fact he’s been suffering painful headaches from the cyst on his brain. How this will impact his coaching future remains to be seen, but it doesn’t enhance it. I’ve given up on trying to convince anybody of anything about Urban Meyer. Personally, I consider him a friend who’s open and willing to share many of his thoughts, although we don’t always agree. So I tracked him down and was able to connect for one of the few interviews he’s doing in the off-season. The intention purpose was to catch up with one of college football’s greatest coaches on matters of life and trends in football. When I finally connected with him he was driving to Indianapolis for the NFL Combine to “support our players.” Once again Ohio State will feed the NFL a chunk of talent and his “guys” might go 1-2-3 in Las Vegas on April 23-25. Former Ohio State quarterback Joe Burrow, defensive end Chase Young and cornerback Jeff Okudah. “I’m and going there to support them,” said Meyer. Regarding Burrow’s future as a pro, Meyer said, “I think he’s and going to be great. He’s got all the intangibles of toughness and leadership.” While he was at OSU, Meyer and his coaches picked Dwayne Haskins as starter and then Justin Fields, the transfer from Georgia. “He was a multi-sport athlete who was a little behind in his development when Tom Herman found him. And then he broke his hand. But he graduated and decided to transfer, – and we supported his decision. We are still very close.” It’s that kind of streak fierce loyalty that may have become a liability. Urban should have probably stayed retired when he quit at Florida, but one reason he didn’t is that he remembered how many of his staff members would lose their jobs if he left. But It was a mistake to come back. A source told me that at Ohio State Meyer got caught up in trying to help Smith keep his marriage together and made some errors in judgement, but a blue-ribbon Ohio State panel found him not guilty of complicity with Smith. Smith was the grandson of Urban’s mentor Earl Bruce and whether that influenced the decision to give him a second chance is not own. Urban is a serial forgiver and he proudly admits to it. An example, but not applicable to the Smith case, was this comment: “I believe in helping people and whether that’s a second, third or fourth chance.” Meanwhile, all of that controversy seems to have cooled down and critics are starting to realize that the game may be about to lose one of its top coaches of all time. If I had to wager on it right now, I don’t think he’ll take either of those jobs, or any other for now. Based on several long of my conversations with Urban, I’ve got a strong hunch that he’s done with coaching. Plain and simple, he seems far too happy now. And he’s busily making up for lost time with Shelly and the family. Yeah I know it’s a cliché and some skeptics are poking fun at that, but it’s true. He truly does want to spend more time with his family. However, knowing Urban as I have over the years, however, it’s not altogether certain he’s done forever. Those competitive juices could still stir up the emotions and adrenaline could start flowing. But at age 55 and three national championships to his credit – plus more money than he will ever spend – it would be semi-stupid and borderline insane to test health risks. And as he has discovered before is his career, “it’s almost impossible to go back.” So the guessing game rolls on. “You think Urban’s and going to coach again?” I was asked recently by Steve Spurrier. “I don’t know,” I told the HBC, “but I don’t think so.” If not, then he will be ending an illustrious 17-year career as a head coach who posted the third highest winning percentage in CFB history (182-32 for .853) behind only Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy. His bowl teams went 12-3 and he was 27-3 in rivalry games. If he retires, it will be time to start considering his entry into Florida’s Ring of Honor – and maybe a statue. You gotta wonder how Gator fans will feel about that.

If you base what Kerry Blackshear Jr. has done this year due to some fairly unrealistic expectations prior to the start of the basketball season, then you’re disappointed. You expected more, maybe 20 points and 10 rebounds a game. You expected the Gators to be a top ten team all season that would challenge for the SEC and NCAA championships. If you bought the hype, then Blackshear’s 13.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per game are underwhelming and a reason the Gators are 19-11 (11-6 in SEC play) and on the eight or nine line for just about every reputable bracketologist. “He came in with this just crazy, crazy expectation that he’s going to be Shaquille O’Neal, I think, to the outside world,” Florida coach Mike White said prior to the Gators taking to the practice floor to tune up for Saturday’s encounter at the O-Dome with SEC regular season champ, 6th-ranked Kentucky (24-6, 14-3 SEC). “He’s had a great year.” Blackshear hasn’t been Shaq, especially if you look at things from a statistical standpoint, but what he does goes far beyond what you’ll see in the box scores. Without him, the Gators would be nowhere near where they are today, in a position to finish in sole possession of second place in the SEC regular season and a realistic chance to improve to the six or seven line in the NCAA brackets. White was asked Friday where he thought the Gators would be without Blackshear. “In a world of hurt,” he responded without a nano-second of hesitation. On a roster so fuzzy-faced that only eight teams in the entire country are younger, Blackshear has been a steadying force on and off the court. When the Gators take the court, White has 10 scholarship players available. Blackshear is a grad transfer from Virginia Tech and the old man on the team. Then there is Dontay Bassett, a fourth-year junior who is only now rounding into shape to provide a few minutes per game in what has been an injury plagued season. After that the Gators have three sophomores (Andrew Nembhard, Keyontae Johnson and Noah Locke) and five freshmen. (Scottie Lewis, Tre Mann, Omar Payne, Ques Glover and Jason Jitoboh). With a roster that young peaks and valleys are to be expected. The hope is that each peak will be a little bit higher and each valley not quite as low as the last one. Three or so weeks ago, the Gators were thought to be on the NCAA Tournament bubble and probably NIT-bound. Now they’re starting to play with much more toughness and consistency. Unquestionably, Blackshear has had plenty to do with the resurgence. He has games when he gets his points – he had 18 at Kentucky and 20 at Tennessee – but he’s also had games like the wins over LSU and Georgia that he didn’t have to score much to have an effective presence. Blackshear scored only eight points in each of those games, but he was so good on the defensive interior that the Gators were able to hold both LSU (66) and Georgia (54) to season-low totals. That’s not to say his offensive presence wasn’t felt. It’s just that he didn’t have to score to make it known. He only had one assist in the LSU game, but his passes out of double-teams in the low blocks were the start of passing sequences that led to open shots. There were only two assists against Georgia, but when Georgia double-teamed, it left open people and Blackshear found them. The second or third pass found open shooters. “Talk about playing through a guy, he catches the ball everywhere on the floor,” White said. “The more he touches it the better we are. Defensively, he’s been an anchor. “From a consistency, toughness, intelligence, focus standpoint, scouting report preparation standpoint he’s the guy on our team.” Although neither White nor Blackshear are hung up on stats, White is well aware that Blackshear’s numbers could be a lot better. “He’s been open a lot when he hasn’t gotten it,” White admitted. Why he doesn’t get it has everything to do with ball movement. For much of the season the Gators weren’t one of the better passing teams in the SEC, but that has gotten better in recent weeks and that does have a lot to do with Blackshear. Johnson, in particular, has benefitted from Blackshear attracting so much attention down in the low blocks. When Johnson sees opponents trying to double up on Blackshear, he tries to find open space or cut to the basket, knowing he might get the ball back in a good scoring position. The good ball movement out of the post helps account for Johnson’s improvement as a scorer (team-leading 14.1 per game). If Johnson makes All-SEC – highly likely – it will have plenty to do with Blackshear’s presence on the floor. “When teams try to fire into the post and I cut back door he’s a great passer, so he helps look for other teammates,” Johnson said. “He’s pass-first and he thinks about scoring second so I feel like that helps me and then he spaces the floor for us and hits wide-open shots when we need him to.” If the Gators turn the tables on Kentucky Saturday – the Gators lost to UK at Rupp, 65-59, a couple of weeks ago – they will have the double-bye at the SEC Tournament, which means they don’t play until the quarter-finals on Friday. Whether it’s as SEC champs or simply one of the four teams that earn the double-bye, the Gators are poised for a good run in March. They’ve been playing their best basketball of the season the last several games, particularly obvious in the defensive stats. Even the two games UF lost – roadies at Kentucky and Tennessee – the Gators played well enough defensively to win the game (UK scored 65, UT scored 63). Blackshear knows that if the Gators do their part defensively, they should have a good chance to pull off the win that will ensure at least a tie for second. For one thing, UF always shoots better in the friendly confines of the O-Dome, but for the Gators to play well and have a chance to win Saturday, it will start with defense that Blackshear knows can be even better than what the team has shown the last three weeks. . “I think we’re just building toward getting better,” he said. “I think that’s been the focus. Even in the games where we’ve come out pretty solid on defense, we realize there are a lot of plays we could get back so we could be even better. If we can maintain that mindset, I think we’ll keep getting better on defense. When our defense is better, I think the offense is better as well.” White appreciates the selfless attitude of his big guy and knows the Gators are prepped for a good finish to the season in the tournaments thanks to his play. “He’s helped this team, put us in a position where we’re pretty competitive,” White said. “We’ve got a chance to finish strong. If he doesn’t come to Florida, it could’ve been a tough year.”

WHERE THE ATHLETIC RATES DAN MULLEN Stewart Mandel and Bruce Feldman of The Athletic each offered their rating of the top 25 coaches in all of college football. I’ll give you their lists before I chime in, particularly on where they rate Dan Mullen. Stewart Mandel’s 25 Best Coaches 1A. Nick Saban, Alabama; 1B. Dabo Swinney, Clemson; 3. Ed Orgeron, LSU; 4, Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma; 5. Kirby Smart, Georgia; 6. Brian Kelly, Notre Dame; 7. James Franklin, Penn State; 8. DAN MULLEN, FLORIDA; 9. Paul Chryst, Wisconsin; 10. Bill Clark, UAB; 11. Kyle Whittingham, Utah; 12. P.J. Fleck, Minnesota; 13. Mario Cristobal, Oregon; 14. Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M; 15. Ken Niumatalolo, Navy; 16. Mark Stoops, Kentucky; 17. Jeff Monken, Army; 18. Scott Satterfield, Louisville; 19. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa; 20. Mike Leach, Mississippi State; 21. David Shaw, Stanford; 22. Bryan Harsin, Boise State; 23. Mike Norvell, Florida State; 24. Luke Fickell, Cincinnati; 25. Matt Campbell, Iowa State. Bruce Feldman’s 25 Best Coaches 1. Nick Saban, Alabama; 2. Dabo Swinney, Clemson; 3. James Franklin, Penn State; 4. Ed Orgeron, LSU; 5. Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma; 6. Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M; 7. Kirby Smart, Georgia; 8. Brian Kelly, Notre Dame; 9. Kyle Whittingham, Utah; 10. Scott Satterfield, Louisville; 11. Gary Patterson, TCU; 12. Mike Leach, Mississippi State; 13. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa; 14. DAN MULLEN, FLORIDA; 15. P.J. Fleck, Minnesota; 16. Matt Campbell, Iowa State; 17. David Shaw, Stanford; 18. Jim Harbaugh, Michigan; 19. Paul Chryst, Wisconsin; 20. Lance Leipold, Buffalo; 21. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State; 22. Ken Niumatalolo, Navy; 23. Chip Kelly, UCLA; 24. Mario Cristobal, Oregon; 25. Mike Norvell, Florida State. Okay, I’ll start with Mullen. What he did at Mississippi State is phenomenal. What he’s done to resurrect Florida in just two years is even more phenomenal. I don’t think either of these guys have a clue just how bad a course Jim McElwain had the Gators on once the NFL defense Will Muschamp left behind either graduated or left for the pros. I think Mandel having him at eight isn’t that far off, but I would rate him better than Brian Kelly and James Franklin. I don’t think Kirby is the fifth best coach in college football. What LSU did to Georgia in 2018 and then in 2019 in the SEC Championship Game should have proven that. Jimbo Fisher has a national championship to his credit and he’s got the Aggies extremely close to becoming a serious threat to Alabama and LSU in the SEC West. Seriously? Bryan Harsin is ranked behind Mario Cristobal, Scott Satterfield and David Shaw? As for Bruce Feldman, he lost me at James Franklin ranked third. Then he put Scott Satterfield and Gary Patterson ahead of Dan Mullen. Good coaches, but better than Mullen? He does have Jimbo at sixth which is close to where he should be. Chip Kelly at 23? Oh please. Maybe eight years ago. A CHANCE TO FINISH ALL ALONE IN SECOND PLACE Two or three weeks ago the Florida Gators (19-11, 11-6 SEC) finishing all alone in second place in the SEC seemed a bit preposterous yet after Wednesday night, it’s entirely possible. Should the Gators beat 6th-ranked Kentucky (24-6, 14-3 SEC) Saturday afternoon and both LSU and Auburn lose, the Gators finish the regular season all alone in second. If Florida, LSU and Auburn all win, it’s a three-way tie for second. From a practical standpoint, Florida needs to finish among the top four in the regular season standings to get the double-bye at next week’s SEC Tournament. With a win Saturday, the Gators are assured of not playing until next Friday’s quarter-finals in Nashville. The Gators can lose to Kentucky and still finish in the top four in the league but they will have to have help from Ole Miss for that to happen since Mississippi State owns the tiebreaker over UF. Ole Miss, which already owns a 25-point win over Mississippi State in Oxford, can ensure the Gators get the double bye with a win in Starkville Saturday. Now, if you are into chaos, then consider this: If Florida, Auburn, LSU and Mississippi State all lose Saturday and South Carolina wins,  then there will be a five-way tie for second place. Here’s my take on the weekend: I like Florida to beat Kentucky at the O-Dome. I think LSU beats Georgia in Baton Rouge. I like Tennessee to beat Auburn in Knoxville and Ole Miss to beat Mississippi State in Starkville. If that happens the Gators will finish in a tie for second with LSU and they’ll have a two-day bye. Auburn will finish in fourth. Duruji honored: Louisiana Tech transfer Anthony Duruji, who is sitting out this season due to NCAA transfer rules, was honored as a member of the SEC Community Service Team. Even though he can’t play, he’s endeared himself to the community with his active participation in several programs including volunteering at a domestic violence shelter. SEC BASKETBALL Saturday’s games #6 Kentucky (24-6, 14-3 SEC) at FLORIDA (19-11, 11-6 SEC), CBS #17 Auburn (24-6, 11-6 SEC) at Tennessee (17-13, 9-8 SEC), ESPN2 South Carolina (18-12, 10-7 SEC) at Vanderbilt (10-20, 2-15 SEC), SEC Network Georgia (15-15, 5-12 SEC) at LSU (20-10, 11-6 SEC), ESPN2 Alabama (16-14, 8-9 SEC) at Missouri (14-16, 6-11 SEC), SEC Network Arkansas (19-11, 7-10 SEC) at Texas A&M (15-14, 9-8 SEC), SEC Network Ole Miss (15-15, 6-11 SEC) at Mississippi State (19-11, 10-7 SEC), SEC Network TOP-RANKED GATORS HOST USF AT MCKETHAN This will be the final weekend before Florida’s baseball schedule amps up considerably. With 11th-ranked FSU on the schedule Tuesday night in Gainesville and 4th-ranked Georgia coming to town for the opening SEC series next Friday, South Florida (5-7) provides a last chance to really tune up. The Gators, who have a team ERA of 2.45, will go with their usual weekend rotation of Tommy Mace (2-0, 2.25 ERA), Jack Leftwich (1-0, 4.20 ERA) and Hunter Barco (2-0, 1.35 ERA) against a USF team that sports a team batting average of .197. The Gators are hitting .291 as a team with 15 home runs. Jacob Young leads the Gators with a .447 batting average and a 14-game hitting streak while Jud Fabian is hitting .321 with five homers and 13 RBI. As a team, the South Florida pitching staff has a 4.40 ERA although the Bulls’ pitching staff averages 12.4 strikeouts per nine innings. Other UF sports: Led by Trinity Thomas, who has been named SEC Gymnast of the Week six straight times, the 2nd-ranked gymnastics team takes its high wire act to #25 Penn State Saturday afternoon … Florida’s 8th-ranked softball team (18-4) opens SEC play this weekend when Auburn (14-8) comes to Gainesville for a three-game set starting tonight at 6 p.m. … The season came to an end for the Florida women’s basketball team as they dropped a 73-59 decision to LSU at the SEC Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina. The Gators finished the season 15-16 … The 6th-ranked men’s tennis team (14-2) will face #44 LSU in Baton Rouge today and 12th-ranked Texas A&M in College Station on Sunday … The 4th-ranked Gators hope to rebound from a midweek lacrosse loss to Dartmouth when they host High Point on Saturday … Florida’s 38th-ranked women’s tennis team (5-2) is at home this weekend with 25th-ranked LSU today and #36 Texas A&M on Sunday … Freshman Ricky Castillo was named the Ben Hogan Golfer of the Month after taking the individual championships at the Sea Best Invirtational and the VyStar Gators Invitational. A MIND IS A TERRIBLE THING TO BASTE: FRIDAY EDITION (1) I’m still trying to figure out what Kansas thinks it will gain by challenging the NCAA’s Notice of Allegations on its basketball team. In a response to the NOA on Thursday, Kansas stated, “In this case, stemming from federal criminal trials in 2018, there are several facts that are in dispute, there are assumptions made; and, perhaps more importantly, there are unprecedented and novel theories put forward …” The NCAA allegations are based on evidence gathered by wiretap and testimony under oath in federal court. Alabama football tried disputing evidence that was part of a federal court trial in 2001 and the only thing accomplished was the NCAA came down even harder. (2) Everywhere I turned on Thursday there was more talk about Tom Brady’s pending free agency. On one network, it was speculated that as many as eight NFL teams are ready to break the bank to bring in Brady. However true that might be, the only thing I am convinced is happening is Brady shopping to figure out his net worth before giving New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft a number that Kraft will almost certainly match. (3) The three players I’m going to follow closely this Major League Baseball season are Pete Alonso of the New York Mets, Gerit Cole of the New York Yankees and Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Atlanta Braves. If whoever hits behind Pete in the Mets lineup can hit with any measure of power, Pete will see enough good pitches to hit more than 40 homers and 50 isn’t out of the question. Cole gives the Yankees the ace they’ve needed. Acuna hit 41 homers and stole 37 bases last year as a 21-year-old. I wonder what he’s going to do when he grows up. GOOD QUOTES FOR FRIDAY LSU coach Ed Orgeron at a pre-spring practice press conference addressing moving on from last year’s glory to a great year in 2020: “I made a vow to myself that I’m going to work harder this year, more attention to the detail. And people need to see that from their leader. The culture we’ve built is fantastic, but we need to keep that standard up. I do believe it would be a fault to keep on talking about last year. We have to turn the page. This is a new team.” Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated on the very distinct possibility that two teams from non-power conferences could wind up as #1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament: “If the Aztecs of the Mountain West and the Zags of the West Coast Conference both nail down NCAA tourney No.1 seeds – which seems increasingly likely as other challengers fall by the wayside – it would be virtually unprecedented. The last time two teams from outside the putative power conferences were top in the same tournament was 1979, the first year seeding was publicly announced and even then it’s a murky designation. The teams were Indiana State of the Missouri Valley Conference (which definitely applies) and then-independent Notre Dame, but that was at a time when independents were both plentiful and powerful. “San Diego State and Gonzaga are not alone within their leagues, either. Utah State is on the bubble for an at-large bit, which would give the Mountain West a second bid for the third straight season. Gonzaga will lead at least three West Coast Conference teams into the Big Dance – BYU and Saint Mary’s are the other two definites – something the league hasn’t had since 2012.” RANDOM THOUGHTS: Former Gator Matt Every shot a 65 Thursday to take a 1-shot lead over world #1 Rory McIlroy after the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. Former Gator Billy Horschel is tied for 45th at even par 72 while Brian Gay is tied for 60th, a shot back at 73 … Michael Irvin II is leaving Miami as a grad transfer. Unlike his famous dad, Irvin never had much of a UM career with just 11 catches for 111 yards in three years … San Diego State (29-1) took another step toward a #1 seed by winning its Mountain West Conference quarter-final game with Air Force, 73-60. National player of the year candidate Malachi Flynn had 16 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and three steals to lead the Aztecs.

GATORS HAVE A REAL SHOT AT SECOND PLACE IN THE SEC After a wild and wacky Wednesday night that began with Florida rallying from 13 down in the first half to take out Georgia, 68-54, the Gators (19-11, 11-6 SEC) find themselves tied with LSU and Auburn for second place in the Southeastern Conference. Should the Gators beat Kentucky Saturday – entirely possible since it’s at the O-Dome – they could actually finish the regular season in sole possession of second place. Now that would take a little help from some of the Gators’ SEC brethren, but the Gators got more than they could have hoped for Wednesday night when Auburn went down in flames at home against Texas A&M and LSU lost a shootout to Arkansas in Fayette Nam. So here’s your Saturday scenario: Florida has to beat Kentucky while Auburn loses to surging Tennessee in Knoxville and LSU tanks against Georgia in Baton Rouge. Maybe not the most probable of scenarios but certainly well within the realm of possibility. Florida should have beaten Kentucky at Rupp 11 days ago. Tennessee just beat Kentucky at Rupp so beating Auburn in Knoxville is far less daunting even if Bruce Pearl wants more than anything to whack the school that once fired him back in the town he used to own. Since defense is considered optional at LSU, Georgia could actually win that game if Anthony Edwards goes into a shooter’s coma. And that brings us to how Florida got into this position in the first place. For the first 13 minutes, the Gators were offensively challenged but after Georgia hit its first seven shots, the UF defense kicked in, particularly on Anthony Edwards. When Edwards couldn’t get it going, Georgia’s offense died a slow death. After a 7-7 start from the field, Georgia made only 5-19 the rest of the way. As for the Gators, they couldn’t hit a three if life depended on it in the first half (0-10) but they dominated in the paint and got 16 first half points off turnovers. From a 19-6 deficit, Florida trailed just 30-28 at the break. Once the second half began, Florida started finding the range from the three-point line (7-13) and the defense continued to convert Georgia turnovers into points. Florida took the lead for good at 47-46 on a pair of Andrew Nembhard free throws and never looked back. Keyontae Johnson led the Gators with 18 points, 11 rebounds and three steals, while Noah Locke hit 3-6 on his three-pointers to finish with 17. In addition to scoring 11, Scottie Lewis smothered Edwards, helping to hold the hotshot freshman to 14 points, seven below his scoring average. SEC BASKETBALL Wednesday’s scores FLORIDA (19-11, 11-6 SEC) 68, Georgia (15-15, 5-12 SEC) 54 Texas A&M (15-14, 9-8 SEC) 78, #17 Auburn (24-6, 11-6 SEC) 75 Arkansas (19-11, 7-10 SEC) 99, LSU (20-10, 11-6 SEC) 90 Ole Miss (15-15, 6-11 SEC) 75, Missouri (14-16, 6-11 SEC) 67 Saturday’s games #6 Kentucky (24-6, 14-3 SEC) at FLORIDA (19-11, 11-6 SEC), CBS #17 Auburn (24-6, 11-6 SEC) at Tennessee (17-13, 9-8 SEC), ESPN2 South Carolina (18-12, 10-7 SEC) at Vanderbilt (10-20, 2-15 SEC), SEC Network Georgia (15-15, 5-12 SEC) at LSU (20-10, 11-6 SEC), ESPN2 Alabama (16-14, 8-9 SEC) at Missouri (14-16, 6-11 SEC), SEC Network Arkansas (19-11, 7-10 SEC) at Texas A&M (15-14, 9-8 SEC), SEC Network Ole Miss (15-15, 6-11 SEC) at Mississippi State (19-11, 10-7 SEC), SEC Network GATORS IMPROVE TO 13-0 WITH SHUTOUT OF FAMU The Gators extended their school record start to 13-0 Wednesday night with a 5-0 win over Florida A&M at McKethan Stadium. The Gators got a brilliant start from freshman Tyler Nesbitt, who gave up one hit and struck out eight in four innings to get his first collegiate win. Justin Alintoff (one hit two strikeouts in two innings), Brandon Sproat (no hits, three strikeouts in two innings) and Ryan Carbarcas (one inning, two strikeouts) preserved Florida’s second shutout of the season. Jordan Butler was the offensive star with a run-scoring double in the second and two-run homer (first of the season) to right field in the fifth. Freshman Nathan Hickey had a solo homer in the fifth and freshman Josh Rivera had a run-scoring single. Right fielder Jacob Young extended his hitting streak to 14 games (two last year, 12 this year) with a second inning double. That raised his batting average to .447. Next up for the Gators is a three-game series at McKethan Stadium with South Florida starting Friday night. Other UF Sports: After giving up a first inning solo home run, Natalie Lugo settled in and allowed only three more hits the rest of the way as Florida’s 7th-ranked softball team improved to 18-4 with a 3-1 win over Florida Gulf Coast at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. Lugo (7-2, 1.80 ERA) walked one and struck out seven. A two-run homer by freshman Baylee Goddard in the bottom of the fifth broke a 1-1 tie to give the Gators the win. Florida opens the SEC portion of its schedule Saturday at home against Auburn (14-8) … The Gators will be represented at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships by 16 athletes, nine men and seven women. The Florida men have finished third or higher in 20 of the last 21 track and field championships including 10 of the last 11 indoors. Under Mike Holloway, the Gators have won nine national championships. The Gator men are ranked 6th nationally, the women 13th … Florida’s women’s basketball team (15-14) will face LSU (19-9) in second round play at the SEC Women’s Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina this evening … Freshman golfer Ricky Castillo has been chosen to the Arnold Palmer Cup team that will face the Europeans in a Ryder Cup-like format in Ireland in July. THINKING OUT LOUD ON THURSDAY (1) In Dane Brugar’s three-round mock NFL Draft for The Athletic, C.J. Henderson goes #17 in the first round to the Dallas Cowboys. Based on what C.J. did at the Combine and with Pro Day coming up on the UF campus, he could definitely end up being a top ten selection. Brugar has three Gators going in the third round: Jonathan Greenard going at #72 overall to the Arizona Cardinals, Jabari Zuniga going at #85 to the Philadelphia Eagles and Van Jefferson going at #96 to the Kansas City Chiefs. Brugar has 15 SEC players going in the first round including Joe Burrow of LSU at #1 to the Cincinnati Bengals and Tua Tagovailoa of Alabama at #6 to the Los Angeles Chargers. There are six from Alabama and four from LSU in the first round. With nine second rounders and 10 third rounders, Brugar has 34 from the SEC among the first 96 picks. (2) Memphis basketball is already in deepest and darkest but now things took an even worse turn. The basketball program will be the first to be investigated by the NCAA under its new Independent Accountability Resolution Process. The IARP gives the independent agency broad powers of investigation. They will be investigating James Wiseman, the 7-1 center who departed Memphis rather than serve a 12-game suspension. At the heart of the matter is the $11,500 that Memphis coach Penny Hardaway spent when he was a high school coach to move Wiseman into his school district. By the way, Wiseman’s high school team lost in the Tennessee state championship game last spring to Knoxville Bearden. MVP of the championship game was Florida’s Ques Glover. (3) ESPN rated the top 100 prospects in Major League Baseball. Listed at #20 is former Gator lefty A.J. Puk, who is listed at 6-4, 230, which means he’s shrunk three inches and added about 30 pounds since he was a Gator. Puk got called up late season last year by the Oakland A’s. Listed at #94 is former Gator third baseman Jonathan India, who made it up to AA last year in the Cincinnati Reds organization. (4) There isn’t a day that goes by without some new rumor about Tom Brady and where he will play football next year. One day he’s turned off by the Patriots and likely to sign somewhere other than New England. The next day he’s probably staying. For the life of me, I just can’t see him playing for anyone other than Bill Belichick and the Patriots. I believe the Patriots will do their best to load up the roster with the kind of players that could give Brady a championship swan song. (5) Andy Staples of The Athletic suggests that if the Big 12 is thinking to expand, it could raid the Pac-12 for Southern California, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, Washington and Oregon. He makes a good case for more money luring those schools, which collect a $31.3 million from the Pac-12 while Big 12 schools are getting around $36 million plus they can sell their third tier rights individually (Texas $15 million from the Longhorn Network; Oklahoma $7 million). What has always made the most sense to me is making Notre Dame join a conference and then have eight 12-team conferences for football. Not only would it set up the perfect playoff scenario but would probably make a lot more money. GOOD QUOTES FOR THURSDAY From Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated on Florida’s Scottie Lewis, who he ranks the #55 prospect for the NBA: “It’s certainly possible Lewis returns to school after a so-so freshman season, and it will likely depend on how much interest in him remains as a late first/early second round type. He’s a terrific defensive prospect and solid athlete, but needs to get strong and become a more consistent threat on offense. But the bright spots have been few and far between, and Lewis’s college-readiness was overstated by the rankings and overly lofty preseason projections (including on this board). If he comes out, he’ll need minutes in the G-League to start working himself into a more complete player, but the athleticism and tools are still an intriguing bet. But it’s hard to make an extremely compelling case, other than the general lack of wings in this draft.” From Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated on Keyontae Johnson, who he ranks as the #63 prospect: Johnson’s game is a bit unorthodox as an undersized four-man, but he’s highly effective in this role each of the last two seasons, and has some potential to help blend lineups at the NBA level eventually. He’s not squarely on the radar for this year’s draft, but will be of interest if he tests the waters as a well-rounded, versatile, and low maintenance frontcourt piece. Defensively, he’s rock solid, with good strength and length to compensate for the height factor and a good nose for the ball as a rebounder. He takes good shots and has been highly efficient with his opportunities around the basket. As long as Johnson shoots the three well enough long-term, he should have a pathway to contributing off someone’s bench.” RANDOM THOUGHTS: Stephen Curry will return to the Golden State Warriors on Thursday. He’s missed 58 games after breaking his hand in the preseason … Former Gator Matt Elam, once a first round draft pick in the NFL, was cut by the winless DC Defenders of the XFL Tuesday. Elam had 12 tackles in the Defenders loss to the Tampa Bay Vipers on Sunday … Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers is expected to sign a seven-year extension to his contract which will guarantee him $215 million over the next nine years ... The Arnold Palmer Invitational tees off at Bay Hill today minus Tiger Woods, who has won the tournament eight times ... The Senior Bowl is moving from decrepit Ladd Stadium in Mobile to the brand new Hancock Whitney Stadium on the campus of the University of South Alabama starting next January.

WHICH UF TEAM WILL SHOW UP TONIGHT? The big question heading into tonight’s game with Georgia (15-14, 5-11 SEC) at Stegman Coliseum, is which Florida (18-11, 10-6 SEC) team is going to show up? Will it be the one that fell behind 22 points behind Georgia in Gainesville? Or will it be the one that played with such incredible intensity at both ends of the floor in the final 14 minutes to pull out a rather miraculous win? Will it be the team that couldn’t find the ocean from the end of the pier in a loss in Lexington? Or will it be the one that played perhaps the best game of the season at both ends of the floor to knock off LSU, 82-66? Will it be the team that scored only 17 first half points at Tennessee this past Saturday night? Or the one that battled from 15 down at the half to almost pull out a win over the Vols? The Florida team that locks in defensively and makes shots can beat any team on the schedule and probably a bunch of teams that are going to be seeded one through eight in the NCAA Tournament. The Florida team that has these terrible lapses, especially at the offensive end, can lose to anyone, particularly to a Georgia team that has one four of its last five games, the only loss in overtime to South Carolina. “I think the biggest contributing factor to our runs and our poor phases and our electric phases are the emotions of our team,” Florida coach Mike White said Tuesday before the Gators departed for Athens.” This team, again, we can be an immature, emotional team and sometimes we can play with a really high level of confidence and sometimes, for whatever reason, we just go through these lulls. We can’t have that to have success in Athens.” Against Tennessee, the Gators had one of those couldn’t find the ocean from the end of the pier first halves. Considering their lack of ball movement, poor shot selection, careless turnovers and the complete lack of emotion, the Gators were fortunate to only be down by 15 at the half. Yet, they came back and made a game of it. The Gators can’t afford to simply make a game of it tonight. Due to a rather strange Tuesday evening in which South Carolina beat Mississippi State to even both teams up at 10-7 in SEC play and Tennessee’s shocking 81-73 win over Kentucky in Rupp, Florida can’t afford a loss. Mississippi State has a winnable game in Starkville against Ole Miss Saturday and the Bulldogs own the tiebreaker over UF when it comes to getting that two-day bye at the SEC Tournament. If the Gators were to lose to Georgia and Kentucky this week, they would be tied at 10-8 with Tennessee and the Vols own the tiebreaker over UF. A split of the two games this week would make for a dicey situation in which UF would have to have help from Ole Miss to get the two-day bye in Nashville. Of course, if the Gators go 2-0, they can end all doubt. They’re certainly capable of 2-0 but only if the team that can play so well decides to show up and play 40 minutes in both games. SEC BASKETBALL Tuesday’s scores South Carolina (18-12, 10-7 SEC) 83, Mississippi State (18-11, 10-7 SEC) 71 Vanderbilt (10-20, 2-15 SEC) 87, Alabama (16-14, 8-9 SEC) 79 Tennessee (17-13, 9-8 SEC) 81, #6 Kentucky (24-6, 14-3 SEC) 73 Wednesday’s games FLORIDA (18-11, 10-6 SEC) at Georgia (15-14, 5-11 SEC), ESPNU Texas A&M (14-14, 8-8 SEC) at #17 Auburn (24-5, 11-5 SEC), ESPN2 LSU (20-9, 11-5 SEC) at Arkansas (18-11, 6-10 SEC), SEC Network Missouri (14-15, 6-10 SEC) at Ole Miss (14-15, 5-11 SEC), SEC Network #1 GATORS TAKE DOWN FAU, 7-3, FOR BEST START IN UF HISTORY The Gators took a 5-3 lead in the top of the third inning Tuesday night in West Palm Beach and went on to take out Florida Atlantic, 7-3, for their 12th consecutive win to start the season, a new school record. Tied at 3-3, the Gators got an RBI single from Cory Acton and an RBI groundout from Kris Armstrong to take the lead. After that, it was all about Florida’s pitching. David Leuthje, who came on in relief in the bottom of the second, gave the Gators 2-2/3 innings of 2-hit, shutout ball. That was followed by 3-1/3 innings of 2-hit, shutout ball from Christian Scott. Ben Specht came on the pitch the ninth to finish off the Owls. The Gators got a pair of insurance runs in the eighth on an RBI groundout by Austin Langworthy and an FAU error. The top-ranked Gators return home to face FAMU tonight at 6 p.m. Other Florida sports: Despite losing two of three to Louisiana-Lafayette last weekend, the Gators (17-4) only dropped one spot to seventh in the USA Today Coaches poll … The up and down season for the Florida lacrosse team continued Tuesday. The 5th-ranked Gators dropped a 13-9 decision to Dartmouth on the road … The Florida men’s golf team finished fourth in a 15-team field at the Southern Highlands Collegiate Wednesday. Southern Cal won the event with a 3-under par 861 team score. The Gators were nine shots off the pace ... The 7th-ranked Florida softball team (17-4) will try to shake off two weekend losses to Louisiana-Lafayette tonight (6 p.m.) when they play host to Florida Gulf Coast at Katie Seashole Pressley Stadium. THINGS THAT MAKE ME GO HMMM ON WEDNESDAY (1) Golfers on the European PGA Tour got their feelings hurt by Paul Azinger, who dared to say that wins on the PGA Tour in the US are far more difficult to come by than those on the Euro tour. Azinger pointed to Lee Westwood, noting that Westwood has 44 career tournament wins worldwide but only two on the tour in the US. After the outrage, Zinger defended himself in comments made to Golfweek, stating that pro golfers “choke for two things: cash and prestige and the PGA Tour has both.” While I agree with Zinger for the most part, I can’t help but wonder why the Euros so often whack the US in the Ryder Cup. (2) The story of Scott Cochran leaving Alabama for an on-the-field coaching position at Georgia just took a real turn for the bizarre. Cochran never played college football nor held down any kind of coaching position other than strength and conditioning, so it’s rather strange that Georgia would hire him to be its special teams coordinator. Now it gets really juicy. Cochran is taking a $45,000 pay cut to be on the Georgia staff. Bama was paying him $595,000. And, since we’re on the subject of former members of Nick Saban’s coaching staff, Dan Enos, who spent a year coaching quarterbacks at Alabama before taking the offensive coordinator job at Miami (he was fired after one year), is the new running backs coach at Cincinnati. (3) Sawyer Smith is the #1 quarterback as Kentucky starts spring football. Terry Wilson is still rehabbing from last year’s season-ending knee injury and Auburn transfer Joey Gatewood is practicing but has yet to receive a waiver from the NCAA that will make him eligible for 2020. (4) Kansas will make public its response to the NCAA, which has charged basketball program with major violations including a lack of institutional control. Back in September, after receiving its Notice of Allegations from the NCAA, Kansas stated that it “emphatically rejects” that Adidas representatives were considered boosters and agents by the NCAA and disagreed with the institutional control charges. A date with the Committee on Infractions is expected during the summer. It might be October or November before the NCAA issues a final ruling. GOOD QUOTES FOR WEDNESDAY Paul Finebaum on WJOX pointed a long, bony finger (verbally) at Alabama defensive coordinator Pete Golding and offers insight to the hire of Charlie Strong as an analyst: “Pete Golding is the worst defensive coordinator Nick Saban has had at Alabama. That’s not really debatable. Kevin Steele, Kirby Smart, Jeremy Pruitt and I don’t even consider Tosh Lupoi the defensive coordinator because he really never finished the season calling the plays. Make sure I’m heard correctly. Tosh Lupoi is the worst in name, but Pete’s the worst in terms of someone that came back the next year and I don’t really understand it. “I think Saban was so insistent on not making a change that he maybe went against his better judgment. He wants Pete Golding to be a great defensive coordinator and I’m not sure that’s going to be the ticket at Alabama. That’s probably one reason why he brought Charlie Strong on. The combination of Tosh Lupoi and Pete Golding as defensive coordinators at Alabama is really embarrassing, quite frankly, for a program like Alabama.” From Vic Tafur of The Athletic on the impressive showing by quarterback Jalen Hurts at the NFL Combine: “The Oklahoma quarterback not only threw very well at his scouting combine workout at Indianapolis that night, but he also had one of the fastest sprints at his position. That capped off five days in which league sources say he nailed team interviews and went from being a projected fourth-round pick to likely going in the second round.” RANDOM THOUGHTS: This is rather interesting. Ole Miss hired Matt Lindsey to run the day-to-day operations of its football program along with player personnel, recruiting, performance analytics and academic progress. Lindsey’s title is general manager. I’m not sure there is another college football program with a general manager … Former Michigan linebacker and captain Joe Bolden has joined the Ohio State staff as a defensive quality control analyst …Laremy Tunsil, formerly of Columbia County High School before he was involved in all sorts of shenanigans that helped put Ole Miss on probation, has fired his agent and is demanding a new contract worth $19-20 million per season from the Houston Texans …With 25 straight wins and a Great Northeast Athletic Conference championship, the University of St. Joseph’s (CT) is in the NCAA Division III Tournament. St. Joseph’s is coached by 77-year-old Jim Calhoun, the same Jim Calhoun who won three NCAA championships in Division I at UConn … Winner of this week’s gotta play hurt award has to go to former Kentucky HBC Hal Mumme, who’s Bobby Stoops’ offensive coordinator with the Dallas Renegades of the XFL. Mumme suffered a broken leg in a sideline collision midway through the first quarter of the Renegades loss to the Houston Roughnecks. Mumme never left the sideline, which means he coached the last 2-1/2 quarters in a world of hurt while calling plays … The Philadelphia 76ers are reportedly trying to trade Al Horford for some outside shooting. Horford is in the first year of a 4-year contract with the Sixers of which $69.1 million is guaranteed. That’s nice work if you can get it.

THINKING OUT LOUD ABOUT THE UF FOOTBALL COACHING STAFF Do you ever grow weary of the complaints about Dan Mullen’s choice of assistant coaches? Every time a recruit signs or commits somewhere else, it’s so simple to blame an assistant and question Mullen’s sanity or reasoning for keeping said assistant on the staff. Maybe I’m a bit of a simpleton, but I tend to trust Mullen’s judgment on matters of coaching and support staff. I’ve been writing about college football for more than 50 years and I’ve had opportunity to have some close relationships with head coaches and members of their staffs. What I’ve learned is that the good head coaches tend to strike a balance when it comes to their assistants and it’s not always about being the best recruiter or on the field coach. A couple of examples. The FSU dynasty began gasping for air when Jim Gladden retired and Chucky Amato became the HBC at North Carolina State. Gladden wasn’t a great on the field coach nor was he a decent recruiter but he was like Father Confessor for kids with problems and a second dad for quite a few of the kids who grew up in single parent homes. Amato was a so-so on the field coach and only a slightly better than average recruiter, but he was a force in the locker room. Bobby Bowden never recovered from losing them on his staff. Another example. Zach Azzani became the replacement for Billy Gonzales in 2010. When the hotshot freshmen basically revolted in August because they didn’t like being called pansies by Mike Pouncey, Maurice Hurt and some of the players who understood the hard work and sacrifice it took to be great, Urban sent Azzani to bring them to practice. Bad decision. Azzani was too young at the time to handle it and a trend was set that UF never recovered from that year. That would not have happened with Billy Gonzales nor would it have happened if Meyer had the same coaching staff he won the national championship with in 2008. My point is this: Maybe you don’t like the way some of the UF coaches recruit and maybe you think we’re losing recruits because they think they can get coached up better at another school. In some respect you may have a valid point, but are you at the Florida practice field or in the locker room to see how the coaches interact with players and what their functions are? Do you have a clue what the big picture is and the way Mullen wants everything to come together? Do you know how Mullen balances his staff with recruiting, coaching and the off-the-field stuff that we never see or are privy to? I try to look at the big picture and what I see is a head coach with a cohesive staff that has completely restructured the Florida program in two years. In spite of an inherited roster with gaping holes at critical positions, Mullen has transformed the Gators into one that’s built for the long haul. Now he’s got the momentum of consecutive seasons with 10 or more wins, consecutive top ten finishes in the final poll and two New Years Six bowl wins. Considering the state of the program and roster he inherited, what Mullen has done is quite remarkable. I’ll add one more thing. Adding Tim Brewster to the staff was huge beyond the obvious reason that he’s a great recruiter. He’s an outstanding position coach for a potential Mackey Award winner in Kyle Pitts, but most important, he fits in with what Mullen is building here at Florida. We only see the obvious reasons why the Brewster hire was important. I can guarantee you Mullen had reasons for hiring Brewster that went well beyond the obvious. GATORS IN GOOD SHAPE IN BASKETBALL’S MOST IMPORTANT POLL At this time of year, the rankings to pay attention to aren’t the ones found in the Associated Press or Coaches polls, nor are they found in the RPI rankings. The Gators are unranked in the AP and Coaches polls and realtimerpi.com has UF at #40 with a #23 nationally strength of schedule. The rankings the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee is paying attention to are its NET Rankings, which factor in overall record and strength of schedule plus how well teams fared in home, road and neutral site games. Additionally, the NCAA has divided the nation’s schools into four quadrants. Quadrant one wins are worth four points with quadrant one losses minus one. Quadrant two wins are worth three with losses minus two. Quadrant three wins are worth two with losses minus three and quadrant four wins worth one and losses minus four. Heading into the final week of the regular season the Gators (18-11, 10-6 SEC) have a #33 NET Ranking. The Gators are 4-8 against quadrant one teams, 4-3 against quadrant two and 10-0 against quadrants three and four. Translation, while Florida might not have an abundance of quad one and two wins, there are no bad (quad three and four) losses and that counts for something. Because of the expanded field, 68 teams will be playing in the NCAA Tournament. There are 36 automatic bids to conference champs which means there will be 32 at-large selections. With that in mind, Florida should be solidly in the NCAA field although they can’t take anything for granted. Beating Georgia on the road and Kentucky at home this week would certainly enhance UF’s NET Ranking but a 1-1 record would likely leave the Gators in the exact same position they’re in now. The NET rankings have a top four of Kansas, Gonzaga, Dayton and San Diego State. Here is how the SEC teams rank: (14) Kentucky; (27) Auburn; (32) LSU; (33) FLORIDA; (42) Alabama; (47) Arkansas; (52) Mississippi State; (65) South Carolina; (69) Tennessee; (83) Georgia; (92) Missouri; (93) Ole Miss; (124) Texas A&M; (169) Vanderbilt. SEC BASKETBALL Tuesday’s games Mississippi State (19-10, 10-6 SEC) at South Carolina (17-12, 9-7 SEC), SEC Network Vanderbilt (9-20, 1-15 SEC) at Alabama (16-13, 8-8 SEC), SEC Network Tennessee (16-13, 8-8 SEC) at #6 Kentucky (24-5, 14-2 SEC), ESPN Wednesday’s games FLORIDA (18-11, 10-6 SEC) at Georgia (15-14, 5-11 SEC), ESPNU Texas A&M (14-14, 8-8 SEC) at #17 Auburn (24-5, 11-5 SEC), ESPN2 LSU (20-9, 11-5 SEC) at Arkansas (18-11, 6-10 SEC), SEC Network Missouri (14-15, 6-10 SEC) at Ole Miss (14-15, 5-11 SEC), SEC Network GATORS CAN BREAK BASEBALL RECORD TONIGHT With a win tonight against Florida Atlantic (7-3) at FITTEAM Ballpark of The Palm Beaches (7 p.m.), the Gators (11-0) can take sole possession of the best start in school history. Ranked #1 nationally in the Baseball America, D1Baseball.com, NCBWA and USA Today Coaches polls, the Gators tied the school record of 11 straight to start the season Sunday when they finished off their sweep of Troy, 7-1. As of Monday afternoon, Kevin O’Sullivan hadn’t yet named a starter to go against FAU. This might be a good place to get lefty Jordan Butler (0-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 2-1/3 innings of relief) a start or some innings for David Leuthje (1-0, 7.50 ERA in six innings of work). FAMU comes to Gainesville Wednesday night so it’s likely O’Sullivan goes with one of the freshmen such as Brandon Sproat (0.00 ERA in two innings of work). Florida Atlantic began its season with eight straight wins but lost to Texas Tech and twice to Florida State over the weekend. Other sports: The Gators remain a fraction of a point behind top-ranked Oklahoma (197.898-197.747) in the latest gymnastics poll. Florida is undefeated this season and has won all its meets in blowout fashion, the latest a thrashing of Georgia in Athens. Trinity Thomas ranks 1st nationally in all-around, 2nd in floor exercise and 3rd on the balance beam. As a team, the Gators rank 3rd on the vault, 5th on the bars, 1st on the balance beam and 2nd on floor exercise … In lacrosse, the Gators moved up three spots to #5 after beating then #2 Stony Brook … Florida’s men’s tennis team is ranked #6 nationally … The Florida men are ranked #22 in the latest Golfweek poll … The Florida women are #10 in the Golfweek poll. TUESDAY TRIVIALITIES (1) The New York Post reports that before signing Tony Romo to a new contract valued at more than $18 million per year, CBS offered Peyton Manning a contract worth $10-12 million. Manning wouldn’t make a decision right away and with free agency looming for Romo, CBS reacted quickly to sign Romo to a big deal, knowing that ABC/ESPN was coming in with an offer of 10 years at $14 million per year. Expect ABC/ESPN to make a huge play for Manning but to get him they’ll have to offer Romo money. (2) Georgia Tech has elected to drop its appeal of NCAA postseason sanctions. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why. The Yellow Jackets are 15-14 and they’re not going to make the NCAA Tournament anyway. Georgia Tech is still appealing the loss of a scholarship in each of the next four years and a ban of official visits during home games the next two years. The real question for Georgia Tech is how long before AD Todd Stansbury pulls the plug on HBC Josh Pastner, who’s about as sleazy as it gets? (3) A federal judge in South Carolina has ruled against Adidas and others in its efforts to dismiss a lawsuit brought on by former Louisville signee and South Carolina redshirt freshman Brian Bowen II. Bowen never played an NCAA game because an FBI investigation found evidence that Adidas and others came up with a scheme to pay Bowen’s dad $100,000 to have him sign with Louisville. Bowen’s lawsuit claims that Adidas and other shady characters violated the RICO statutes by engaging in bribery, fraud and money laundering. Bowen played a year in Australia and now averages 15.6 points per game in the G-League on a two-way contract with the Indiana Pacers. GOOD QUOTES FOR TUESDAY From Andrew Marchand of the New York Post on Tony Romo’s new contract with CBS, which pays more than $18 million per year: “Romo’s average of $18 million per year is higher than the average salary of the NFL’s 32 starting quarterbacks this past season, which comes in at $16.3 million. This includes signal-callers such as Ben Roethlisberger and Cam Newton, who missed significant time due to injuries but are the clear starters for their teams.” From Josh Bean of Al.com, Alabama wide receiver Henry Ruggs III was not satisfied with his performance at the NFL Combine in spite of running a 4.27 time in the 40: “I did okay. I could have done better. I’ve still got things to prove before the draft.” RANDOM THOUGHTS: When the New York Knicks schedule a March 21 celebration of the 50thanniversary of their 1969-70 championship team, they didn’t invite Marv Albert, who was the radio voice of the team in those days. How petty of the Knicks … Although he’s only played 15 games, Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans is making a case for NBA Rookie of the Year. He’s averaging 24.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game and has 20 or more points in nine of his last 10 games. Right now, the favorite to take home the honor is Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies, averaging 17.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game ... A mistrial was declared in the trial of Christopher Hawkins, accused of breaking North Carolina’s sports agent laws back in 2010 when he allegedly provided cash to three UNC football players.

IT’S BEEN A SEASON OF TOO MANY CLOSE CALL LOSSES With two games remaining in the regular season, the Florida Gators are 18-11 overall, 10-6 in SEC play, certainly not what was expected when the season began back in November. Mind-numbing is the fact the Gators could easily be sitting at 24-5 with a 14-2 SEC record that would be tied with Kentucky for the SEC lead. Instead of battling for a 7-9 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Gators would be sitting no worse than the two or three line for every reputable bracketologist. Saturday’s 63-58 loss to Tennessee in Knoxville was Florida’s sixth of the season by seven or fewer points. The losses to UConn and Utah State (by three each), LSU (by two), Mississippi State (by seven), Kentucky (by six) and Tennessee were all winnable games. In each of these six losses, you can look back to a couple of missed shots or a defensive lapse toward the end of the game and know that the Gators were really so close. The Tennessee loss was a tale of two halves. Was it Tennessee’s defense was just that good in the first half or a case of complete lack of execution by the Gators? I’m not trying to take anything away from Tennessee’s effort because the Vols played with real purpose on the defensive end, but the Gators looked like a lost ball in the tall weeds in the final 10 minutes of the opening half. In the second half, Florida looked like a completely different team. The ball moved, there were good shots to be had – and made – and there was real effort defensively. Had the Gators played with that same intensity in the first half, they would have walked away with a win. Most of the people who do basketball brackets for a living have the Gators solidly in the NCAA field. A bad loss Tuesday night at Georgia followed by a blowout at home against Kentucky next Saturday and then a bad showing in the SEC Tournament in Nashville could very well change that, but for now, at least, figure they’re in. The question is do the Gators want to ease their way into the tournament or do they want to go in with muscles flexed, ready to take on the world and win? The Georgia and Kentucky games are winnable, but then so were so many others. To win them both, Florida can’t have another game like the one Saturday in which Keyontae Johnson, Andrew Nembhard and Scottie Lewis combined for 12 points. In the win over LSU earlier in the week, the three of them combined to score 60. Now, Tennessee is a far superior defensive team than LSU, but still, you don’t expect a 48-point dropoff from one game to the next. Florida played good enough defense to win the Tennessee game, but they played well enough defensively to win the UConn, Utah State and Kentucky games, too. The problem in each of those losses is they missed way too many shots. There is a fine line between being a pretty good team and one that could be something special. The special teams make shots in the tough, grind it out games. It’s not too late for the Gators to be something special, but they can’t have another game like Tennessee or any of those other five close call losses if they’re going to make people forget what might have been. SEC BASKETBALL Tuesday’s games Mississippi State (19-10, 10-6 SEC) at South Carolina (17-12, 9-7 SEC), SEC Network Vanderbilt (9-20, 1-15 SEC) at Alabama (16-13, 8-8), SEC Network Tennessee (16-13, 8-8 SEC) at #8 Kentucky (24-5, 14-2 SEC), ESPN Wednesday’s Games FLORIDA (18-11, 10-6 SEC) at Georgia (15-14, 5-11 SEC), ESPNU Texas A&M (14-14, 8-8 SEC) at #15 Auburn (24-5, 11-5 SEC), ESPN2 LSU (20-9, 11-5 SEC) at Arkansas (18-11, 6-10 SEC), SEC Network Missouri (14-15, 6-10) at Ole Miss (14-15, 5-11 SEC), SEC Network SURE IT’S EARLY BUT UF’S 11-0 START IS IMPRESSIVE The real grind, which is the SEC portion of the schedule, doesn’t begin for a couple more weekends, but still, Florida’s 11-0 start to the 2020 baseball season is impressive. Only twice in school history – 1989 and 2002 – have the Gators started a season 11-0. Already this team has shown the ability to win in extra innings (three straight in extras, Jacksonville and the first two last weekend at Miami) and come from behind (had to do that both Friday and Saturday nights against Troy). The pitching, so far, is much better and more consistent than it was last season and Kevin O’Sullivan indeed has more good hitters than he has places in his lineup. In taking out Troy three straight, the Gators rallied from down 2-0 in the seventh to take a 3-2 Friday night win, scored six in the seventh inning Saturday for a 10-7 win, and then got just the right amount of hitting to back up excellent pitching Sunday afternoon to complete the sweep. In Sunday’s win, freshman lefty Hunter Barco gave up four hits and one run while striking out nine in five innings. He got insurance in the eighth when Jud Fabian hit his second homer in as many days (fifth of the season), a three-run blast that cleared the bleachers in left field. The sweep of Troy, which hits like a team that will make the NCAA Tournament in May, will keep the Gators ranked #1 nationally in the Baseball America, D1Baseball.com and NCBWA polls for another week. Next up for the Gators is a Tuesday night game against Florida Atlantic in West Palm Beach. The next home game is Wednesday night against FAMU. COMBINE WARRIORS C.J. Henderson had a good showing in Indianapolis with a 4.39 in the 40 and 20 reps on the bench press. He measured 6-1, 204. Barring something drastic, he’s a solid first rounder. Jabari Zuniga definitely helped himself. Measuring 6-3, 264, he ran a 4.64 40 with 29 bench reps and a 10-7 standing broad jump. Jonathan Greenard put up good but not great numbers. He ran a 4.87 40 and had 22 bench reps with a good 4.34 time in the 20-yard shuttle run. Lamical Perine didn’t do anything to hurt his draft chances, but something faster than a 4.62 40 could have moved him up to day two. MONDAY MEANDERINGS South Carolina (the state, not the university) has elected Steve Spurrier to its Football Hall of Fame Class of 2020. Spurrier is not only the winningest coach in both University of Florida and University of South Carolina history, but he’s also the last coach to win an Atlantic Coast Conference championship at Duke. In knocking off Auburn, 73-67, to win the 49th Southeastern Conference basketball championship in school history, Kentucky’s Immanuel Quickley scored 18 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, further cementing him as the favorite to win SEC Player of the Year. David Ballou is leaving Indiana to become Nick Saban’s strength and conditioning director at Alabama. Ballou was once the head strength guy at IMG Academy before leaving to work for Matt Balis at Notre Dame. Perhaps the announcement of Ballou (please inject sarcasm here) was what caused Bama DB Scooby Carter to announce he’s put his name in the transfer portal. Again. He did it last fall, then announced he had come back to the team. Now he’s transferring out again. Make up your mind! At the LSU ceremony in which the jersey of Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (formerly Chris Jackson), Shaquille O’Neal said in a video message, “You are undoubtedly the greatest player ever to play at LSU. I appreciate you showing me how to be great.” LSU landed two 4-star basketball recruits: point guard Eric Gaines (6-3, 170, Lithonia, GA) and center Jerrell Colbert (6-9, San Antonio, TX Cornerstone Christian Academy). They’re just the latest additions to a most impressive recruiting class for Will Wade. I have to wonder if this recruiting class gets squirrelly when the NCAA sends out what is expected to be a blistering Notice of Allegations in the next two months. Beware of Virginia when you start piecing together your NCAA Tournament brackets. The Cavaliers have won their last seven games including a 52-50 win over Duke Saturday night. Virginia leads the country in scoring defense (52.7 points per game) and ranks second nationally in defensive efficiency. In the win over Duke, center Jay Huff blocked 10 shots to go with 19 points and nine rebounds. His block of Duke star Vernon Carey Jr. in the last seconds was the most important defensive play of the game. Vanderbilt isn’t going to name a new athletic director until after new chancellor Daniel Diermeier takes office July 1. There will be a lot of pressure for him to take the interim tag off Candice Storey Lee but whoever is hired needs to motivate the well-heeled boosters to pony up the cash to bring Vandy into the 21st century when it comes to facilities. As much as they want to blame the high academic standards for the lack of championships, that doesn’t seem to stop Stanford and Duke, both of whom have invested heavily into facilities, coaches and athletic budgets. What Vandy gets from the SEC ($45 million plus) dwarfs what Stanford and Duke (both around $30 million) receive from their conferences. GOOD QUOTES FOR MONDAY Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated on baseball’s fight to reclaim the game from the technocrats: “Baseball is in a fight to reclaim its soul. The soul of the game must be found in its aspirational value: players of all sizes playing a simple kids’ game. The conceit we’d like to keep is that this is our game writ slightly bigger. “Baseball lost its soul under a growing technocracy. Brutish efficiency and cold, inarguable algorithms guide searches for the smallest of advantages. To be abundantly clear, the Astros are not evidence that this embrace of information and technology is wrong. It’s provided much good for the game, especially as a training tool. The Astros are the warning shot of what happens when it goes too far.” From Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com, Southern Cal athletic director Mike Bohn on the possibility of leaving the Pac-12 to go independent: “The answer is no. Why should we do that? We’ve got 21 sports here. You know the drill. There would be no way for us to do that. Now, that being said if the unexpected happened and NBC said, ‘Hey, we want to partner you guys with Notre Dame’ … then that’s different.” From Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com, Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz on his recruiting philosophy: “I don’t think you have to do it the way the rest of the SEC does it. Ole Miss is going to try to do it the way they’ve always done it, right? You don’t have to do that at Mizzou.” RANDOM THOUGHTS: CBS extended Tony Romo’s contract and gave him a raise to $17 million. That’s nice work if you can get it … The rules committee has sent a proposal to the NCAA that would limit instant replays to two minutes … The first game in SoFi Stadium, which will be the home of the NFL Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers, will be the LA Bowl, which will be played in December 2020 … Okay, did anyone watch an XFL game on TV this weekend?

Have the Gators finally found their identity? THOUGHTS OF THE DAY: FEBRUARY 28, 2020 It is entirely possible that the Florida team everybody was hoping for back in November is about to show up in a very big way. With three SEC games remaining in the regular season, the Gators are 18-10 overall, 10-5 in SEC play, and closing in on a top four finish in league play that will ensure a double-bye in the SEC Tournament. Getting to this point has been a matter of patience for Mike White, who has had to see the ninth-youngest team in all of college basketball go through a series of growing pains and soul searching to find an identity that it can call its very own. There surely have been times when White has had to bite his tongue rather than read the Gators the riot act. When you’re dealing with so many kids and new faces not to mention injuries, sometimes you just have to strike a balance and let them figure some things out for themselves. But, after going through all the paces of wondering which team was going to show up on which night, White and the Gators might have arrived at that point in the season when all the coaching up, all the tough love, all the hard lessons and all the sweet talk has paid off. In the last five games, the Gators have gone 4-1 while giving up just 63.4 points per game. The one loss – 65-59 to Kentucky – was actually well played defensively. In all but the Kentucky game, the Gators have shown what they’re capable of doing at the offensive end, averaging 79 points in the four wins while shooting 52.3% overall from the field and 46.8% on three-pointers. When you shoot like that you win a lot of games. To earn the double-bye, which means you don’t play until the third day of the SEC Tournament, the Gators have to stay one game ahead of both Mississippi State and South Carolina, both with 9-6 league records. The Gators close with Tennessee in Knoxville Saturday, Georgia in Athens on Tuesday and Kentucky at home a week from Saturday. Mississippi State finishes with roadies to Missouri and South Carolina, finishing up at home with Ole Miss. South Carolina’s home game with Mississippi State is sandwiched between roadies at Alabama and Vanderbilt. Florida will be favored to win in Knoxville and Athens with the Senior Day finale against Kentucky likely to be a toss-up. Should the Gators play with the same defensive intensity they’ve shown in the last five games and avoid an offensive breakdown like the one against Kentucky at Rupp, they could go 3-0 down the stretch. Do that and Florida is a team nobody wants to play in March. SEC BASKETBALL Saturday’s games FLORIDA (18-10, 10-5 SEC) at Tennessee (15-13, 7-8 SEC), ESPN2 Texas A&M (14-13, 8-7 SEC) at LSU (19-9, 10-5 SEC), ESPN2 Vanderbilt (9-19, 1-14 SEC) at Ole Miss (13-15, 4-11 SEC), SEC Network Mississippi State (18-10, 9-6 SEC) at Missouri (14-14, 6-9 SEC), SEC Network #15 Auburn (24-4, 11-4 SEC) at #8 Kentucky (23-5, 13-2 SEC), CBS Arkansas (18-10, 6-9 SEC) at Georgia (14-14, 4-11 SEC), SEC Network South Carolina (17-11, 9-6 SEC) at Alabama (15-13, 7-8 SEC), SEC Network COMBINE WARRIORS Former Florida wide receivers Tyrie Cleveland (6-2, 209) and Freddie Swain helped themselves. Cleveland turned in a 4.46 time in the 40 to go with a 39.5-inch vertical jump and a 126-inch standing broad jump. Swain also ran a 4.46 to go with a 36.5-inch vertical and a 124-inch standing broad jump. Both of them looked fluid running their routes and catching the football. They will both get drafted and make an NFL roster next year, if for no other reason, they can play special teams quite well. Van Jefferson’s physical showed a stress fracture in his foot, but it won’t have much of an effect on him because he spent a week under the NFL microscope at Senior Bowl practices. He should be a solid third round guy. The jury is definitely out on former Georgia QB Jake Fromm. Forget the small hands (8-7/8 inches). Patrick Mahomes has small hands, too, and he throws it pretty well. It’s the 5.01 40-yard dash time, slowest among all quarterbacks who ran at the combine that hurt him. He looked good throwing the back shoulder fade but his long ball seemed to hang up awhile. Jalen Hurts, formerly of Alabama and Oklahoma, might have helped his draft stock better than any of quarterbacks in Indianapolis. He ran well (4.59) which was expected and had a 35-inch vertical. He threw the ball well, both long and short routes. Maybe he’s not a first round guy but given some time to adapt and in the right offense, he could spend a long time in the league. Former Alabama wide receiver Henry Ruggs III didn’t break the all-time 40 record (4.22), which some thought he would do. He ran 4.27 and it was obvious he thought he should have done better. WHERE ARE THEY NOW Here is where the non-NBA Gators are playing professionally: Chris Chiozza: He’s on a two-way contract with the Brooklyn Nets, which allows him to play in the G-League at $77,250 and get a pro-rated NBA salary for every day he’s in the league. Averaging 12 points, 4.7 rebounds and 6.4 assists with the Long Island Nets. Devin Robinson: He is an affiliate player with Raptors905 in the G-League, averaging 17.5 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. He makes $69,000 on an affiliate contract. Michael Frazier: He’s currently on the Houston Rockets NBA roster but he’s on a two-way contract with the G-League. In G-League play with the Rio Grande Vibers he’s averaging 16.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Jalen Hudson: He is averaging 13.7 points and 3.7 rebounds with the Capital City Go-Go in the G-League. John Egbunu: He is averaging 11.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots per game with the Long Island Nets in the G-League. Canyon Barry: He is averaging 7.5 points and 2.2 rebounds with the Iowa Wolves in the G-League. KeVaughn Allen: Listen on the roster of the Rio Grande Vipers in the G-League but there are no stats. Kevarrius Hayes: Averaging 9.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.6 blocked shots for Cantu in the Italian League. Vernon Macklin: He’s in the US due to the coronavirus outbreak in Asia. When he gets the all-clear he will either rejoin a team in Korea or a new team in China. Nick Calathes: Perennial all-star selection with Panathinaikos in the Greek League where he averages 13.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 9.4 assists per game. Erving Walker: Playing with Zamalek in the Egyptian League. No stats available. Kenny Boynton: Everything is on hold due to corona virus. On the Qingdao roster in the China CBA. Scottie Wilbekin: Averaging 13.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game for Maccabi-Tel Aviv in the Israeli League. Wil Yeguete: Averages 7.4 points and 6.1 rebounds per game for Monaco in the French League. Erik Murphy: Rehabbing an injury in the US. Played last year in the Spanish League. Kasey Hill: Averaging 17.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game for Bremerhaven in the German Pro A League. Casey Prather: Averaging 9.3 points and 3.3 rebounds for Melbourne United in the Australian Basketball League. Chris Walker: Averaging 6.3 points and 6.0 rebounds for Rilski in the Bulgarian League. Alex Murphy: Averages 11.3 points and 3.4 rebounds for Delteco San Sebastian in the Spanish League. Mike Rosario: Averages 13.7 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists for Quebradillas in the Puerto Rican League. Alex Tyus: Averages 16.1 points and 6.5 rebounds for Unics Kazan in the Russian League. Kenny Kadji: Averages 10.4 points and 4.3 rebounds for Movistar Estudiantes Madrid in the Spanish League. Nimrod Tishman: Averages 3.2 points and 1.1 rebounds for Maccabi-Rishon Le Zion in the Israeli League. Walter Hodge: Plays for Al Wehda Mecca in the Saudi Arabian League. No stats available. David Huertas: Averages 18.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists for Arecibo in the Puerto Rican League. James White: Averaging 2.8 points and 1.5 rebounds for Acea Virtus Roma in the Italian League. Mohamed Abukar: Averaging 14.3 points and 5.3 rebounds for Keravnos Strovolou in the Cypress League. A FEW BASKETBALL OBSERVATIONS If I had to pick 10 guys for All-SEC I would go with: Immanuel Quickley (Kentucky); Anthony Edwards (Georgia); Mason Jones (Arkansas); Keyontae Johnson (Florida); Reggie Perry (Mississippi State); Skylar Mays (LSU); Nick Richards (Kentucky); Isaac Okoro (Auburn); Breein Tyree (Ole Miss); and Andrew Nembhard (Florida). If I had to pick 10 guys for All-America I would go with: Obi Toppin (Dayton); Filip Petrusev (Gonzaga); Devin Dotson (Kansas); Udoka Azubuike (Kansas); Malachi Flynn (San Diego State); Jared Butler (Baylor); Markus Howard (Marquette); Jordan Nwora (Louisville); Anthony Cowan Jr. (Maryland); and Luka Garza (Iowa). If you’re from one of the power conferences, here are three teams you absolutely, positively don’t want to meet in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. (1) East Tennessee State; (2) Stephen F. Austin; (3) Northern Iowa. East Tennessee gave Kansas all it could handle at The Phog and beat LSU by 11 in Baton Rouge. They absolutely swarm defensively. Stephen F. Austin beat Duke at Cameron. They shoot well on bad days, lights out when they get it going. Northern Iowa lost by five to West Virginia and beat South Carolina. The Panthers can grind it or run with you and they really get after teams defensively. Must see TV this weekend: #15 Auburn at Kentucky; #7 Duke at Virginia; #24 Michigan State at #4 Maryland; Saint Mary’s at #3 Gonzaga; and Arizona at UCLA. GOOD QUOTES FOR FRIDAY And old quote from the late, great Marvin Jerome “Bad News” Barnes when he was identified by his name on his letterman’s jacket while trying to rob a bus in his home town of Providence, Rhode Island: “I ain’t me; I’m somebody else.” From Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated, Baylor coach Scott Drew seems to have more joy coaching basketball than anyone on the planet: “His entire coaching life, Drew has sold hope like it’s a miracle drug. He’s sold it like a true believer, trying to convert the masses into believing in Baylor. He is so over-the-top positive that it’s seen as a negative by some. Is he real or is he a fake? He comes across as the Mr. Rogers of college basketball, and Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood is not the college hoops neighborhood. It is considerably less neighborly. It is a cutthroat, cynical neighborhood that is at odds with Drew’s public countenance.” RANDOM THOUGHTS: Billy Donovan has the Oklahoma City Thunder moving on up in the NBA Western Division playoff standings. The Thunder have won five in a row, eight of their last ten and are 37-22, now a game-and-a-half behind the fourth place Houston Rockets. Since their 6-11 start, the Thunder are 31-11 … Former Gator Bradley Beal is now tied for second in the NBA in scoring at 30.1 points per game … Some Members of Congress in Washington have sent a letter to the Baseball Hall of Fame advocating that Curt Flood be elected by the Golden Days committee in December. Flood challenged baseball’s reserve clause in 1969, a move that led to free agency in 1976 … Penn State gave James Franklin a new six-year deal worth $34.7 million with incentives that could add another $3.5 million … Nick Saban has interviewed Kansas State strength and conditioning director Chris Dawson, who has worked with 39 players who made it in the NFL in his 11 years on the job … Georgia D-lineman Devonte Wyatt was arrested on charges of criminal trespassing, damage to property and family violence. Wyatt (6-3, 301) had 30 tackles and 14 QB hurries last year … Tennessee athletic director Phillip Fulmer thinks a new transfer rule should include completion of 30 hours of academic work before an athlete should be allowed to transfer one time without sitting out. I don’t always agree with Phattus Maximus, but on this I think he’s got a point. Of course, if he wears a hat, no one will notice.

Ron Coleman sat by himself, silently eating his food, hoping to just get through the meal quickly without any trouble. Typically he would join his Florida track and field teammates in the athletic dining hall, but he was by himself this particular night, in what felt like more ways than one. It was 1968 and as the first African American athlete to attend University of Florida, Coleman knew he was an outlier, the subject of protest and debate, an isolated soul on a campus of thousands. He had the support of his head coach, Jimmy Carnes, who Coleman calls a Civil Rights pioneer in his own right in part due to his assertion that Coleman would be on his team as a scholarship athlete and compete no matter what. As such, his teammates had become his close friends. But still, there was discourse around the school over Coleman’s presence and it wasn’t a secret. That extended to the athletic program with a very vocal few. So on that night, Coleman kept his head down and focused on finishing his meal alone and getting out of the dining hall. From across the room, he saw someone rise and come his way. The large football player walked up behind Coleman, towering over the track star, and asked him ‘what’s wrong with you?’ “And my first thought was ‘oh boy. My dad told me I was gonna have to deal with this, this is the moment,’” Coleman recalls for GatorBait. "So I slowly turned around, I was about to stand up and I started looking up, looking up, looking up and looking up and I kept looking up and looking up and I’m like ‘this is gonna hurt real bad. This guy’s gonna kill me.’” Coleman gives a huge laugh when thinking about the moment now, thinking back on the young boy he was at the time with his life flashing before his eyes. “And lo and behold the guy said to me, ‘can I sit with you?’” That memory still makes him gasp, the sheer magnitude of what that simple act meant in 1968, and the risk that football player took as well in order to make Coleman feel welcome. “From that day forward things in the athletic side of the house, literally changed as far as being accepted in that group of athletes, that training table environment, that Yon Hall athletic-academic environment. That literally made a difference.” The player? Jack Youngblood. “That still gets me to this very day.” That act by Youngblood helped, but when Coleman was first weighing whether or not to come to the University of Florida, he and his family knew there would be trepidatious moments and were well aware what his stepping on campus meant as the first black athlete. The program, led by athletic director Ray Graves, had a freshly minted Heisman trophy winner and subsequent attention. Now they were preparing to integrate the athletic teams. Ron Coleman and his family were the bearer’s of hate around that movement. “A part of that awareness was because of the hatred that was spewed prior to my arrival. Right around the time that it was mentioned…but a part of that hatred or that learning about the experience of being the very first came from all of those hate filled diatribes you could say. ‘Dear N—r’ kind of letters. ‘You will never ever get to Gainesville. Don’t come out on your front porch. You’ll die tonight,' etc. etc. And so yea we were aware.” At 18 years old, Ron felt invincible. Nothing was going to happen to him and as someone who had participated in Civil Rights movements—sit-ins, march’s and what-not—he felt prepared. But still, his dad was understandably worried. “My father was very, very cautious and pretty soon he was adamant that I NOT accept the scholarship, that I NOT attend the University of Florida because of all of those threats on my life and all the hate that was spewed in our direction.” Yet hailing from a family of educators, attending college was important to Coleman and eventually his mother and relatives were able to convince his father it would be ok. Some of his worries were realized early on as Coleman’s arrival was met with protests from everyone from fans in Ocala and Gainesville to legislatures and those leaning on the University president to keep Ron out. “The atmosphere was a bit racial charged and a part of that was that there were only I think around 300 total black students on the campus at that time, 1968, September of 1968 and we were constantly arraigned as it were. And not by all of the students by any means. But those few that wanted to do that, openly did it.” Coleman recalls the time now with a lightness and humor, knowing he got the last laugh. Six SEC Championships in indoor and outdoor track and field, he became All-SEC while excelling in the triple and long jump. He went on to serve in the U.S. Navy as a carrier based naval aviator. After 23 years, he retired and started his own human resources management company. Now he continues to dabble in that, picking and choosing his jobs, waiting for the day he and his wife move to Ocala and into the home they’ve built for their retirement. In 2004 he was inducted into the University of Florida Hall of Fame as a distinguished letter winner. And his willingness to be the first led to so many others. In December of 1968, a few short months after Coleman arrived on campus, Willie Jackson Sr. signed to play football with Ray Graves and the Gators. He was joined by Leonard George of Tampa. A few years later in 1973, Don Gaffney joined the squad as the Gators first black quarterback. Willie Jackson’s son—Willie Jackson Jr.—eventually played for Steve Spurrier’s Gators near the close of the century. Related: Former Gators Willie Jackson Sr. and Leonard George Get Special Honor Jackson and George were honored at the 2019 Auburn-Florida football game, commending them on the 50th anniversary of their admittance to the Florida Gators Football team and for their contributions. Jackson told FloridaGators writer Scott Carter of the day, “It's time, with all the notoriety that the school is getting and the players are getting. They forget about the ones who got it started, the ones who were there before them. It's just a forgotten thing and it's good to be recognized.” Coleman respectively points towards others that deserve credit, like Carnes. “Some of those early days when we would travel in the southeast—that was a bit intimidating in itself; because of the name calling. But, but what really mattered was the performance on the track. And another thing that really helped was having Coach Jimmy Carnes—Jimmy Carnes was our track coach and he never once let the crowd intimidate any of his performers much less me, his one and only black athlete.” He brags on Johnnie Brown, a cross country runner who Carnes brought in to room with Coleman and who has become a lifelong friend. "Johnnie and I were roommates. Johnnie was a non-scholarship athlete who ran cross-country. He eventually got a partial scholarship but his legacy at UF is that despite the fact that I was the first black athlete there, Johnnie was the first black athlete to compete at the University of Florida because he ran cross country and as you know cross country season starts before indoor season or outdoor season and so he definitely has that distinction.” And his voice raises with pride when looking at those who have come behind him like Florida and USA head coach Mike “Mouse” Holloway and superstar hurdler Grant Holloway. “I had no idea it would reach these heights. Mouse as the Olympic coach, wow, the Olympic team coach, that’s just the height of success in track and field right there. And Grant Holloway, oh my goodness. Every time I see him, he literally, ‘Mr. Coleman! It’s Mr. Coleman. It’s the famous world-‘ he goes on and on,” laughs Coleman. So much of what Florida Track and Field has become, for all athletes but particularly black athletes, is owed to what Ron Coleman did just over 50 years ago. He humbly defers praise for what he deems a change that just happened to include him. “That paving as it were could have been done by anyone, any black athlete. It just so happened that Ron Coleman was the person who came along at that time and that’s the legacy.” With all due respect to Mr. Coleman, legacies are rarely coincidental but almost always circumstantial. Change was wrought at the University of Florida due to the right person at the right time. Just ask those that strive to carry on that legacy…a legacy they credit to Ron Coleman. Grant Holloway is in the midst of preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, where he will be defending his recent world title in the 110m hurdles. But he quickly returns a phone call. “I heard you were doing a story on Ron Coleman,” he begins. And that deserves his time. “Ron Coleman was a phenomenal athlete especially here at the University of Florida. I think what really comes to mind is someone that started the tradition for Florida Track and Field and started the tradition of blood, sweat and tears and working hard and doing certain things to fulfill certain dreams. “For my story, everybody believes it was just me but they always forget about the Christian Taylors, the Will Claye’s, the Marquis Dendy’s, Kerron Clements—the list could go on and on and on but they forget that Ron really started it all off for us to follow that Florida track and field tradition.” The two met at a Boosters event (over the years Ron has served as Gator Boosters president, and on the UAA Board of Directors, F-Club Committee and UF Alumni Association Board of Directors) when Holloway was a freshman. They talked for close to half an hour and the young hurdler came away with what he describes as one of his good friends to this day. And he came away with a greater understanding of how his life was changed decades ago by Ron Coleman. “Without his courage and without his strength to stand up I don’t think there would have ever been multiple black athletes on Florida’s track and field program. Ron kinda started that, he was kinda like the line leader, that’s what I like to say. So far now, I would call myself, I mean I’m in the middle of the line cause years from now there’s gonna more and more, other phenomenal black athletes. Ron kinda just started it off. All the people I named before, they’re all African American as well. I’m just another one that came to a great program and a great coach.” The titles would suggest Grant Holloway is more than just “another one” but his point stands. And it’s reinforced by head coach Mike Holloway. He’s preparing his team for the SEC Tournament. But yet again, the name Ron Coleman makes this men stop whatever they’re doing. “He’s an outstanding human being, a class act. Ever since I met him years and years ago, he’s always been a big supporter of me and what I’ve been trying to do with my career. When you think of him, he’s a trailblazer. He set the tone for what African American athletes could do here a long time ago. But you know, Ron, he doesn’t talk about that a lot. Whenever I talk to Ron all he talks to me about is me, my family, what he can do to support the program. He’s not a guy that pats himself on the back for that. He’s just a guy that wants to help other people. “I think it definitely needed to be somebody with his demeanor, somebody with his attitude not just towards athletics but towards life, life in general. That’s classic Ron, ‘it just happened to be me.’ But—it took a special person to endure some of the things I’m sure he went through back then and it set the table for everybody else.” Ron Coleman set the table by being willing to set at a table by himself. It didn’t take long for his courage and bravery, his steadfast spirit during a tumultuous time to lead others to join him.