Florida Gators senior tennis player Lauren Embree was named the 2013 ITA National Senior Player of the Year on Tuesday.

Just the third player in school history to receive the honor (Nicole Arendt in 1991, Jessica Lehnhoff in 2002), Embree is the reigning 2012 ITA/Rivera Women’s All-American Singles Champion. She is currently ranked No. 1 by the ITA and was announced on Tuesday as the No. 1 overall seed in the 2013 NCAA Singles Tournament, which opens play on Wednesday.

Embree is also a three-time Southeastern Conference Player of the Year (2010-12).

She has led Florida to four-straight Southeastern Conference regular-season titles (2009-12), four consecutive SEC Tournament crowns (2009-12) and back-to-back NCAA National Championships (2011-12) with her singles victories clinching both national titles for the Gators.

In NCAA dual match play, Embree is Florida’s career leader in singles wins (15-1), doubles wins (19-3), combined wins (34-4) and combined winning percentage (.895). She usually played her best when it meant the most for the Gators.

Photo Credit: Ron Irby/Tampa Bay Times

Over 11 months ago, four-star wide receiver Ryeshene Bronson (Fort Myers, FL) became the first 2014 prospect to commit to the Florida Gators. On Tuesday, Bronson decided to rescind his pledge and reopen his recruitment, becoming the second prospect to part ways with Florida in the last five days.

Bronson (6’3”, 182 lbs.), ranked No. 125 overall on the newest Rivals250 released Tuesday, first committed to the Gators on June 14, 2012, after visiting Florida and participating in a football camp.

He committed to the Gators nearly 19 months before his National Signing Day, choosing Florida at the time over Auburn, Florida State and South Carolina, among others.

“I wanted to lock it in and get it all out of the way,” he told InsidetheGators.com last June. “I didn’t want to have the stress of recruiting on me.”

Bronson joins four-star linebacker Christian Miller (Jacksonville, FL) on the decommitment list. Miller, a Rivals100 prospect, backed off from his pledge on Friday but maintained that the Gators remain in the mix for his services.

Bronson, whose decision was first reported by Michael Langston of Rivals, spoke about the situation Tuesday afternoon. ITG‘s Blake Alderman notes that Bronson splitting ways with UF was “a mutual decision by both parties.” ($)

“My recruitment is officially open I’m not committed to university of Florida any more,” he wrote on Twitter. “Uf is not out of the.picture tho,” he added.

Florida is down to seven 2014 commitments including two offensive playmakers – four-stars running back Dalvin Cook (Miami, FL) and quarterback Will Grier (Davidson, NC). Cook (No. 24) and Grier (No. 29) are both ranked in the new Rivals100.

1 » Here is Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah dancing outdoors at a house party.

2 » The Baltimore Ravens are searching for a new No. 2 receiver, and it appears as if former Florida Gators pass catcher Denote Thompson “has the inside track” on the job, according to The Baltimore Sun. “[Thompson] could sneak in there, he looks different, is fast and catches everything,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “I’ve always said, the best player will play.” Thompson thinks his athleticism and speed mean the “sky is the limit” for what he can accomplish with the Ravens. He also discussed why he struggled with the Gators and how things have changed for him. “We had a new offensive coordinator and new coaches at Florida my last year and the whole offense didn’t play well,” he said. “We were just trying to find a rhythm. But here, I think I have adjusted and I can play outside or in the slot, it doesn’t matter. A year ago, I didn’t know what to expect, but now I know what it is going to take. One of the hardest things was learning defenses, the audibles and the different coverages.”

3 » Gators forward Erik Murphy participated in the 2013 NBA Combine late last week. He measured 6’8.75” without shoes, 6’9.5” with shoes and had a 6’10.5” wingspan and 9’0” reach. Murphy also checked in at 239.8 lbs. with eight percent body fat, 8.75” hands and 9.75” hand width. Here are his on the court results: three-quarter time (3.57 seconds), lane agility time (12.19 s), modified time (2.96 s), standing leap (24.5”), maximum leap (29.5”). Murphy will check in with OGGOA later this week with his second “Path to the Draft” blog post to recap the combine, but the Orlando Sentinel reports that he had a one-hour workout with the Orlando Magic last Thursday.

4 » Greg Luca of The Alligator penned this piece back in April on Ron “Moose” Davis, the fan who can always be found behind the basket at Florida basketball games wearing a moose hat and waving a neon Speedo in hopes of distracting opposing foul shooters. Plenty has been written about Davis over the years, but this piece provides great background and a thorough look at one of the Gators’ biggest fans.

No. 1 Florida Gators women’s tennis entered the 2013 NCAA Tournament hoping to achieve the second national championship three-peat in school history. Instead, Florida was dealt a stinging 4-3 defeat by the No. 12 Stanford Cardinal in the semifinals of the event, sending the Gators home from Champaign, IL a day early.

Stanford, the last team to beat Florida in NCAA play when it topped UF for the 2010 national title, snapped the Gators’ 16-match NCAA Tournament winning streak on Monday by outworking the favorites in doubles play and singles action. UF was participating in its fourth-straight NCAA Tournament semifinal and looking to advance to the event’s finals for the fourth consecutive season.

Florida’s year-long struggles in doubles were a factor as the teams of No. 11 senior Lauren Embree/junior Sofie Oyen and junior Alex Cercone/senior Caroline Hitimana both dropped their matches 8-3. It was the 10th time this season that the Gators lost the doubles point and faced an early 1-0 deficit.

The Cardinal, which fell to UF 4-2 in Gainesville, FL on Feb. 24, also won the doubles point that day, but the home team came back and won four singles matches.

Florida (26-3) and Stanford (21-4) split the first sets, but the Cardinal quickly increased their lead substantially by pulling off two relatively easy singles victories.

Continue Reading » Three-peat thwarted: Stanford upsets Florida women’s tennis 4-3 in NCAA Tournament semifinal

Eight of the 10 former Florida Gators playing in the NBA during the 2012-13 season moved on to the playoffs. With the second round of action in the books, three of those eight remain alive as their teams compete for a chance at an NBA title. Below is a summary of how these Gators performed during the second round.

* Players names in orange have advanced to the conference championship round.

STARTERS (3)
C JOAKIM NOAH, Chicago Bulls: GP/GS (5/5), MIN (38.4), PPG (9.8), RPG (9.2), APG (2.4), SPG (1.2), BPG (0.8) | FG% (.410), 3P% (.000), FT% (.850)
» Highlights: Two double-doubles – 13 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, two steals (Game 1); 15 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, two blocks, two steals (Game 3)
» Notes: Noah missed eight games in April with plantar fasciitis and should not be active during the playoffs. Instead, he helped propel the Bulls past the first round and led the team in rebounding in five of the 12 games in which he played.
» Playoffs: (5) Chicago fell to (1) Miami in five games.

F/C DAVID LEE, Golden State Warriors: GP/GS (4/0), MIN (8.8), PPG (5.0), RPG (3.3), APG (0.8), SPG (0.8), BPG (0.0) | FG% (.500), 3P% (.000), FT% (1.000)
» Highlights: Nine points, five rebounds, two assists (Game 6)
» Notes: Lee tore his right hip flexor during the first game of the playoffs and was ruled out for the postseason. He played sparingly as inspiration and motivation for his team.
» Playoffs: (6) Golden State fell to (2) San Antonio in six games.

PF UDONIS HASLEM, Miami Heat: GP/GS (5/5), MIN (18.2), PPG (5.2), RPG (3.2), APG (0.6), SPG (1.6), BPG (0.2) | FG% (.650), 3P% (.000), FT% (.000)
» Highlights: Six points, seven rebounds, two steals (Game 4)
» Playoffs: (1) Miami beat (5) Chicago in five games and advanced to face (3) Indiana in the Eastern Conference finals, which begin on Wednesday.

RESERVES (2)
G/F MIKE MILLER, Miami Heat: GP/GS (3/0), MIN (6.3), PPG (2.3), RPG (1.7), APG (1.0), SPG (0.0), BPG (0.0) | FG% (.429), 3P% (.200), FT% (.000)
» Highlights: Five points, three rebounds (Game 1)
» Playoffs: (1) Miami beat (5) Chicago in five games and advanced to face (3) Indiana in the Eastern Conference finals, which begin on Wednesday..

F MATT BONNER, San Antonio Spurs: GP/GS (6/0), MIN (9.7), PPG (2.0), RPG (1.2), APG (0.3), SPG (0.0), BPG (0.0) | FG% (.455), 3P% (.333), FT% (.000)
» Highlights: Five points, two rebounds (Game 1)
» Playoffs: (2) San Antonio beat (6) Golden State in six games and advanced to face (5) Memphis in the Western Conference finals, which began on Sunday.

Any doubt that the University of Florida had the dominant athletics program in the Southeastern Conference during the 2012-13 school year was put to rest Monday as the university was named the SEC All-Sports Tropy champion for the fifth-straight season by the Halifax Media Group. Sweeping all three titles – overall, men’s and women’s – the Florida Gators won by staggering numbers in each category, literally dominating the competition.

Florida is the only school to sweep all three crowns in a single season, accomplishing the feat for the 13th time, sixth in the last seven years and fifth-in-a-row (2006-07, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13). UF has now won 23 overall titles (including seven-straight), 20 women’s titles and 17 men’s titles.

All 16 of the Gators’ sports (nine women’s, seven men’s) were counted with cross country, indoor and outdoor track & field combined into one unit per gender. (The lacrosse program competes in the American Lacrosse Conference.) Scoring was adjusted this year by the Halifax Media Group to account for the two teams (Missouri, Texas A&M) and one sport (equestrian) added to the conference this season.

Florida matched a school and league record by winning eight SEC titles over this period – basketball, gymnastics, men’s swimming, soccer, softball, volleyball, women’s cross country and women’s tennis – compared to three in 2011-12. UF soccer and women’s tennis each captured both the regular season and tournament championships.

The Gators lead the SEC with 213 all-time team titles.

The SEC All-Sports titles were previously awarded by The New York Times Regional Newspaper Group from 1994-95 to 2010-11.

1 » If Chicago point guard Derrick Rose did not have enough motivation to come back and play well next year, comments from Washington Wizards rookie guard Bradley Beal may give him that extra kick in the butt. Beal this week told 106.7 The Fan that he might lose respect for a teammate who was cleared by doctors but chose to sit out and not try and help his team in the playoffs. “He might have to give it a go,” he said. “If you’re practicing for two months, and then everybody in practice is saying you’re practicing well, I mean, I think you have to give it a shot in the game. Look at David Lee. You don’t have to play significant minutes, but the fact that you’re out there and that you’re actually giving it a go, I think people will respect that.” He continued: “Because I know the type of player he is, and the mentality and the competitiveness that he has, I think he would have gave it a go.”

2 » Quarterback Tim Tebow was back in Jacksonville for the weekend – not for a tryout with his hometown’s NFL team but rather to speak at New Life Christian Fellowship. During his speaking engagement, a fan asked Tebow to pinpoint his most memorable moment was from his breakout 2011 season. Tebow self-deprecatingly replied: “One of my favorite stories, ironically, was against the New York Jets…and probably my greatest Jets highlight, I guess.” Tebow was also on NBC’s All-Star Celebrity Apprentice finale over the weekend as he donated $300,000 to charity on behalf of Trace Adkins, one of the two finalists competing to win the show.

3 » New England Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes is entering the final year of his rookie contract and undoubtedly hopes to remain with his team long-term. Not only does Spikes have a tremendous personal relationship with Patriots owner Robert Kraft, head coach Bill Belichick also values the player’s contributions on defense. Nevertheless, Spikes is only set to earn $630,000 in salary in 2013 (along with $240,000 as part of a prorated signing bonus) and undoubtedly feels like he deserves to get paid. New England has a history of getting its players to sign below-market-value contracts before they hit free agency, so keep an eye out for Spikes to get something done soon. According to ESPNBoston.com, he “hasn’t been seen much at Gillette Stadium since the offseason program begin in mid-April,” an approach that could be productive in letting the team know he is wanting to get a deal done before the season.

Continue Reading » SIX BITS: Beal, Tebow, Spikes, Leak, Francis

No. 1 Florida Gators women’s tennis (26-2) advanced to the semifinals of the 2013 NCAA Tournament for the fourth-straight season with a 4-2 victory over the No. 8 California Golden Bears (19-6) on Sunday in Champaign, IL.

Florida improved to 23-5 all-time in quarterfinal matches and is moving on to the semifinals for the seventh time in the last nine seasons as well as the 23rd time in school history. UF swept the first three opponents it has faced in the NCAA Tournament and now holds a combined 16-2 match record in this year’s event.

The Gators started things off with the No. 11 duo of senior Lauren Embree and junior Sofie Oyen winning four-straight games to clinch the doubles point with an 8-4 victory over the No. 33 team of Lynn Chi and Anett Schutting. Freshmen Danielle Collins and Brianna Morgan, Florida’s third doubles team, had previously won their match 8-4 to put Embree/Oyen in position to clinch the point.

When the six singles matches got underway, the Gators were able to pull off four first-set victories. However, the Golden Bears knotted things up at 1-1 as No. 5 Zsofi Susanyi routed No. 51 junior Alex Cercone in straight sets (6-1, 6-1).

Cal was not able to hold even with Florida as No. 1 Embree quickly got the lead back for UF by taking down No. 8 Schutting with ease 6-2, 6-0. Junior No. 123 Olivia Janowicz added to the lead by beating Tayler Davis just minutes later 6-1, 6-4.

The Golden Bears drew closer when No. 43 Klara Fabikova upset No. 17 Oyen (7-5, 6-4), reducing the Gators’ advantage to 3-2 with three matches in progress. It only took senior No. 116 Caroline Hitimana a few moments to shut the door on the quarterfinals, however, as she closed out a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Annie Goransson to clinch the match.

Florida will remain in Champaign for the rest of the tournament as it looks to defend its back-to-back NCAA titles. The Gators have now won 16-straight NCAA Tournament matches dating back to 2011 and are currently on a 19-match winning streak dating back to March 3. Florida will next take on No. 12 Stanford on Monday at 6 p.m.

The Gators beat the Cardinal previously this season, 4-2 on Feb. 24. in Gainesville, FL, but UF suffered its last NCAA Tournament loss at the hands of SU, which won 4-3 in the 2010 national championship game.