Through the weekend, OnlyGators.com will take a look at each of the four seniors that will be honored on Saturday afternoon when the men’s basketball program celebrates Senior Day at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

It started in the season opener against North Florida when senior forward Casey Prather, leading the Florida Gators while half of his team was out of action due to either injury or suspension, doubled his career-high with 28 points in 34 minutes.

What was thought to be an aberration was quickly realized to be the new normal for Prather and the Gators as he scored 19 more points in five of the next nine contests and received well-deserved praise for carrying Florida to an 8-2 record in a difficult 10-game stretch to open the 2013-14 campaign.

And while he appeared to blossom overnight, his elevation from energy roleplayer to efficient scorer was more accurately a well-planted seed that head coach Billy Donovan watered, nurtured and watched as it slowly grew over a four-year period.

A highly-rated prospect out of Jackson, TN who was considered one of the 75 best high school players in the country in 2010, Prather barely saw the court in his first two seasons and mostly watched from the bench as his veteran teammates advanced to and fell in consecutive Elite Eights.

“Maybe the lowest moment [was] my early years – as a freshman – not playing as much as I thought I should or not contributing as much as I thought I could,” he admitted on Monday when he also noted that transferring was at one point a consideration.

Continue Reading » Fourth year’s a charm: Gators F Casey Prather grows from afterthought to Florida’s pace-setter

Through the weekend, OnlyGators.com will take a look at each of the four seniors that will be honored on Saturday afternoon when the men’s basketball program celebrates Senior Day at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

Thomas Edison once said that opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

If any of the four seniors on the No. 1 Florida Gators (28-2, 17-0 SEC) is a paradigm for that sentiment, it is Will Yeguete, who has taken full advantage of the opportunity presented to him by head coach Billy Donovan to be an all-work, no-glory linchpin for one of the most-accomplished classes in program history.

Yeguete has never scored more than 14 points in a single game. He’s only posted double-digit scoring marks 12 times in 118 career contests and has been selective on offense, finishing in the bottom third of the team in field goal attempts per 40 minutes over each of his four seasons.

Where Yeguete has made his mark for the Gators has been on the defensive end of the floor. He rebounds, defends the post with tenacity, knocks balls loose and gives tremendous effort more consistently than anyone else on the team.

Among players on the court at least 6.0 minutes per game.

Continue Reading » Rare breed: Senior forward Will Yeguete personifies heart and soul for Florida Gators

In his fourth year at the helm of the Florida Gators, head coach Will Muschamp has a new offensive coordinator and two new position coaches ahead of the 2014 season.

According to information released by Florida on Wednesday, new offensive coordinator Kurt Roper signed a three-year deal worth $590,000 per season. He received a $100,000 signing bonus and can cash in a $100,000 longevity bonus if still employed by Jan. 31, 2016, maximizing his contract value to a total of $1.97 million.

It was also announced that special teams coordinator Coleman Hutzler signed on with a one-year contract paying him $230,000, and offensive line coach Mike Summers signed a two-year contract at a rate of $190,000 per season.

A look at the coaching staff’s 2014 salaries compared with their counterparts in 2013:

The Orlando Sentinel’s Edgar Thompson obtained the salary information referenced above from the school via an open records request.

1 » With the Florida Gators back on top, head coach Billy Donovan will once be written about as someone who could potentially jump to the NBA after the season. Even after he accepted the Orlando job, changed his mind and returned to Florida, Donovan has still been heavily considered by some of the top franchises in the league and remains a hot name to this day whenever there are coaching openings. There also happens to be no better team to link Donovan with than the New York Knicks, his hometown squad, the only franchise he played for in the NBA – and as it so happens – one that tends to make a coaching change every other year. ESPNNewYork.com columnist Ian O’Connor on Tuesday night listed Donovan as a top-five candidate to take what is expected to be an open job with the Knicks after the 2013-14 season.

He has a chance to win his third national title at Florida and, at 48, he might finally be ready for the new career challenge he accepted (and then declined days later) from the Orlando Magic in 2007. Donovan grew up on Long Island and lived out his boyhood dream when he played 44 games for Rick Pitino’s Knicks in 1987-88.

Though he still loves to tell stories of the time his mother took him to the Garden and bought him a Clyde Frazier T-shirt, Donovan rejected Isiah Thomas’ attempt to hire him as Knicks coach years ago. Would he consider leaving Florida after 18 seasons for a chance to rebuild the only team he ever wanted to play for?

“Billy would be an awesome NBA coach,” said one source who knows him well. “He doesn’t have any professional coaching experience, but Brad Stevens is managing it well in Boston and that should give the Knicks more confidence to look that way. I just don’t know if Billy would do it.”

“If I can’t get Jeff Van Gundy,” said a second source, “my next guy is Billy Donovan. Maybe he should be the Knicks’ first choice because he doesn’t have Jeff’s baggage from coaching there before. He runs a pro offense, his teams defend and I think he’s got the personality for it.”

Donovan-to-New York always has and always will make sense. However, these Knicks are not the franchise of his youth. New York has major problems in ownership, the front office and on the court with a roster hamstrung for 2014-15 and set to potentially lose its best player in Carmelo Anthony. Donovan, if or when he jumps to the NBA, would seemingly do so at an opportune time. He’s had plenty of chances in the past but turned them down to remain with the Gators where he is comfortable and working for a great friend in athletic director Jeremy Foley. Donovan still has a son who he is coaching and will remain around the team (he just got accepted to graduate school at Florida), and his father is also in town. Donovan-to-the Knicks does make sense, one day, maybe two years from now when New York is looking for the next big name coach to save the franchise. Then again, perhaps the lure of his favorite team will be too great. Perhaps owner Jim Dolan will offer too much power and money to turn down. You just never know.

Continue Reading » TWO BITS: Donovan and Knicks, Roper’s offense

Sophomore guard Michael Frazier II scored a career-high 37 points and set a new school record with 11 three-pointers in a single game as the No. 1 Florida Gators (28-2, 17-0 SEC) dismantled the South Carolina Gamecocks (11-19, 4-13 SEC) in the second half and ended the game on a 33-11 run on the way to a 72-46 win at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, SC on Tuesday night.

Florida extended its school-record winning streak to 22 games and continued a number of other program-best marks including winning 17 SEC games in a single season.

OnlyGators.com breaks it all down with seven quick-hitters:

It was over when: After draining five three-pointers in the first half, Frazier was held without one for the first nine minutes of the second period. Suddenly, with his team leading by just four points, Frazier exploded with four made triples in a span of 3:27 to extend Florida’s advantage to 22 points with 7:36 to play.

Prominent player: He eventually finished with 11 threes, breaking a 17-year school school mark for most in a single game (Joe Lawrence, nine, 1986). Those 11 treys were also the third-most made in a single game by an SEC player and the most ever in an SEC league game. Frazier’s 37 points were a career-high, matching Joakim Noah (March 1, 2006) for most in a single game under head coach Billy Donovan. He finished 11-for-18 from beyond the arc on the evening, also becoming the first UF player since Anthony Roberson (2005) to attempt that many threes in a single contest.

“The ball felt good in warm-ups. My shot looked good, felt good. And then in the game, my teammates did a great job finding me. I was able to get in the zone there but I didn’t really feel anything, I was just there and the ball went in,” he said after the game. “It was a total team effort. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them finding me. It was a total team effort. We defended as a team, rebounded the ball as a team in the second half, and we were connected. The ball was just able to go into the hoop for me tonight, but it was a total team effort winning.”

Check out the second half of The Fastbreak…after the break.
Continue Reading » Fastbreak: No. 1 Florida routs South Carolina 72-46 as Michael Frazier sets Gators threes record

Location: Colonial Life Arena – Columbia, SC [Capacity: 18,000]
Time: 7:00 p.m. EST

TV: ESPNU (Joe Davis, Dino Gaudio)
SiriusXM: 93/199 | Radio: Gator Radio Network [Affiliates]
Online Video: WatchESPN.com | Mobile Video: WatchESPN app
Live Updates: @OnlyGators on Twitter

Odds: Florida -12 | O/U: OFF

HISTORY, STATS AND STREAKS

» The Gators won the outright 2014 SEC regular-season title and clinched the No. 1 overall seed in the SEC Tournament last Thursday after Kentucky lost and gave UF a four-game lead in the league standings with three contests left to play. It is the program’s second-straight title, third in the last four seasons, seventh overall and fifth outright.
» Florida leads South Carolina 41-22 in the all-time series and holds a 25-11 edge in the series with Donovan has coach. The Gators are 19-13 against the Gamecocks on the road (10-6 under Donovan) with victories in five-straight meetings and 12 of the last 15.
» UF defeated USC 74-58 back on Jan. 8. The teams play each other twice this season after not doing so in 2012-13.
» Donovan and Martin go back to the late 1990s when the then-young Florida head coach recruited Udonis Haslem, who played for Martin at Miami Senior High School. Since Martin first became a college head coach in 2007, Donovan is 3-0 all-time when the friends meet on the court.
» UF enters Tuesday’s game on a program-record 21-game winning streak and at 16-0 have set a school mark for most conference wins in a single season. Its 27 wins are also the most the Gators have captured in a single season.
» With a victory, Florida would become the fourth team in SEC history to win 17 league games and just the second all-time to hold a 17-0 SEC mark. If the Gators win their final two SEC games, they could become the first team to finish 18-0 in the league.
» Florida is also on two school-record home winning streaks – 31-straight overall and 16-in-a-row against league opponents.
» The Gators at 27-2 (16-0 SEC) have set a program mark for best overall start to a season. UF has also won 26 of its last 27 games.
» Florida has won eight-straight SEC road games, also a program record.
» The Gators are 78-9 since the beginning of the 2011-12 season when holding an opponent under 71 points in a game.
» UF is 13-2 this season in single-digit decisions after going 0-6 in such contests during the 2012-13 campaign. Florida is also 1-0 in overtime games.
» The Gators are 10-2 in true road games this campaign with both losses coming against ranked opponents during the first month of the season. UF lost those contests by a combined seven points.
» This marks the latest in a regular season that Florida has been ranked No. 1 nationally. The Gators have achieved a No. 1 ranking in four separate seasons and is 17-5 playing as the top team in the country.
» South Carolina is 1-9 all-time against No. 1-ranked opponents with its only victory coming against Kentucky in 2010.
» The Gators’ senior class is the first in school history to win three SEC championships.

Continue Reading » No. 1 Florida at South Carolina preview: Gators ready for road tussle with confident Gamecocks

The Florida Gators on Tuesday announced that nine of the team’s 15 spring practice dates will be open to the public – in some way – ahead of the 2014 season.

With anticipation of a new offensive under coordinator Kurt Roper and a bounce back to form after a disastrous 4-8 season in 2013, Florida fans living in or planning to travel to Gainesville, FL will be able to see much of the preparation with their own eyes.

The following spring football practices will be completely open and free to the public: Wednesday, March 19; Friday, March 21; Saturday, March 22; Monday, March 24; Wednesday, March 26; Monday, March 31; Wednesday, April 2; Friday, April 11.

The Gators will also host the annual 2014 Orange & Blue Debut spring football game on Saturday, April 12, which was not played in its true form last season – serving as a lackluster glorified practice – due to injuries. Tickets are normally free for students and either free or inexpensive for the public.

UF season ticket holders will have an additional opportunity to attend a practice at a yet-to-be-announced date. A Florida spokesman told OnlyGators.com on Monday that the practice could take place in the spring or fall.

In total the Florida Gators brought home three 2014 Southeastern Conference Championships over the weekend with the top-ranked men’s swimming and women’s track & field programs joining the basketball team as league title winners.

UF men’s swimming repeated as conference champions, topping Auburn 1440.0-1280.5 at Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, GA to capture the program’s second-straight and 35th overall SEC title. The accomplishment ranks it second all-time to Kentucky basketball (45) for most team crowns in league history. The Gators won 28 titles in a 41-year span from 1953-93 but suffered without one for 19-straight years until taking over the SEC once again in 2013.

Redshirt senior Sebastien Rousseau led the way for Florida, becoming the 12th male UF swimmer to win the Commissioner’s Trophy (most total points). He was also honored as SEC Male Swimmer of the Year for his overall achievements. Rousseau won three 200-yard individual SEC titles in freestyle, individual medley and butterfly, setting a league record in the latter event by finishing the swim in 1:41.07.

Continue Reading » Florida men’s swimming, women’s track & field join Gators basketball with SEC Championships