Former Florida Gators quarterback and 1996 Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2013 on Dec. 10 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, NY.

Wuerffel, who was first up for induction in 2012 but not chosen on his first ballot, is the seventh Florida player and 10th representative of the Gators (three coaches) to earn induction into the prestigious group. He joins defensive end Dale Van Sickel (1975), QB Steve Spurrier (1986), DE Jack Youngblood (1992), running back Emmitt Smith (2006), linebacker Wilber Marshall (2008) and wide receiver Carlos Alvarez (2011) as players in the career-defining club. Coaches Charlie Bachman (1978), Ray Graves (1990) and Doug Dickey (2003) are also members.

“This is a great honor and I’m very thankful to the Foundation for giving me this award,” said Wuerffel. “But I want to also thank my teammates and Gator fans at the University of Florida who were a big part of the great years I had there.”

Continue Reading » Florida quarterback, Heisman winner Danny Wuerffel named to College Football Hall of Fame

From time to time, OGGOA will come across a plethora of news and notes that we wish to share – too much to fit into one of our truncated BITS segments. When stories like these fall through the cracks, we catch and wrap them all up with Gator Bites.

» The relationship between Dwyer High School head coach Jack Daniels and the Florida Gators has soured. According to ESPN 106.3 out of West Palm Beach, FL, Daniels is angry that two former Dwyer players who committed to Florida but have since left the program (quarterback Jacoby Brissett and tight end Gerald Christian) did not get the opportunities they were promised with the team. “I’ve said all along, I don’t think he’s been given the fair shot which was said was going to happen,” Daniels said in regards to Brissett. “It was made clear to him, and to everybody else, that it didn’t matter what Jeff Driskel did, it was [Driskel’s] job and going into next fall, it’s going to be the same way. I think he had no choice. If I was quarterback on that team last year, I might have been able to get some wins, the way their defense was playing.” He continued: “The way Jacoby was handled and the decision that was made…if it was my kid, I wouldn’t expect anybody to treat my kid like that, and I don’t think anybody should treat anybody like that. I think it was a complete lie about how he was going to be given a fair chance and I don’t think there’s anything to dispute that there wasn’t a lie.”

Despite all of this – including similar comments about how Christian “was frustrated and felt like the coaches were lying to him” – Daniels (a Florida alumnus) said he will not dissuade his students from playing for the Gators. “I can’t hold a grudge forever and I still talk to Coach [Will] Muschamp,” he said. “I would never steer a kid away.”

» Former Florida wide receiver Stephen Alli was selected with the second pick in the sixth round of the 2013 CFL Draft by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers over the weekend. Alli, who would have been chosen higher had he committed to playing in the CFL next season, will instead attend graduate school and continue his education at UF.

» He may currently be a free agent hoping for the opportunity to continue his NFL career, but former Gators quarterback Tim Tebow received a shred of good news this week when Forbes named him the most influential athlete in the United States. “A unique set of QB strengths and weaknesses and an affinity for wearing his Christian faith on his sleeve combine to make Tebow a compelling public figure, even as an NFL backup,” staff member Tom Van Riper wrote.

Check out 14 more interesting bites of Florida Gators news…after the break!
Continue Reading » 17 Gator Bites for Tuesday, May 7

Former Florida Gators striker Abby Wambach will be the subject of ESPNU‘s eighth SEC Storied documentary, OGGOA has learned.

Abby Head On, which is set to premiere on May 15 at 8 p.m. on ESPNU, will be officially announced by the network later Monday. The film chronicles Wambach’s collegiate career with the Gators, international accomplishments with the U.S. Women’s National Team and quest to break Mia Hamm’s international scoring record.

After surprising the soccer community by choosing to attend Florida over powerhouse North Carolina, Wambach led the Gators to four-straight SEC Championships (1998-2001), two Final Fours (1998, 2001) and an NCAA Championship (1998), which remains the soccer program’s only national title to this day.

Individually while playing for UF, she was a two-time SEC Player of the Year (2000-01) and SEC Freshman of the Year (1998) who was also a four-time All-SEC First Team selection and three-time first-team All-American.

Wambach left Florida upon graduation as the school record holder in goals (96), game-winning goals (24), points (242), assists (49) and hat tricks (10); she maintains the No. 1 spot in each of those categories to this day.

Continue Reading » SEC Storied film to feature UF’s Abby Wambach

Florida Gators forward DeVon Walker informed the team late last week that he had decided to transfer, and the program officially announced his decision on Monday.

Gators head coach Billy Donovan wished Walker well in a school release.

“DeVon has a bright future, and we hope for the best for him wherever he chooses to go,” Donovan said.

Walker played in 24 games as a true freshman but averaged just 4.0 minutes per contest. He scored 20 points in 99 total minutes during the 2012-13 campaign, making just 4-of-22 shots (1-of-7 threes) while grabbing 17 rebounds.

The second Florida freshman to transfer this month, Walker joins guard Braxton Ogbueze as 2012 commitments hoping the pastures are greener elsewhere.

“I’ve grown a lot this year, and I’m grateful to Coach Donovan, the staff and my teammates at Florida for everything,” Walker said in the same release.

Over the last two offseasons, the Gators have added three transfers including forward Dorian Finney-Smith and center Damontre Harris in 2012 and guard Eli Carter on April 30. Finney-Smith and Harris will both be active for the 2013-14 season, while Carter is hoping the NCAA approves a waiver that would allow him to play immediately without sitting out a year.

Florida also has a pair of five-star prospects – point guard Kasey Hill (Clermont, FL) and F/C Chris Walker (Bonifay, FL) – joining the program next season.

Minutes would have been hard to come by for both DeVon Walker and Ogbueze. The Gators will have just 11 scholarship players on the roster for the upcoming season should Hill and Chris Walker both be cleared academically.

No. 2/3 Florida Gators softball did not have to take the field on Sunday to register a big victory. When the Southeastern Conference regular season slate concluded with five games on Sunday, Florida (49-7, 18-6 SEC) stood above the pack as the winner of the regular-season 2013 SEC Championship.

Gators softball claimed the fourth regular-season SEC title in program history, the first since winning back-to-back championships in 2008-09, despite being picked to finish seventh in the preseason coaches’ polls. Florida was also the only team in the conference to win all eight series in which it competed over the course of the campaign.

Softball’s SEC crown is the eighth for the Gators in the 2012-13 season (basketball, gymnastics, men’s swimming, soccer, volleyball, women’s cross country, women’s tennis), matching both a school and league record. Florida has also captured two SEC Tournament titles (soccer, women’s tennis) as well as the American Lacrosse Conference regular-season championship.

On Sunday, the Gators learned that they will be the No. 1 overall seed in the 2013 SEC Tournament. Florida receives a first-round bye before facing the winner of No. 8 Alabama vs. No. 9 Texas A&M on May 9 at 11 a.m. live on ESPNU.

The tournament will continue on Friday (semifinals) and Saturday (championship game). Gators softball has not won an SEC Tournament title since 2008-09.

Eight of the 10 former Florida Gators playing in the NBA during the 2012-13 season moved on to the playoffs. With the first round of action in the books, five 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 first round.

* Players names highlighted in orange have advanced to the second round.

PLAYER OF THE ROUND
C JOAKIM NOAH, Chicago Bulls: GP/GS (7/7), MIN (30.9), PPG (11.4), RPG (9.9), APG (2.3), SPG (0.6), BPG (3.1) | FG% (.450), 3P% (.000), FT% (.421)
» Highlights: Four double-doubles (one 20-10 game); game-highs of 24 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks (Game 7)
» Notes: Noah missed eight games in April with plantar fasciitis and should not be active during the playoffs. Instead, he led the Bulls to a big Game 7 victory and led the team in rebounding three times during the series.
» Playoffs: (5) Chicago beat (4) Brooklyn in seven games and advanced to face (1) Miami in the Eastern Conference semifinals, which begin on Monday.

Check out how the rest of the Gators in the NBA played in the first round…

Continue Reading » Former Gators in the 2013 NBA Playoffs – Round 1

Updated on May 3 at 10:30 a.m.

Florida Gators basketball’s 2013-14 non-conference schedule is taking shape after information was released this week about opponents for the upcoming season.

It has been confirmed that Florida will take on Kansas for the first time since 2006 as part of the inaugural SEC-Big 12 Challenge. KU will travel to Gainesville, FL on Dec. 10, 2013 for what is sure to be a fantastic showdown.

According to CBSSports.com’s Jeff Goodman, UF will also face Memphis at the 2013 Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY on Dec. 17.

The UF website announced on Friday that the Gators will play a road game at Connecticut on Dec. 2. It is the first time the teams have squared off since 1994.

It has long been known that Florida will finish off a home-and-home series with a road game at Wisconsin, host Florida State and Richmond, participate in the 2013 Orange Bowl Basketball Classic (Sunrise, FL) against an unsigned opponent, and take part in a five-team round robin called the Global Sports Challenge that includes Arkansas Little-Rock, Middle Tennessee State, North Florida and Southern.

Below is the non-conference schedule as of press time:

Nov. 8 vs. North Florida
TBA at Wisconsin
Nov. 16 vs. Arkansas Little-Rock
Nov. 18 vs. Southern
Nov. 21 vs. Middle Tennessee State
Nov 25 at Jacksonville
Nov. 29 vs. Florida State
Dec. 2 at UConn
Dec. 10 vs. Kansas
Dec. 17 vs. Memphis (New York, NY)
Dec. 21 vs. TBA (Sunrise, FL)
Dec. 29 vs. Savannah State
Jan. 4 vs. Richmond

Florida will be adding additional games to its non-conference schedule in the near future, so stay tuned for updates.

By Andrew Olson – OGGOA Contributor

The Southeastern Conference and ESPN jointly announced on Thursday the creation of the multi-platform SEC Network, which is set to launch on Aug. 6, 2014 as part of a 20-year media rights extension between the conference and World Wide Leader in Sports that will take relationship through 2034.

Termed the “longest agreement in all of sports” by ESPN president John Skipper, the deal not only locks up the SEC with ESPN as its primary rights holder but also ensures that 1,000 league games will be aired each year including 450 live on television. The other 550 contests will be distributed digitally across a variety of platforms.

“The SEC Network will provide an unparalleled fan experience of top quality SEC content presented across the television network and its accompanying digital platforms,” SEC commissioner Mike Slive said. “We will increase exposure of SEC athletics programs at all 14 member institutions, as we showcase the incredible student-athletes in our league. The agreement for a network streamlines and completes an overall media rights package that will continue the SEC’s leadership for the foreseeable future.”

College football, the only sport with all 14 schools’ coaches in attendance on Thursday, will obviously be featured prominently on the new channel. The SEC Network will televise 45 league football games each year, including three every Saturday of the 13-week season. CBS will continue to have first pick of each week’s SEC football games but will no longer have exclusivity to air an SEC game in the middle of the afternoon.

Continue Reading » SEC, ESPN officially announce SEC Network