Just one week after coming to the conclusion that transferring would be the best thing for his career, forward DeVon Walker has reversed course and instead decided to remain a member of the Florida Gators basketball program.

“Florida is such a great place, and the more I thought about it, I just realized this is where I want to be,” Walker said in a school release. “The coaching staff has helped me get better on and off the court over the past year and I really enjoy being around my teammates, so I’m excited to refocus on my future here in Gainesville.”

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.

He was the second Florida freshman to transfer this month – point guard Braxton Ogbueze announced his intent to leave the program on May 1 – but made his feelings about the program, the coaches and his teammates known at the time.

“I’ve grown a lot this year, and I’m grateful to Coach [Billy] Donovan, the staff and my teammates at Florida for everything,” Walker said in a school release on May 6. “One of the best years of my life. New friends, new experiences, & new knowledge. Thankful for the opportunity at UF. Goodbye,” he subsequently tweeted.

When Walker decided to transfer, Donovan said the player had “a bright future” and wished him the best going forward. He shared similar sentiments on Monday.

“We always encourage guys to do what they feel is best for their future, and we’re glad that DeVon will be continuing with us here at Florida,” Donovan said.

Minutes may once again be hard to come by for Walker during the 2013-14 season as Florida’s roster is stacked, especially in the frontcourt. Nevertheless, the Gators’ coaching staff is bullish on Walker’s future and see him as an athletic player who can be a contributor off the bench ala Casey Prather.

Tags: Billy Donovan, Braxton Ogbueze, Casey Prather, DeVon Walker

A position of relative weakness for men’s basketball over the last two seasons has suddenly become one of immense strength as the Florida Gators officially announced on Monday that center Patric Young will return to school for his senior season.

“I have the chance to finish my degree and play another season for Coach [Billy] Donovan with great teammates and friends at a place I love,” said Young in a school release. “These first three years have gone by in a flash, and I can’t believe it is my senior year already. I have gotten better as a player and better as a man at the University of Florida. I believe God has my future in his hands, so all I am worried about now is getting better this summer and making it the hardest I have trained in my life.”

After spending his first year with the Gators as a reserve, Young has served as Florida’s starting center over the last two seasons, averaging 10.2 points and 6.4 rebounds in 26.5 minutes per game in each campaign. Donovan has chided Young for his consistency on occasion in order to get the absoulte most out of him on a game-to-game basis but the two have a great player-coach relationship.

“We’re excited that Patric will continue with us for his senior season,” said Donovan in the school release. “This was Patric’s decision to make, and he ultimately had to do what he felt was best for himself and his future.”

Young likely would have been a second-round pick in the upcoming 2013 NBA Draft had he declared and left school early.

Though stretch-four Erik Murphy (6’10″, 238 lbs.) had started alongside him, Young (6’9”, 249 lbs.) has been the Gators’ true big man and the only player on the team who could legitimately play center for an entire game.

That will not be the case next season as, with Young returning, Florida will boast arguably the best frontcourt in the nation.

Joining Young, the two-time SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, will be junior transfer Damontre Harris (6’10”, 228 lbs.) and five-star freshman Chris Walker (6’9”, 220 lbs.). Forwards Will Yeguete (6’7” 240 lbs.) and Casey Prather (6’6”, 208 lbs.) will both return for their senior seasons, and Florida will finally get to see sophomore transfer Dorian Finney-Smith (6’8”, 205 lbs.) in action.

The Gators will be able to rotate at least six players in their three frontcourt positions but will need to develop the backcourt after losing starting guards Kenny Boynton and Mike Rosario to graduation. Point guard Scottie Wilbekin will be the only other returning member of Florida’s starting five aside from Young.

Photo Credit: David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Tags: Billy Donovan, Casey Prather, Chris Walker, Damontre Harris, Dorian Finney-Smith, Draft, NBA, Patric Young, Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Scottie Wilbekin, SEC, Will Yeguete

The three-seed Florida Gators (29-7) advanced to the Elite Eight for the third-straight year and seventh time in team history with a 62-50 take down of the 15-seed Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (26-11) in 2013 NCAA Tournament action at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX. After the game, head coach Billy Donovan and a number of his players met with the media to discuss what transpired on Friday in the Sweet 16.

UPCOMING OPPONENT

The four-seed Michigan Wolverines (29-7) stunned one-seed Kansas in the first game from Arlington on Friday and advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1994. The Wolverines came from behind to force overtime and eventually took down their foes 87-85 behind 23 points from Trey Burke (all of which came in the second half and overtime). Florida holds a 1-1 record all-time against Michigan, pulling off a 79-63 win in a neutral site game on Dec. 27, 1998. (The teams met previously on March 19, 1988 – a game UF lost 108-85 at a neutral site – but the victory was vacated by the NCAA.)

Sunday’s showdown will commence at 2:20 p.m. (EDT) and air live on CBS. Marv Albert (play-by-play), Steve Kerr (color commentator) and Craig Sager (sideline reporter) will be on the call for the contest.

DIGGING IN AND OUT OF AN EARLY HOLE

Florida opened Friday’s game as cold as a team could be shooting-wise, hitting just four of its first 20 shots while watching FGCU explode out to an early 15-4 lead mostly due to a pair of wide-open three pointers. The Gators not only missed open jumpers but also saw layups roll around the rim without going into the net, an incredibly frustrating situation considering UF was executing its game plan in the early going.

“I felt like we really got a lot of good looks. Obviously the focus was to go down inside to [Erik] Murphy and Patric Young. Those guys had really good looks inside. I thought from the perimeter, I think Mike [Rosario] started off 0-for-5. He had pretty good looks. We couldn’t get anything to fall for us,” Donovan said.

There was no panic from Florida, however. Donovan called a timeout, the Gators composed themselves and got right back in the game in a nick of time.

“I don’t think we panicked at all as a team. We’ve been there before. The main thing with us was starting to get defensive stops. We put together a couple defensive stops. Offense, it wasn’t our best day, but it came along,” senior guard Kenny Boynton said.

Added junior point guard Scottie Wilbekin: “We had a game to win. We had everybody encouraging each other, keeping each other’s head in the right place. When you have that, you’re not going to get that frustrated.”

“We were too determined to win this game so we just fought through, stayed together and picked it up as a whole,” Young concurred. “We had to fight through human nature in the sense of feeling sorry for ourselves that we were down. We really had to fight through. It’s easy to lay down and give up, but we were able to fight as a whole through adversity and stay together.”

Read the rest of the Florida-FGCU post-game (including videos)…
Continue Reading » 3/29: Florida vs. FGCU post-game; Gators set to face Michigan in Elite Eight + videos

Tags: Brett Comer, Casey Prather, Elite Eight, Erik Murphy, Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, Kenny Boynton, Michael Frazier, Michigan Wolverines, Mike Rosario, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Patric Young, Scottie Wilbekin, Sweet 16, Will Yeguete

Despite struggling in the early going and trailing by 11 points late in the first half, the three-seed Florida Gators (29-7) triumphed in a game that was lasted until early Saturday morning and advanced to the Elite Eight for a school-record third-straight season with a 62-50 victory over the 15-seed Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (26-11) at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX.

Florida has now been victorious in its last six appearances in the Sweet 16 and faces a short turnaround as it is set to take on the four-seed Michigan Wolverines in the finals of the South Region of the 2013 NCAA Tournament at 2:20 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.

The Gators used a 16-2 half-ending run to turn an 11-point deficit into a four-point halftime lead and never trailed again. Redshirt senior guard Mike Rosario led the way with a game-high 15 points, team-high five rebounds and three steals and was supported by stellar play from some of UF’s reserves.

FGCU opened up the contest red hot, jumping ahead 15-4 after an 11-0 run as Florida started 2-for-10 from the field and 0-for-5 from downtown.

The Gators’ cold shooting and tight play continued deep into the first half as the Eagles maintained their double-digit lead. Through the first 12:47 of the game, Florida trailed 19-9 while going 4-for-20 from the floor, 0-for-5 from beyond the arc and just 1-for-4 from the free throw line.

Suddenly, the Gators found their shooting stroke and hit three-straight triples including two from freshman guard Michael Frazier II as part of a 16-2 half-ending run that gave them a 30-26 lead at the break. Energy and suffocating defense from junior forwards Casey Prather and Will Yeguete helped UF hold FGCU scoreless for nearly five full minutes and played a big part in its resurgence.

Continue Reading » FG-CU Later: Florida Gators roll into third-straight Elite Eight with 62-50 victory over Eagles

Tags: Brett Comer, Casey Prather, Cowboys Stadium, Elite Eight, Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, Kenny Boynton, Michael Frazier, Michigan Wolverines, Mike Rosario, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Patric Young, Scottie Wilbekin, Sweet 16, Will Yeguete

In an effort to provide an additional perspective on the three-seed Florida Gators 78-64 victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers this past Sunday, OGGOA reached out to former Florida team manager Kyle Gilreath, who now works for Fast Model Sports and runs an interesting basketball blog Words on the Bounce. Gilreath diagrammed two plays that worked quite well for the Gators against the Gophers on Sunday during the 2013 NCAA Tournament and outlined the situations below. (Next season, OGGOA hopes to have video to accompany similar features.)

Gap: Florida ran this zone offense action several times in the first half and ended up with wide open three-pointers nearly every time head coach Billy Donovan called the play. The Gators start with three guards around the perimeter and two big men along the baseline behind the zone. Junior point guard Scottie Wilbekin offsets the ball with a dribble and post as the option to flash to the mid-post area. On the catch, junior center Patric Young had three options: (1) attack the rim, (2) look for senior forward Erik Murphy with a high-low pass if he seals X4, or (3) kick it out for an open three-pointer if the zone packs in to prevent the easy layup.

15 Spread: Florida was badly hurting Minnesota with its pick-and-roll / pick-and-pop, so Gophers head coach Tubby Smith decided to start switching all ball screens in the second half. Once this happened, Donovan responded by spreading the floor and took advantage of Minnesota’s strategy. With four players outside of the perimeter, Young sprinted into a middle pick-and-roll. The Gophers switched, which led to a mismatch not only inside with Young but this also left a big man guarding Wilbekin up top. This gave the Gators two options which they went to down the stretch: (1) Wilbekin attacked the big one-on-one to get to the rim (if the defense helped on the penetration, he found Young inside or shooters spotting up in the corner) and (2) Wilbekin also threw back to the other ball-side guard who would then look to feed Young down low.

And then, of course, Wilbekin and junior F Casey Prather also connected on their second alley-oop in as many games. While Gainesville, FL may not be “Dunk City,” Wilbekin and Murphy have put up their share of highlights this season including a half-court alley-oop in Florida’s second-round take down of Northwestern State.

Animated GIF created for OnlyGators.com by photekxl.

Tags: Billy Donovan, Casey Prather, Erik Murphy, Minnesota Golden Gophers, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Patric Young, Scottie Wilbekin, Tubby Smith

As dominant of a first half as the three-seed Florida Gators have put together this season coupled with a strong final nine minutes and a career-high 25 points from redshirt senior guard Mike Rosario fueled the Southeastern Conference champions to an impressive 78-64 victory over the 11-seed Minnesota Golden Gophers on Sunday and into their third-straight Sweet 16 for the first time in school history.

Florida head coach Billy Donovan, who earned his seventh-straight win over Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith, saw his Gators explode with a 27-5 scoring stretch in the first half that put them ahead of the Golden Gophers for good.

Senior forward Erik Murphy and redshirt senior guard Mike Rosario exploded in the first half, while junior point guard Scottie Wilbekin was a big-time spark for UF in the second half of the team’s second game of the 2013 NCAA Tournament at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, TX.

Rosario went 8-for-12 from the field, 6-for-9 from downtown and 3-for-4 from the free throw line for his UF career-high 25 points. Murphy finished with 15 points on 2-of-4 shooting from three, and Wilbekin went 7-of-10 from the charity stripe to post 12 points along with a game-high six assists.

With the game tied at 10 early in the opening period, Rosario hit consecutive threes as part of a 12-2 run that pushed Florida ahead 22-12. Two more treys from Rosario, complimented by one from Murphy, helped the Gators score 11-straight points and extend their scoring stretch to 27-5. UF led 37-15 with 5:17 left in the first half.

Minnesota (21-13) responded with a 10-2 run of its own fueled by four Florida turnovers in five possessions including two especially reckless miscues from Wilbekin and cut their deficit to 14 with 3:12 remaining.

The Gators (28-7) answered with nine-straight points including a second three from Murphy and a highlight alley-oop from Wilbekin to junior F Casey Prather to go up 23.

Continue Reading » Rosario’s career night propels (3) Florida over (11) Minnesota 78-64 and into Sweet 16 vs. FGCU

Tags: Big Ten, Billy Donovan, Casey Prather, Erik Murphy, Erwin Center, Kenny Boynton, Mike Rosario, Minnesota Golden Gophers, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Patric Young, Scottie Wilbekin, SEC, Sweet 16, Tubby Smith, Will Yeguete

The three-seed Florida Gators (27-7) advanced to the round of 32 in the 2013 NCAA Tournament with a 79-47 take down of the 14-seed Northwestern State Demons (23-9) on Friday evening at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, TX. On Saturday, head coach Billy Donovan and some of his players met with the media to discuss their upcoming game against the 11-seed Minnesota Golden Gophers (21-12) in the round of 32 on Sunday evening at 6:10 p.m. live on TNT.

FAMILIAR FOES

Donovan and Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith have gone head-to-head 24 times in their storied careers with Smith holding a 14-10 edge on Donovan despite the Florida coach winning the last six meetings between the two. On Saturday, Donovan and Smith were asked about going up against each other once again; they had plenty of praise for each other and their programs heading into the game.

Donovan on Smith and the Golden Gophers:

“[I’m] excited about the opportunity to play against Minnesota. Obviously Tubby and I go back a long way; he’s done a terrific job. [I have] a lot of respect for their team. I know we have a great challenge in front of us. But I think that all of us at Florida are excited about the opportunity to be able to play again [Sunday]. [...]

“Tubby and I have got a very good relationship. I love his family. [...] All I can say is Tubby is a terrific coach, he’s done a great job with his team. They’re very talented, they’re very gifted, they have got a lot of experience, they have played in a very, very difficult conference, they’re a tough, hardened team. And with all those things being said, I think we all realize at Florida what a great challenge we have in front of us. [...]

“Minnesota, right now, forget about the seeding, they have played in the Big Ten, arguably the best conference – from what people say – in the country. They have probably played against 10 or 11 top 10 teams over the period of time, playing Indiana twice, playing Michigan State, all that. So our guys understand that the playing field of college basketball, anything can happen in a one game deal. And our guys live in that for five, six months. We see that happen quite a bit.”

Continue Reading » 3/23: Donovan and Smith are familiar foes, Gators must get physical, Wilbekin vs. Hollins

Tags: Andre Hollins, Big Ten, Billy Donovan, Casey Prather, Memphis Golden Gophers, Mike Rosario, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Patric Young, Scottie Wilbekin, SEC, Tubby Smith

Behind impressive performances from the team’s two biggest players, the three-seed Florida Gators (27-7) outscored the 14-seed Northwestern State Demons (23-9) by 24 points in the second half on the way to a 79-47 victory on Friday evening during the second round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament.

Florida advanced by holding Northwestern State’s offense, ranked No. 1 in the nation at 81.0 points per contest, to just 15 points in the second half and 47 for the game.

The Gators’ third-ranked defense, coupled with 34 points and 17 rebounds combined from senior forward Erik Murphy and junior center Patric Young, pushed UF to a dominant victory at the Erwin Center in Austin, TX.

With the game in a frenetic pace and the score tied at 17 in the early going, Florida opened up its first big lead of the contest with an 11-4 run capped by a three-pointer from senior guard Kenny Boynton that put it ahead 28-21 midway through the first half.

A free throw by Young followed by a trey from redshirt senior G Mike Rosario extended the Gators’ advantage to eight points.

Though UF kept knocking on the door of pushing its lead up to double digits, Northwestern State answered with big shots that kept Florida within its sights.

Continue Reading » Four Gators score in double figures as (3) Florida takes down (14) Northwestern State 79-47

Tags: Billy Donovan, Casey Prather, Erik Murphy, Erwin Center, Kenny Boynton, Mike Rosario, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Northwestern State Demons, Patric Young, Scottie Wilbekin, SEC, Southland