1 » Despite ending their 2013 NCAA Tournament run in the Elite Eight for the third-straight year, Florida Gators basketball was placed at No. 9 in the final USA Today Coaches’ Top 25 poll of the 2012-13 season. Florida was not the only Elite Eight team to fall outside the top eight of the poll, however, as Marquette checked in at No. 11 in the final rankings. Indiana (Sweet 16 loss to Syracuse) and Kansas (Sweet 16 loss to Michigan) took the two other spots in the top eight. The Gators also checked in at No. 9 and No. 10 in 2011-12 and 2010-11, respectively, after losing in the Elite Eight. Florida will likely enter the 2013-14 campaign ranked in the preseason top-10.
2 » No. 2 Gators women’s tennis (17-2, 10-1 SEC) ran through its competition over the weekend, extending their winning streaks to 10 consecutive team matches and 30-straight individual matches. Florida swept the Ole Miss Rebels (10-10, 4-6 SEC) and Mississippi State Bulldogs (7-12, 1-10 SEC) in a pair of home showdowns over the weekend at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville, FL. The Gators won all 11 matches and had the opportunity to celebrate Senior Day against the Bulldogs on Sunday. Seniors No. 1 Lauren Embree and No. 125 Caroline Hitimana were each unable to finish their singles matches due to Florida registering a quick 4-0 victory but both won their doubles contests. The No. 20 duo of Embree and junior Sofie Oyen picked up an 8-2 win, while Hitimana and junior Alex Cercone won 8-0.
On Monday, head coach Roland Thornqvist praised Embree at his press conference, making note of her incredible career and tremendous work ethic. “You want to know why Lauren Embree is the best college player to ever play the game?” he asked rhetorically. “It was Monday morning at 8:30, and after a weekend full of matches and practices, she runs to the courts, hits serves for 30 minutes, then I show up and we go at it [on the court] for an hour and 15 minutes. By 10:00, she’s done with two workouts already while the rest of tennis America is still sleeping. That’s why we’re good and that’s why she’s good. She sets the tone, the bar is high, and I think everybody feeds off of it. We’ve just been blessed to have that for four years. Frankly, it’s just amazing.” The Gators women’s tennis program is hoping to win its third-straight national title.
For as much as the Florida Gators accomplished on the field in 2012 (check out Monday’s post), the Gator Nation was making plenty of news off of it as well. From crazy occurrences and strange decisions to receiving major awards and being involved in the biggest sports stories of the last 12 months, Florida was spread all over the sports landscape in 2012. Below are OGGOA‘s Top 12 Off the Field Stories of the Year.
12 » A WACKY YEAR, INDEED
For every major story and exciting moment that occurred in 2012, there were plenty of instances in which Gators fans could not do anything but shake their heads, furrow their brows or shrug their shoulders at something they just saw or heard. Below is a list-within-a-list of the 10 most absurd moments of the year (sorted chronologically). Don’t worry, the rest of these stories are much shorter, so keep reading.
(1) Right in the middle of spring practice on Feb. 17, with coaches raving about team chemistry and noting massive improvement from the previous year, junior safety Matt Elamtweeted out a picture that looks like junior defensive end Dominique Easley riding his scooter inside the Florida football facility and around the Gator Head the players touch before heading out to the field each week. (2) One week after playing his last game as a member of the Gators basketball team, then-senior point guard Erving Walker found himself in trouble with the law when he was charged on March 30 with two misdemeanors for allegedly stealing a taco from a street vendor and evading police in Gainesville, FL. (3) Need a lesson on how to turn off an employer? Veteran wide receiver Jabar Gaffney went off on an epic Twitter rant on April 12, sending out derogatory statements about his wife and cousin (fellow former Gators star cornerback Lito Sheppard) only to claim three hours later that his account was hacked. (4) What better way to honor your favorite player than to get your hair cut and designed to look like him? That’s what San Antonio Spurs fan Patrick Gonzalez did for forward Matt Bonner. Gonzalez’s hair cut nearly got him suspended from school on May 16, but it also got Bonner’s attention and resulted in a pair of tickets and a meeting at a playoff game. (5) After some rather mundane barbs went back-and-forth between Florida head coach Will Muschamp and Texas A&M Aggies head coach Kevin Sumlin over the summer, Mayor Nancy Berry of College Station, TX decided to post a comedic video of her poking good-natured fun at the former Texas defensive coordinator on June 1.
(6) Hours after taking home the first NCAA Outdoor Championship in program history on June 10, Gators track & field suffered a serious scare in the air when its plane suffered a cracked windshield at 37,000 feet and underwent a rough landing in Tuscaloosa, AL. The windshield shattered after the plane landed but everyone was OK. (7) How do you answer a quarterback controversy and answer questions about which signal caller is going to start the first game of the season? Start both of them! That’s what Muschamp did on Sept. 1 when sophomores Jacoby Brissett (quarterback) and Jeff Driskel (wide receiver) both came out with the starting offense on its first play from scrimmage against Bowling Green. (8) With Muschamp leading the team, he is sure to find his way on this list at least once per year. In a 13-day span, Muschamp made headlines by being himself. After Florida defeated LSU at home on Dec. 7, he decided to celebrate by crowd surfing over his own players in the locker room. Two weeks later, at halftime against South Carolina, Muschamp vented his frustration about the officiating to Brady Ackerman of the Gator Radio Network. He saw an official walking by as the teams headed to their respective locker rooms and made sure to make it known how upset he was at some of the calls in the first half. “Well, we just gotta continue to capitalize on what we’re doing and OVERCOME THE ADVERSITY ON THE FIELD!” (9) With ESPN’s College GameDay in Gainesville for the South Carolina game, having former Gators swimmer Ryan Lochte on set as the guest picker was an easy and obvious decision for the network. Never did ESPN guess that he would find difficulty in reading off the list of picks provided for him. (10) Why is Chad Johnson in Gainesville … and why is he meeting with Florida? Those were questions fans asked on Nov. 2 when it was revealed that the NFL free agent wide receiver – fresh off being embarrassed on national television when he was cut by the Miami Dolphins after being arrested for allegedly hitting his wife – had shown up in town and was taking pictures with players on the team one day before UF took on Missouri.
Societa Veroli Basket announced over the weekend that it has signed former Florida Gators point guard Erving Walker to play for the team this season. Known more commonly as Prima Veroli, the team plays in Legadue Basket (Lega2 Basket), which is the second-highest division of professional basketball in Italy.
In the release (translated), Prima Veroli says the head coach “has decided to again focus on a rookie for the direction of the team” and that acquiring Walker “scored a major hit against the competition of different teams that were [in] on the American talent.”
The team added that working with Walker’s Italian agent Matteo Comellini on a contract was a breeze (it has already been signed) and that it hopes Walker is in uniform by Aug. 20 after he completes the necessary visa paperwork.
Walker, who played more minutes than anyone in the history of Florida basketball, set the program’s career assist mark (547) before graduating and left the team ranked second in three-pointers made (285) and fourth on the all-time scoring list (1,777 points).
It is the second-straight year that a former Gators player has signed to play overseas after forward Alex Tyus played professionally for Maccabi Ashdod of Israel’s second league during the 2011-12 season. He averaged 12 points and 8.5 rebounds over the course of the season and was named the league’s Sixth Man of the Year.
Tyus will join Walker in Italy this season after signing a two-year, $525,000 deal to play for Pallacanestro Cantu of the Euroleague, which is known as the highest tier of international club basketball in Europe. He also received his Israeli passport and has begun training with Israel’s national team.
Houston Rockets F Chandler Parsons, after being selected in the second round of the 2011 NBA Draft, also played for Cholet Basket of the French Pro A League last season during the NBA lockout.
1 » Former Florida Gators point guard and current NBA undrafted free agent Erving Walker is one of a few players featured in a new commercial by Nike promoting the Nike Hyperdunk+ shoe system. Check it out below (thanks to OGGOA reader Alex A.):
2 » College Station, TX mayor Nancy Berry made waves in June when the City of College Station posted a comedic video online featuring her poking good-natured fun at Florida head coach Will Muschamp after he took a jab at her city over the spring during a Gator Gathering. At the 2012 Southeastern Conference Media Days on Wednesday, Muschamp told ESPN that he found plenty of humor in her multimedia retort (video below). “I thought it was really funny,” he said. “I thought it was great. It’s good that nobody’s so sensitive. Mayor Berry has a great sense of humor.” He added that his wife, Carol, loved it as well. “I’ve seen her laugh hard several times in our life and that’s one of the hardest I’ve ever seen her laugh.”
Florida Gators guard Bradley Beal did not have to wait long see his dream come true on Thursday evening as he was selected with the No. 3 overall pick in the first round of the 2012 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards.
Beal only played at Florida for one season but quickly became the Gators most important player. He played a team-high 34.2 minutes per game and averaged 14.8 points (second-most on the team) while registering team-highs of 6.7 rebounds and 1.4 steals. He only got better in the postseason, leading Florida to the Elite Eight by shooting 60.5 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from downtown in the 2012 NCAA Tournament.
The 2011 Gatorade National Player of the Year coming out of high school, Beal received plenty of awards from the Southeastern Conference throughout his freshman campaign. He won SEC Freshman of the Week six times and was named to the All-SEC first team and SEC All-Freshman Team by the league’s coaches.
Beal will sign a four-year contract with Washington worth approximately $17.7 million, the final two years of which are team options. He would be a restricted free agent in the 2015-16 season should the Wizards sign him to a $6.2 million qualifying offer.
The Washington franchise (dating back to 1961) had never selected a player out of Florida before drafting Beal on Thursday. He will be the first Gators star to play for the Wizards since G Mike Miller (2009-10).
Beal, the 11th first-round pick out of Florida all-time, matches forward/center Al Horford as the second-highest drafted player in school history. Neal Walk was selected by Phoenix with the No. 2 overall pick in 1969.
Point guard Erving Walker, was not selected in the two-round draft.
Back from Brazil with a gold medal, Florida Gators head basketball coach Billy Donovan shared his thoughts on the upcoming season as part of the Southeastern Conference‘s summer teleconference on Monday.
FRONTCOURT MIGHT HAVE TO LEAD THE WAY
Doing a 180 from last season, which saw the team run through the veteran backcourt and extremely talented freshman Bradley Beal, Donovan admitted Monday that he may very well lean on his experienced frontcourt to lead the way for the Gators this season.
“I do think with Erik Murphy being a senior, Will Yeguete played a lot as a sophomore before he got injured, Patric Young a year older, Cody Larson a year older…I think clearly depth-wise we have some really good experience,” he said. “Any time you lose a starting point guard like we are with Erving Walker, and then you obviously lose a top-five pick in Brad Beal, that certainly changes the complexion of your backcourt. For Scottie Wilbekin and Braxton Ogbueze as a freshman and Kenny Boynton, we’ll have to create an identity back there. That’s something I’ve given some thought about.
“Defensively, because of Erving at times with his size, defensively we struggled at times against bigger guards. Scottie is a bigger, stronger guard. Braxton is a strong guard as well. I feel pretty confident in terms of our frontcourt and what’s returning but any time you take a point guard off of a team that has been a starter for three years, there’s a different element and dynamic that you have to deal with as you go into the season.”
That is why Donovan could lean on Boynton to run some point this year; he can help the team win while simultaneously improving his skill set for NBA evaluators. He will also utilize redshirt senior Mike Rosario plenty and get contributions from junior Casey Prather, who came on strong in the postseason.
Though Ogbueze will be in the best position to see immediate playing time, Florida also has three other freshmen waiting in the wings including Michael Frazier, Dillon Graham and DeVon Walker. Donovan explained why the Gators concentrated to heavily on recruiting guards in the 2012 cycle.
“My biggest concern going into last year’s recruiting was Erving was going to be a senior, Kenny Boynton would have the opportunity to at least look at putting his name in early, Mike Rosario was a 1,000-point scorer in two years at Rutgers and Brad Beal I thought had the opportunity [to go pro]. I was really worried if we lost Kenny Boynton, Erving Walker and Brad Beal that we need to make sure from a recruiting standpoint that we had some depth back there,” he said.
“That was kind of our focus, and I think because we had some young frontcourt players returning at that point in time, a lot of kids probably looked at what kind of room is there for me to play. We didn’t really add a lot of frontcourt pieces in the incoming freshman class but more than anything I was concerned going into this season if we really would have lost all of those guys to the draft, to graduation, what kind of situation we’d be in.”
Donovan has yet to determine how much time each freshman may or may not see on the court but is excited to evaluate them all during the limited time they have together over the summer.
“I think the kids that are coming in understand that there’s the possibility that there’s going to be some experience and some depth with Rosario and Scottie Wilbekin and Kenny Boynton,” he said. “But they also know after a year or so that things will really open up. The kids coming in seem like very good team guys. I’ll get a lot better feel now in July because we can work these guys out and be on the floor with them, and I’ll probably know more before we get started in the fall.”
MORE COMMUNICATION = FEWER TRANSFERS
Donovan pointed out Monday that college basketball players have been transferring at an alarming rate over the last few years, and he believes that the new NCAA rule allowing coaches and recruits unlimited contact via phone calls and text messages may help aid that issue.
“From a social media, electronic standpoint now, the communication that you are able to do now is totally different than it was 10 years ago. If you look at the last 3-4-5 years in college basketball, there has been a monumental transfer rate every year. It seems to get higher and higher. I think a lot of that has to do with some of the recruiting model, with the limitations on what we have been able to do contact-wise with players,” he explained.
“I have never felt like, as a coach, I’ve really been able to get the chance to know a prospect or that a prospect has not really got the chance to know you [with the old communications rules]. If you’ve got a player that you’re recruiting geographically that’s close to your campus that has the ability to come on campus and develop that kind of relationship, it is kind of a better feel of the player. The player has a better feel of your program. But I think once you’re recruiting away from your area so to speak and you’re limited to what we’re limited with…even in July you can’t make any phone calls and do those things. I thought it was a process that really promoted everybody making bad decisions and choices.
“Now between caller ID and e-mail and text messaging…these guys have the ability to communicate with who they want to communicate with and not communicate with people they don’t want to communicate with. If anything, if a kid is being inundated with a lot of messages by a lot of different schools, I think what it does is it allows that player to get a lot more serious earlier about who does he really want to look at. Who are the schools he is most interested in. Any time you open up the lines of communication between two parties, I think that’s the healthiest and best way to get to know each other.”
For the first time since being announced as the Florida Gators new assistant basketball coach on April 12, Rashon Burno met with the media on Thursday to discuss what brought him to Florida and how he plans to fit in with the Gators.
ADJUSTING TO A NEW HOME
A lifelong Northerner, Burno has spent most of his playing and coaching career in New York and Illinois. Though a move to Florida was undoubtedly a change of lifestyle for him and his family, he knew it was something he wanted from the moment he was offered an interview by head coach Billy Donovan. “I got on a plane with the intention of taking the job if offered. I was more nervous that I was not going to get an offer,” he said.
Burno got that offer and accepted the job immediately. He is already comfortable in Gainesville, FL but is being tested by two things in particular about the adjustment: the temperature and… “The most challenging part, obviously, is when you leave for your family,” he said, “but basketball-wise, you’re still doing the same thing. You’re still on the grind, still trying to evaluate talent. You may be looking at a little bit better talent than Manhattan, which is obviously an adjustment, but so far so good.”
Now that he’s adjusted, Burno expects the rest of his family to join him in approximately six weeks and knows that his children especially will love going to the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. “They’re excited to because they’re of age where they know basketball,” he said. “I have twin boys who are age 11. They love basketball. They love Erving Walker. They thought he could do no wrong – small guy who could shoot it, offensive threat, they love that guy. At their age all they want to do is shoot, shoot, shoot. Not that Erv shot a lot. Not saying that. Not saying that. [Laughing] It’s good for those guys. They’re eager to get down here and make new friends and get in the community.”
He also has no expectation of being part of the seemingly endless rotation of Gators basketball assistants and expects to be wearing orange and blue for quite some time. “In this business I think, for me, I wanted to get with people who I respect. My prior relationship with Billy was built on mutual respect,” Burno said. “This is something that obviously I want to be a long-term fix or me. I’m not looking to go anywhere. I’m happy for the opportunity.”
As in many professions, moving up the ladder in the industry of college basketball is all about who you know. Luckily for Burno, a star player for St. Anthony’s High School in Jersey City, NJ under head coach Bob Hurley (a close friend of Donovan’s) and assistant under Manhattan head coach Steve Masiello (a friend and former assistant of Rick Pitino), he had the relationships and experience to get him his new gig.
“I think it goes back to working for a Pitino guy in Coach Masiello. You do a good job for someone in the family and the word travels. So I hope,” he said of how he got in touch with Donovan. “It was over a four-five year span of really picking [Donovan’s] brain about how to be a productive coach. I think that helped in the process because he got to know me off the floor. I think it paid dividends obviously with the opportunity to work for him.”
Though he did not know Donovan personally until a few years ago, Burno explained that he always admired his work from afar. “Just anybody that wins two national titles as a coach you’ve got to take your hat off to them and just respect what he does and what he stands for,” he said. “For me, from a coaching standpoint, he’s somebody that I looked up to and reached out to and was looking to build a relationship with.”
Burno added, “Just I think his offense was ahead of the game – pick and roll now you see pretty much throughout college basketball. I’m a big basketball fan so I was always a fan of his. It was just a matter of trying to build a relationship. [...] It just so happened this thing comes full circle that I can work for a guy like that.”
A TENACIOUS RECRUITER
One of Burno’s strong suits is his recruiting acumen and ability to relate to players. He described himself as “tenacious” in regards to bringing in players and explained that having a rough background can help relate to guys going through similar situations.
“I try to wear many hats because every kid is different. I try to adapt to a particular kid. But I’m just consistent with my message as far as talking to kids. Definitely one of aggression – just trying to make sure they understand where they stand with us,” he said. “You just try to use your own experience to try and help educate a kid on why this is a good opportunity for them. Having similar backgrounds with the kids I’m currently recruiting helps as well.”
One player Burno does not have to recruit is redshirt senior guard Mike Rosario, a fellow St. Anthony’s player who he will get to coach in his first year at Florida. Needless to say he is excited for the opportunity. “We are a fraternity. It’s really odd that I ended up coaching Mike his last year of college. I’ve known Mike for a long time and watched him for afar. He’s a talented kid. I think this is the first time in the history of St. Anthony’s that a former player is coaching [another] former player from St. Anthony’s,” he said.
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. In these instances, or when stories fall through the cracks, we catch and wrap them all up with Gator Bites.
» A rough senior season at the center position made many Florida Gators fans skeptical that Mike Pouncey could play the position as well as his twin brother. But after one year as the starting center for the Miami Dolphins, those questions no longer exist as Pouncey has proven that he can perform at a Pro Bowl level (though he did not make it to the game in 2011). Now he is focused on getting even better and told the Sun-Sentinel it all starts with eating better. “I can get away with [eating fast food], but I changed it up this year just trying to eat more leaner stuff,” he said. “I hired a chef, so it’s been working well for me.” Pouncey also feels the zone blocking scheme the Dolphins will be employing in 2012 and beyond will benefit him and the offense; he expects a breakout season for himself. “They say your second year is supposed to be your best year,” he said. “I’m hoping for big things. I’m coming out as hard as I can. I want to take on more of a leadership role this year.”
» Florida head basketball coach Billy Donovan has been working with the United States U18 National Team over the last few weeks and began action in the 2012 FIBA Americas U18 Championship with his squad on Saturday. Donovan’s young squad is already 2-0 in international competition with a 105-42 victory over the Virgin Islands on Saturday and a 110-59 win over Mexico on Sunday. The U.S. will take on Brazil on Monday to conclude first-round action with the semifinals taking place Tuesday and the championship being held on Wednesday. Donovan’s squad needs to place in the top four teams at the end of the event in order to advance to the 2013 FIBA World Championship next summer. “I told them there are three things we want to accomplish. First and foremost, win a gold medal. Second, we’ve got a lot of guys on our team going into college and we want them to get maybe a bit more prepared than some other incoming freshmen for what they’re going to face in college. And third, we want to help them get better as players,” Donovan told the Sporting News before leaving for Brazil.
» Gators linebacker Neiron Ball, who missed the entire 2011 season after a blood vessel burst in his brain and he was diagnosed with a hereditary vascular condition, was officially cleared to participate in all football activities by team doctors on Friday. Ball had previously announced on March 1 that he had medical clearance from doctors to return to action, but head coach Will Muschamp cautioned in April and May that while he had returned to work out with the team that he was not a full participant and was still awaiting an additional clearance. Now that Ball is good to go, he will compete for immediate playing time at Buck linebacker, a position with a major depth issue now that junior Ronald Powell is out until at least mid-October with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
» Florida track & field coach Mike Holloway was awarded his first Coach of the Year honor for the outdoor season by the USTFCCCA on Thursday. He had previously won the award in consecutive years for the indoor season (2010-11). Holloway’s men’s team swept the 2012 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships this season.
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. In these instances, or when stories fall through the cracks, we catch and wrap them all up with Gator Bites.
