By Corey Mitleider and Scott Barr – OGGOA Contributors

No. 1 Florida Gators gymnastics dominated the Gainesville Regional on Saturday evening in front of 7,137 fans at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center, winning the event with a 198.400, the 10th-highest score in NCAA history.

No. 12 Minnesota scored a 197.100 to finish second and will join Florida in Los Angeles, CA in two weeks as both teams advanced to the 2013 NCAA Championship semifinal set for Friday, April 19 at 3 p.m.

The Gators were led on Saturday by their three all-arounders who finished one-two-three overall in the event. Sophomore Kytra Hunter scored 39.775 to take the title, posting a 9.925 (2nd) on beam as well as a 9.95 on vault (T-1st), bars (2nd) and floor (T-1st). Freshman Bridget Sloan continued her dominance with a 39.675, which included a near-perfect 9.975 on bars to take the individual event title. Senior Marissa King (39.650) finished third with 9.95s on beam (1st) and floor (T-1st).

Continue Reading » Gators gymnastics one step closer to the title

Tags: Alaina Johnson, Ashanée Dickerson, Bridget Sloan, Bridgette Caquatto, Gainesville Regional, gymnastics, Kytra Hunter, Marissa King, NCAA, NCAA Super Six, Randy Stageberg, Stephen C. O'Connell Center

It took 15 seasons with the Florida Gators for head coach Billy Donovan to earn his first conference coaching honor despite winning two national championships, coaching in three title games and leading his team to three-straight SEC Tournament victories. Coming off his fifth league regular season title (third outright), Donovan learned Tuesday that he has won his second conference coaching award in the last three seasons as he was chosen as the 2013 SEC Coach of the Year by his peers.

Donovan’s Gators (24-6, 14-4 SEC) opened the SEC slate with eight-straight victories and a 27.75-point margin of victory in those games. Though Florida slid a bit and lost four of its final 10 games in-conference, the Gators still won the league title outright and were the only team in the SEC to remain in the top 25 polls all season long.

UF finished 15-0 at home in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on the season, the second-best home record in school history (18-0 – 2006-07) and fifth time Donovan has led his team to an undefeated record in the O’Dome.

Florida also helped Donovan achieve his 15th-straight 20-win season dating back to 1999. He has the third-longest active streak of 20-win seasons behind Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski (17) and Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim (16) and fifth-longest all-time.

Donovan is now known as the dean of SEC coaches despite being younger than five of his other 13 peers. In his 17th season with the Gators, he is the longest tenured active head coach in the league and has seen 28 coaches come and go through the SEC while he has remained at Florida.

He also this season became the third coach in SEC history to win 400 games and heads into the 2013 SEC Tournament with 410 wins, just 38 behind LSU’s Dale Brown (448) and many more back of Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp (875).

Florida also had a number of its players honored Tuesday by the league’s coaches:

Senior forward Erik Murphy was chosen for the First Team All-SEC with senior guard Kenny Boynton, redshirt senior G Mike Rosario and junior center Patric Young each earning Second Team nods. (Rosario and Young tied in voting; ties are not broken.)

Young, who was named the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year on Monday, and junior point guard Scottie Wilbekin were named to the SEC All-Defensive Team, and freshman G Michael Frazier II won a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team.

Other league awards went to Georgia’s Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (SEC Player of the Year), Kentucky’s Nerlens Noel (SEC Freshman of the Year, SEC Defensive Player of the Year) and UK’s Kyle Wiltjer (SEC Sixth Man of the Year).

Photo Credit: Unknown

Tags: All-Defensive, All-Freshman, All-SEC, Billy Donovan, Coach of the Year, Erik Murphy, Kenny Boynton, Michael Frazier, Mike Rosario, Patric Young, Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Scottie Wilbekin, SEC, Stephen C. O'Connell Center

1 » When Florida Gators junior center Patric Young climbed the ladder and snipped his piece of Florida’s 2013 SEC Championship on Wednesday evening in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center, fans in attendance serenaded him with chants of, “One more year!” Asked after the game if he does indeed plan on remaining in Gainesville, FL for his senior season, Young said he is unsure at this point. “[The fans] are thinking about it, but I’m not thinking about it too much,” said Young, according to The Gainesville Sun. “You know I love being here. There’s no better program in America. I love playing for coach [Billy] Donovan. I’m going to do what’s best for me and my family and whatever makes me happy, honestly.” Young is currently projected to be a mid-to-late second-round selection by numerous NBA Draft analysts. His stock has actually dropped over the last two years as scouts have not seen him progress as much as they would prefer. Sticking with the Gators and putting the finishing touches on his game – improving his mid-range jump shot, becoming a more consistent rebounder, providing a sustained level of energy – could help him in the long run.

2 » According to Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitch, who received confirmation Wednesday from the network, ESPN sideline reporter Jenn Brown has decided to leave the company. “Jenn Brown is no longer working for ESPN,” spokesman Mike Humes told SI. “We wish her well.” Brown first began working for ESPN in 2006 and signed full-time with the company in 2010. She had her workload increase with the departure of Erin Andrews but appears to have been one-upped by Samantha Ponder, who took some of the higher profile network assignments that Brown may have been expecting to receive. Brown, a former Florida softball player, is the second member of the Gators family to leave the network in the last seven months after Andrews (a former UF dazzler) departed for FOX Sports in August. Former Florida quarterback Jesse Palmer remains with the network as a college football analyst.

Extra BIT » FOX Sports Florida announced on Thursday that the Gators’ spring game, the 2013 Orange & Blue Debut previously set for April 6, will air live on Sun Sports at 1 p.m. Additionally, FSF will be airing the game live online at FOXSportsFlorida.com and replaying the contest on television the following Sunday and multiple times thereafter (check your local listings). Larry Vettel (play-by-play), Nat Moore (color commentary) and Brady Ackerman (sideline reporting) will be on the call.

Tags: Billy Donovan, dazzlers, Draft, Erin Andrews, ESPN, Jenn Brown, NBA, Orange & Blue Debut, Patric Young, softball, Stephen C. O'Connell Center

It was a storybook Senior Night for No. 9/11 Florida Gators basketball, which capped off Wednesday evening’s festivities at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center by celebrating a victory and cutting down the nets after defeating the Vanderbilt Commodores 66-40 to clinch the outright 2013 SEC Championship.

Florida (24-5, 14-3 SEC), which locked up a share of its sixth regular-season title on Saturday, won its second outright championship in the last three years and the fourth in program history by outplaying Vanderbilt (13-16, 7-10 SEC) on both ends of the court.

The Gators completed an undefeated season at home (15-0) for the second time in school history and also clinched the No. 1 overall seed in the 2013 SEC Tournament.

Continue Reading » Nets come down as Florida Gators clinch fourth outright SEC regular-season title in school history

Tags: Erik Murphy, Kedren Johnson, Kenny Boynton, Mike Rosario, Patric Young, SEC, SEC Championship, Senior Night, Stephen C. O'Connell Center, Vanderbilt Commodores

Location: Stephen C. O’Connell Center – Gainesville, FL [Capacity: 11,548]
Time: 8:00 p.m. EST

TV: SEC Network (Dave Neal, Barry Booker) [Affiliates]
SiriusXM: 123/190 | Radio: Gator Radio Network [Affiliates]
Online Video: ESPN3.com | Mobile Video: WatchESPN app
Live Updates: @OnlyGators on Twitter and SportsYapper app

Odds: Florida -19 | O/U OFF

HISTORY / STREAKS / STATS

» Florida clinched at least a share of the SEC regular season title on Saturday but is looking to win the championship outright on Wednesday for the second time in the last three years. The Gators have won six SEC regular season titles (four outright).
» Vanderbilt leads the all-time series against UF 64-60, but Florida has the upper hand recently with a 22-12 record Donovan and 4-1 mark in the last five meetings. The Gators are 38-13 against the Commodores in the O’Dome (13-3 under Donovan).
» For the first time since 1965, Florida and Vanderbilt will not square off in a home-and-home series during the regular season. This will be their only meeting.
» The Gators are undefeated at home this season and have started 14-0 in the O’Dome for the fourth time under Donovan. UF can get to 15-0 for just the third time ever and finish undefeated for just the second time under Donovan with a win Wednesday.
» Four Gators starters are averaging double figures in scoring. The Commodores have just two players that score in double digits on average.
» Florida is 48-5 since the beginning of the 2011-12 season when holding opponents under 71 points in a game (22-4 in 2012-13).
» Vanderbilt has won three-straight games after starting the SEC slate 4-9. The Commodores, however, have lost both games against ranked opponents this season by an average of 20.5 points.
» The Gators are 4-1 against top-25 opponents this season after going 3-5 against ranked adversaries last season with all five losses coming to top-three teams.
» Florida is 0-4 this season in single-digit decisions.
» The Gators are second nationally in scoring margin (+19.3), third in scoring defense (53.4), seventh in field goal defense (.376), eighth in field goal percentage (.488), 14th in three-point shooting (8.5 per game) and assist-turnover ratio (1.38), 19th in turnover margin (3.4), 22th in three-point defense (.299) and 25th in assists (15.5).
» Florida is also fifth nationally in fouling, committing 13.9 per game.

Read more about Senior Night in the O’Dome and Florida-Vanderbilt…

Continue Reading » Senior Night – Gameday: No. 9/11 Florida Gators vs. Vanderbilt Commodores

Tags: Billy Donovan, Erik Murphy, Kenny Boynton, Kevin Stallings, Mike Rosario, SEC, SEC Championship, Stephen C. O'Connell Center, Vanderbilt Commodores

OGGOA concludes its look at the three seniors set to be honored Wednesday evening as the Florida Gators basketball program celebrates Senior Night at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. Be sure to check out the other two features as well.

Monday - Forward Erik Murphy: “It’s been the best four years of my life.”
Tuesday - Guard Mike Rosario: “You got to be accountable for everything you do.”

When senior guard Kenny Boynton committed to the Florida Gators on Oct. 30, 2008, he was ranked as the No. 12 overall prospect in the 2009 recruiting class and seen as player who would spend one – maybe two – years in college before moving on.

Things obviously did not go as planned for Boynton. While reflecting on his four-year career at Florida on Monday, he certainly admitted as much.

“I think everything happens for a reason. I think in the four years that I’ve been here, I think I’ve gotten better as a player. I definitely didn’t think, when I first signed, that I would be here four years,” he said.

Boynton earned himself a starting role right away as a freshman. He averaged team-highs in minutes per game (32.9) and scoring average (14.0) in his first season but was quite inefficient overall, shooting just 37.6 percent from the floor and 29.4 percent from beyond the arc. Those numbers basically held true during his sophomore campaign, making it quite clear that a professional career would have to wait as he worked on improving his game at the collegiate level.

What Boynton did accomplish in those first two seasons was helping the Gators return to the NCAA Tournament after consecutive NIT appearances. Florida got bounced by BYU in a two-overtime dogfight in the first round when Boynton was a freshman but won the 2011 SEC regular season title outright and made its first of back-to-back Elite Eight appearances during his sophomore season. The Gators returned to prominence and he was a big part of that turnaround.

Continue Reading » Florida Gators senior G Kenny Boynton: “I’ve tried my best to win as much as I could.”

Tags: Billy Donovan, Kenny Boynton, Patric Young, Scottie Wilbekin, SEC, SEC Championship, Senior Night, Stephen C. O'Connell Center

1 » Former Florida Gators currently playing in the NBA collectively had an interesting last three days. Centers Al Horford of the Atlanta Hawks and Joakim Noah of the Chicago Bulls each started March off on fire after concluding February with a career game. Horford averaged 22 points, six rebounds, 3.5 assists and three steals in two weekend games, while Noah posted two more double-doubles and averages of 17.5 points, 10 boards, five assists and 2.5 blocks in his two games. Washington Wizards rookie guard Bradley Beal posted a career-high 29 points in a double-double performance (11 rebounds) on Friday but then went down hard on Sunday with a sprained left ankle that was so painful it reportedly caused him to blackout on the court. X-rays came back negative but Beal remains day-to-day for the Wizards. Houston Rockets forward Chandler Parsons capped off the weekend with an explosive performance Sunday, scoring a career-high 32 points on 12-of-13 shooting (6-of-7 from downtown) in just 30 minutes. He became the first player since Larry Bird to score 30+ points, shoot 92 percent or better and attempt at least five three-pointers. Parsons, a second-round pick and second-year player, continues to be an incredibly valuable player for the Rockets; he has scored 20+ points in four-straight games.

2 » Entering the weekend unranked and losers of five-straight games to Georgia Southern, Florida Gulf Coast (three) and North Florida, Florida baseball first dropped its sixth-straight contest before rallying to win the final two games of its weekend series against the Miami Hurricanes. The Gators (5-7) handed the Canes (10-2) their first two losses on the season, toppling their foes with a four-run eighth inning on Saturday and a four-run third inning on Sunday. Sophomore catcher Taylor Gushue (3/8, 4 RBI, R, 2 BB) led Florida offensively and helped both freshman right-handed reliever Jay Carmichael (1-1) and sophomore RHP Johnny Magliozzi (1-0) pick up their first victories of the season. UF plays five games in the next seven days including a home-and-home against Jacksonville and a three-game series at home against Indiana.

Read five more BITS of Gators news…after the break!
Continue Reading » SIX BITS: NBA, baseball, Tebow, women, Gillespie

Tags: Al Horford, Alyssa Bache, Ashanée Dickerson, Atlanta Hawks, baseball, Bradley Beal, Brianna Morgan, Bridget Sloan, Chandler Parsons, Chicago Bulls, Dali Lemezan, Danielle Collins, gymnastics, Hannah Rogers, Houston Rockets, Joakim Noah, Johnny Magliozzi, Kytra Hunter, lacrosse, Lauren Embree, Lauren Haeger, MacKenzie Caquatto, Marissa King, Miami Hurricanes, Minnesota Golden Gophers, NBA, New York Jets, NFL, Randy Stageberg, Robert Gillespie, softball, Stephen C. O'Connell Center, Taylor Gushue, Tennessee Volunteers, tennis, Texas A&M Aggies, Tim Tebow, Tim Walton, Washington Wizards

Former Florida Gators defensive end Thaddeus Bullard, a reserve member of the football team from 1997-2000, played in 44 games over the course of his career and was a true student-athlete on campus at the University of Florida.

Bullard won consecutive Goodwill Gator awards in 1998 and 1999, was the primary backup at defensive end in 1999 and 2000 and registered totals of 56 tackles, six sacks and three forced fumbles in his four years. He also served as UF Student Body Vice President beginning in the spring of 2000 through the summer terms.

He then played for four separate Arena Football League teams from 2003-07 before deciding to retire from the game and focus on his family. Two years later, he took up professional wrestling and soon established himself as Titus O’Neil.

O’Neil quickly rose through the ranks of the WWE and is now a featured superstar on the company’s roster and one half of the popular Prime Time Players tag team. Partnered with Darren Young, he hopes to one day become a champion and earn millions of dollars while holding a belt.

Bullard has visited Gainesville, FL twice over the past year, most recently stopping by during the first week of February. He met with the football coaching staff during National Signing Day, hung out with the basketball team and even attended Florida’s big 83-58 win over Mississippi State on Feb. 9.

Bullard sat down with OGGOA for a half hour last month to discuss his most recent stay in Gainesville, his love for the Gators and what fans can expect to see from him in the near future as he continues rise in the WWE.

ADAM SILVERSTEIN: What does it feel like for you when you come back to Gainesville now that you have a family to bring with you?
THADDEUS BULLARD / TITUS O’NEIL: “I’ve been back there before with them – to football games and stuff – but now at this point in my career with the WWE, being able to come back is special. I come back as a different person to many that see me, and it’s a great feeling. It’s fun for my kids, too, since they were involved in the process of me coming back as Titus O’Neil on the big stage. They obviously see their dad every week and they have to share me with the world. It’s a different life for us now going out to eat and going different places. Everyone knows dad as ‘Titus O’Neil’ whereas four years ago, daddy was just ‘daddy.’”

Read the rest of OGGOA’s exclusive interview with Thaddeus Bullard…
Continue Reading » Florida Gators DE Thaddeus Bullard making his mark as WWE superstar Titus O’Neil

Tags: Abby Wambach, Billy Donovan, Gator Chomp, Heather Mitts, National Signing Day, Patric Young, Stephen C. O'Connell Center, Thaddeus Bullard, Titus O'Neil, University of Florida, Will Muschamp, wrestling, WWE