1 » A pair of Florida Gators will be competing at the 2013 Masters this week at Augusta National Golf Club, one of whom is a current University of Florida student and a member of the school’s golf team. Senior T.J. Vogel, a 22-year old amateur, will be playing in his first ever major and has decided to properly take in the moment. Over the weekend, he and his caddie arranged his schedule so he could “bump” into Tiger Woods during an early-morning tee time. “I basically ran into him and we talked for a few minutes,” he said according to the Orlando Sentinel. Vogel has been playing at Augusta as much as possible in preparation for the Masters and will get his big opportunity starting on Thursday. He will be joined in Augusta by former Gators golfer Brian Gay, who has played as a professional since 1994 and has four PGA Tour wins but has never finished better than 20th in a major (2008 PGA Championship).

2 » Former Florida catcher Mike Zunino, the highest-drafted baseball player in school history (No. 3 in the 2012 MLB Draft), is breaking out in a major way while playing minor league baseball for the Seattle Mariners. Currently assigned to the Tacoma Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League (Triple-A), Zunino is simply crushing the ball. On Tuesday night, Zunino smacked a grand slam and has now hit a homer in three-straight games. He has hit four home runs in five games and boasts a MiLB-high 16 RBI while batting .429 and slugging an absurd 1.238 with an on-base percentage of 1.696.

Read four more Florida Gators news BITS…after the break!
Continue Reading » SIX BITS: Masters, Zunino, baseball, Elam, Horford

Tags: Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks, baseball, Brian Gay, Daniel Gibson, Draft, Eurocup, Florida State Seminoles, golf, Harrison Bader, Josh Tobias, Masters, Mike Zunino, MiLB, MLB, NBA, Nick Calathes, PGA, Seattle Mariners, T.J. Vogel, Tacoma Rainiers, Walter Hodge

1 » Former Florida Gators guard Walter Hodge was named Most Valuable Player of the Polish Basketball League (English translation) on Friday. Hodge, who plays for Zastalu Zielona Gora in the nation’s top basketball league, received nine-of-14 MVP votes from the PBL’s coaches.

2 » New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez told the New York Post on Thursday that everything is going swimmingly so far with QB Tim Tebow in the team’s offseason program. “He’s been as advertised, as good of a guy, if not better, than anybody said,” he explained. “So, he’s been a great addition so far. I’m thrilled to work with him. From a competitor standpoint, he’s great. He’s what you want in an offseason program – working hard, competing with the guy in the weight room. [...] It’s been a good transition and Tim’s been great.” It will be interesting to see if Sanchez holds those same opinions once Tebow starts competing with him for the starting job.

3 » Florida sophomore center Patric Young has been participating in some tough offseason workouts with his teammates and has been making the details known on Twitter recently. On Friday he posted a video of a four-minute portion of the workouts complete with Young lifting a keg, flipping a tire and pushing a pick-up truck.

4 » The Southeastern Conference announced this week that it has created a SEC Baseball Legends program for the sport after already having one in existence for football and basketball. In conjunction with the announcement, the league will honor one player from each member institution at the upcoming SEC Tournament from May 22-27. Former Gators first baseman/outfielder/pitcher Brad Wilkerson will be Florida’s first inductee (and deservingly so). The Gators have also decided to honor Wilkerson’s multiple inductions this year (he will join the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in June) during Friday’s game against Georgia at McKethan Stadium in Gainesville, FL. The contest begins at 7 p.m. and airs live on Comcast Sports South.

Tags: baseball, Brad Wilkerson, Hall of Fame, Mark Sanchez, McKethan Stadium, New York Jets, NFL, Patric Young, SEC, SEC Baseball Legends, Tim Tebow, Walter Hodge

Just a day after securing the services of former four-star recruit and Rutgers transfer guard Mike Rosario (Jersey City, NJ), Florida Gators head basketball coach Billy Donovan added a fourth commitment to the 2010 class in three-star power forward Will Yeguete (Melbourne, FL).

Coming out of Florida Air Academy (the same high school as former Gators guard Walter Hodge), Yeguete is a big body at 6’7″, 210 lbs. He averages 15 points and 15 rebounds a game and chose Florida over Georgia Tech.

Born in France but raised in Côte d’Ivoire, Yeguete adds even more size to a Gators’ front court that is also bringing in two other forwards in four-stars Patric Young (Jacksonville, FL) and Casey Prather (Jackson, TN).

Tags: Billy Donovan, Casey Prather, Florida Air Academy, Florida Gators, Mike Rosario, Patric Young, Walter Hodge, Will Yeguete

1 » The Gainesville Sun is reporting that 2010 power forward recruit Will Yeguete of Florida Air Academy will visit the Florida Gators this weekend. Yeguete – who is choosing between Florida, Indiana and Georgia Tech – would not the first to make the transition from FAA to UF; guard Walter Hodge did it just a few years ago.

2 » Day one of the 2010 Masters has come and gone, and two former Gators are already struggling. Both Brian Gay and Camilo Villegas finished their first round at 2-over par. Gay birdied four holes (2, 3, 7, 13), bogeyed four (6, 10, 12, 14) and double-bogeyed one (16) to finish with a score of 40 on the back nine. Villegas bogeyed three holes (3, 11, 13) and only earned one birdie (15), shooting a 37 out and in.

Two more BITS on Duke Lemmens and Charlie Strong…after the jump!
Continue Reading » FOUR BITS: Yeguete, Masters, Lemmens, Strong

Tags: Big East, Brian Gay, Camilo Villegas, Charlie Strong, Dan McCarney, Duke Lemmens, Florida Air Academy, golf, Greg Scruggs, Louisville Cardinals, PGA, Walter Hodge, Will Yeguete