1 » Remember how former Florida Gators center/guard Maurkice Pouncey was supposed to start at the latter position for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2010? The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that fans should not jump to any conclusions considering the fact that Pouncey has actually been splitting time with incumbent starter Justin Hartwig at first-team center in recent practices. Whether or not Pouncey starts at center during the first week of the 2010-11 NFL season is of no consequence; already getting reps there is indicative of his bright long-term future with the team.

2 » Speaking with the Sporting News, former Florida Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel said he doubted Alabama running back Mark Ingram could repeat his 2009 honor while putting Gators redshirt junior starter John Brantley firmly in the running. “I’m not just being a loyal Gator on this one – OK, maybe a little bit. Brantley has tons of young offensive talent around him and supposedly a new scheme that fits his style better so he could put up huge stats,” Wuerffel said. “Plus, the best teams on Florida’s schedule – Alabama, LSU, Georgia and Florida State – all return less than half of their defensive starters from last year. If UF loses two regular-season games or less,which I think is likely, Brantley will be in the discussion.”

3 » Arkansas radio personality Renee Gork was fired by her station – KAKS – on Monday after Arkansas Razorbacks head football coach Bobby Petrino became enraged that she wore a Gators hat to his press conference on Saturday. According to the Associated Press, “Gork, a Florida graduate, said she grabbed the hat without thinking Saturday because it was raining outside. She also said she sent a letter of apology to the university and Petrino.”

4 » Former Florida star women’s basketball player and 11-year WNBA veteran Murriel Page was hired as an assistant coach under head coach Amanda Butler on Monday. Inducted into the University of Florida Hall of Fame this past April, Page (1994-98) was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference honoree in 1997 and 1998 and a finalist for the 1998 Naismith Player of the Year and Associated Press National Player of the Year awards. “Murriel’s professional experience, her passion for the Gators and the quality of person that she is makes her the perfect fit for our program,” Butler said in a UF release. “We looked at a number of different applicants from a variety of backgrounds and locations and Muriel stood out to everyone.”

Photo Credit: Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images

Tags: Amanda Butler, Arkansas Razorbacks, Bobby Petrino, Danny Wuerffel, Hall of Fame, John Brantley, Justin Hartwig, Mark Ingram, Maurkice Pouncey, Murriel Page, Naismith Player of the Year, National Player of the Year, NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers, University of Florida, women's basketball

1 » Florida Gators senior sprinter Calvin Smith advanced to the semifinals of the men’s 400-meter dash at the USA Track & Field Championship at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, IA on Thursday. Smith placed second in his heat and moves on to the next race, which will also include former Florida sprinter, Olympic gold medalist and, four-time World Champion and indoor 400-meter world record holder Kerron Clement.

2 » Three Gators track & field athletes – sophomore sprinter Jeff Demps, senior thrower Mariam Kevkhishvili and sophomore jumper Christian Taylor – have been named as top 10 finalists for The Bowerman, the sport’s highest honor. The men’s and women’s categories, respectively, will be knocked down to three finalists in the next few weeks, and voting from the 100-member panel will commence from there.

3 » Like its male counterpart, the Florida women’s basketball team has agreed to face the Central Florida Knights in 2010; however, instead of a regular season game, the two teams will square-off in the first round of the 2010 Preseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament on Nov. 13. The game time will be scheduled at a later date.

4 » Probably more than any other sport, college basketball coaches are hired based on relationships, working experience and recommendations. Louisville head coach Rick Pitino played an instrumental role in Billy Donovan’s elevation to the top job with Florida, and the Tuscaloosa News reports that he also helped Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Anthony Grant get his new job because of his relationship with Donovan. “When Alabama was getting ready to make a change, a good friend of mine, (UA trustee) John McMahon, called me to see about my interest in the job and I said, ‘John I’m not going to move any more in my life,’” Pitino said. “We talked about certain people and I said, ‘You just mentioned someone that I think is one of the premiere young coaches in basketball. He has all the intangible things that will make a great coach some day.”

Pitino also raved about Grant’s potential. “Look at what Billy Donovan has been able to do,” he said. “Anthony can do the same thing. [...] I think he’s going to take Alabama to great heights. It’s going to take a little time here. He’s got guys leaving that shouldn’t leave, and he’s going to get the players in that he’s comfortable coaching and he’s going to take them to the top of the SEC.” Pitino even helped facilitate the move, which you can read more about here.

Photo Credit: CBS via University of Florida

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, Anthony Grant, Billy Donovan, Calvin Smith, Central Florida Knights, Christian Taylor, field, Jeff Demps, Kerron Clement, Mariam Kevkhishvili, Olympics, Rick Pitino, The Bowerman, track, USA, USA Track & Field Championship, WNIT, women's basketball

1 » Florida Gators four-star power forward commitment Patric Young (Jacksonville, FL) is drawing rave reviews from coaches and fellow players as he works with the USA Basketball Men’s U-18 National Team in preparation for the 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Men from June 26-30. “He’s playing really, really well,” team assistant and Georgia Tech head coach Paul Hewitt told ESPN‘s Andy Katz earlier this week. “He’s making plays, rebounding and running the floor well. Offensively, he’s looking good. He gives tremendous effort every time – great effort –and he’ll help Florida even if he doesn’t score a ton of buckets. He’s going to help them. He’ll defend, set screens and do all those things without scoring points.”

2 » After a career including 13 NCAA Tournament berths coming as a player, graduate assistant and coach, Gators women’s basketball assistant Susie Gardner is expected to be named the head coach of the Mercer Bears at a 3 p.m. press conference Thursday. Gardner, who has spent the last three seasons with Florida, has been in the Southeastern Conference for 13 years of her 24-year coaching career including stints as head coach at Arkansas and as an assistant and player at Georgia.

3 » With the statues of former Gators quarterback and Heisman Trophy winners Tim Tebow, Danny Wuerffel and Steve Spurrier going up outside of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium next year, fans have been asking one relatively interesting question: Will Tebow’s statue feature a signature eye black message? The Gainesville Sun attempted to get this question definitively answered but found a non-committal response instead. The statue’s artist, W. Stanley “Sandy” Proctor, has already completed Tebow’s statue – which includes blank eye black. However, his business manager said that he would be happy to add a message if the University of Florida requested it. Associate athletics director Chip Howard was a bit more clear, saying he was “not sure if [a message] will show up well so you can read [it], but we continue to work on the statue […] to make [it] as real as possible.”

4 » Five-star offensive lineman Seantrel Henderson (Minneapolis, MN), the top recruit in the country in 2010 who committed to the USC Trojans on National Signing Day, is apparently mulling his future with the team, according to reports. Henderson, who chose USC over Miami, Ohio State, Florida and Minnesota, was allegedly promised by Kiffin that the Trojans would not suffer any major sanctions from the NCAA. USC coaches (including Kiffin) flew out in a private jet to visit Henderson last week with hopes to keep his commitment, but he recently told the St. Paul Pioneer Press that he didn’t “want to talk about that,” when asked whether or not he was remaining with the program.

Tags: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Danny Wuerffel, FIBA, FIBA Americas Championship, Heisman Trophy, Mercer Bears, National Signing Day, Patric Young, Paul Hewitt, Sandy Proctor, Seantrel Henderson, SEC, Steve Spurrier, Susie Gardner, Tim Tebow, University of Florida, USA, USA Basketball, USC Trojans, women's basketball

1 » As director of strength and conditioning for the Florida Gators, Mickey Marotti runs the program almost by default during the offseason. When speaking at the 2010 Southeastern Conference Meetings recently, head coach Urban Meyer praised Marotti’s efforts for making the Gators the best conditioned team – especially when it comes down to those fourth quarter road game efforts. ESPN’s SEC blogger Chris Low sat down with Marotti and covered a few topics, excerpts of which can be found below:

How about some of the players on this team who maybe haven’t been in the spotlight that are going to need to be this coming season? Who are some of those guys who’ve had big offseasons?
MM: One young player who’s really done a nice job is Jordan Reed, who’s going to play a couple of different positions and can hopefully step into Aaron Hernandez’s role as that pass-catching tight end. He’s really matured from when he first got here. Another guy is Jaye Howard on the defensive line. He’ll be a redshirt junior and has really changed the way he does things. We’ll find out about him. The other guy is Deonte Thompson at wide receiver. He has a ton of ability, but his work ethic and his demeanor and his leadership have really changed. Sometimes it takes guys longer to mature. I can’t wait to see him. I hope he has a great year, because he has really worked his butt off.

From your perspective, how much better and how much stronger has John Brantley gotten since the day he walked onto campus?
MM: It’s night and day. He’s what we call a grown-ass man right now physically and mentally. A lot of it is maturing, and I think a lot of it has to do with being around Tim [Tebow]. But Johnny has worked really hard and grown up.

What goes through your mind when you hear Meyer laud you, your staff and the whole strength program for the Gators’ success in the fourth quarter?
MM: I don’t think it’s just what we do in the weight room. I think it’s more about the whole coaching staff, from the athletic trainers, to the defensive coordinator and his staff, to the offensive coordinator and all his coaches. We are all so much on the same page, and I think that’s why we’ve been successful here. Everybody buys in, and everybody sells the same thing to our players.

Two more BITS on Erin Andrews and women’s basketball…after the break!
Continue Reading » TWO BITS: Mickey Marotti; Erin Andrews’ future

Tags: dazzlers, Erin Andrews, ESPN, Mickey Marotti, NCAA, SEC, University of Florida, Urban Meyer, women's basketball

1 » The word “dominate” is thrown around a lot, but that is exactly what No. 6/5 Florida Gators softball (39-7, 17-4 SEC) did Wednesday evening, shutting out the North Florida Ospreys (23-27) 22-0 and 8-0 in a doubleheader at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, FL. The Gators won each game in five innings, hitting seven total home runs (six in the first game – tying UF single-game record) and scoring 30 runs. The 22 runs that crossed home plate in the first game of the series (14 in the third inning alone) set a school record. Wins were achieved by junior Stephanie Brombacher (26-5), who began a no-hitter with five strikeouts in three innings, and freshman Ensley Gammel (12-2), who struck out six and only gave up three hits.

Senior outfielder Francesca Enea (18), freshman first baseman Brittany Schutte (14), junior OF Kelsey Bruder (10), junior catcher Tiffany DeFelice (7), senior third baseman Corrie Brooks (8) and freshman OF Kelsey Horton (4) hit the first six bombs, with DeFelice (8) adding a second in the late game. Schutte’s moon shot also broke Florida’s freshman home run record, last set in 2008.

2 » Gators women’s basketball added its sixth 2010-11 commitment Monday when Santa Fe College sophomore point guard Lanita Bartley (Jacksonville, FL) signed a National Letter of Intent to join the University of Florida. “Lanita is a dynamic scoring point guard, who brings experience in the point guard position,” head coach Amanda Butler said. “She’s been in the Florida Junior College system for two years, which is consistently the most competitive in the country.”

3 » Also increasing its talent level is Florida’s track and field team, which added a commitment from Luc Lawrence (Fort Walton Beach, FL), Lawrence, who can run both track and cross country, began running in eighth grade and caught the eye of cross country coach Todd Morgan almost immediately.

4 » As OGGOA first reported on Twitter early Wednesday, Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow officially had the top selling jersey in the month of April according to sales figures from NFLShop.com. Tebow’s new Broncos jersey was only available for eight days of the month (he was drafted on April 22), yet it easily surpassed jersey sales for new Washington Redskins QB Donovan McNabb, who was traded away from the Philadelphia Eagles on April 4 and came in second overall on the list.

“I think it’s an honor for people to want my jersey and want to have it and want to wear it,” Tebow told the Denver Post on Wednesday. “It is somewhat surreal to have it sell more than some of these people I grew up idolizing.”

Photo Credit: University of Florida

Tags: Amanda Butler, Brittany Schutte, Corrie Brooks, Denver Broncos, Donovan McNabb, Ensley Gammel, field, Francesca Enea, Kelsey Bruder, Kelsey Horton, Lanita Bartley, Luc Lawrence, NFL, North Florida Ospreys, Philadelphia Eagles, Pressly Stadium, Santa Fe College, Stephanie Brombacher, Tiffany DeFelice, Tim Tebow, Todd Morgan, track, University of Florida, Washington Redskins, women's basketball

1 » Fifty-three student-athletes attending the University of Florida were named to the 2010 Southeastern Conference Winter Academic Honor Roll on Tuesday according to a release by commissioner Mike Slive. The women’s swimming and diving teams led the way with 18, the men’s team added 15, nine represented gymnastics (every eligible member), women’s basketball added six and men’s basketball followed with five. Florida’s total of 53 was second-best in the SEC, following only Alabama (56).

1 » Former UF network coordinator Steve Babik, a member of the athletic department for two decades who was arrested and charged in federal court with the receipt, distribution and possession of child pornography in January, pleaded guilty to the charges Tuesday in United States District Court. Babik, 50, faces five to 20 years in prison and will be sentenced on Aug. 2 after investigators found “a significant volume of [media featuring] children engaging in sexual acts” on his computer.

Tags: Academic Honor Roll, arrest, diving, gymnastics, Mike Slive, SEC, Steve Babik, swimming, University of Florida, women's basketball

1 » Facing the No. 19/16 Florida State Seminoles in a doubleheader Wednesday, No. 3/4 Florida Gators softball swept their rivals with consecutive 8-4 and 9-2 victories on the road at JoeAnne Graf Field in Tallahassee, FL. Florida (32-4, 12-2 SEC)’s winners were starters junior Stephanie Brombacher (21-4) and freshman Ensley Gammel (10-0), who tallied a combined 13.3 innings and eight strikeouts against FSU (36-10, 8-4 SEC). Freshman shortstop Brittany Walker went 4-7 on the day with two RBI, as junior second baseman Aja Paculba extended her hitting streak to 16 games – tying the longest in school history.

2 » “It was great to have all of that work,” Gators freshman cornerback Josh Shaw said of his playing time in the 2010 Orange & Blue Debut last weekend. “Some of it was good, some bad, but I feel like I’m getting better each time out.” Shaw, according to The Gainesville Sun is adjusting to his competitors’ speed and athleticism but is confident he will be able to follow in the footsteps of some of the team’s best cornerbacks.

3 » Florida men’s basketball may have lost out on two recruits Wednesday, but the women’s basketball and softball teams each brought in a new name. JuCo transfer guard Deana Allen (Houma, LA) has decided to join the Gators after averaging 19.2 points and 6.4 rebounds per game at Pensacola Junior College. She is the fifth new recruit for the women’s team. Joining softball is utility player Chelsea Howell (Plantation, FL), the fourth player of her new team’s 2010-11 class.

4 » Interesting blog post today from Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald on new Kentucky Wildcats five-star guard commitment Brandon Knight, who had been leaning away from the Gators for quite some time. Some of the potential reasons he chose Kentucky aside from coaching and the school? “Exposure, creating the Brandon Knight brand, getting ready for the NBA, making money” and not playing with Kenny Boynton, Goodman writes.

Tags: Aja Paculba, Brandon Knight, Brittany Walker, Chelsea Howell, Deana Allen, Ensley Gammel, Florida State Seminoles, JoeAnne Graf Field, Josh Shaw, Kenny Boynton, Kentucky Wildcats, Orange & Blue Debut, Pensacola Junior College, softball, Stephanie Brombacher, women's basketball