Staff Writers

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Tyler Surber receives honor at Billy Donovan camp

Posted by Staff Writers on July 8th, 2010   No Comment

Tyler Surber, younger brother of Brandon [owner/writer of Gator Sports Nation] participated in the Billy Donovan basketball camp in Gainesville and returned home with something he will never forget.

The 5-foot-4 thirteen year old guard from Ocala, FL., plays for Coach Greg at Lake Weir Middle School. Tyler is the son of the head basketball coach over at Lake Weir Weir High School, Mike Surber.

Tyler won the Caleb Jacobbe Award that was handed out by Billy Donovan, and for you all who does not know what the award is about, Caleb’s pitch was founded by a faculty member of the University of Florida named Tim Jacobbe, so he could honor his nephew Caleb Jacobbe who was 8 years old when he passed away from cancer on May 10, 2006. That was when coach Donovan decided to name the award after Caleb.

The cause for Caleb’s Pitch is to help the sick kids out there realize their dreams and also have their lives touched by their favorite athletes.

“My experience at the camp was awesome. I really enjoyed playing, Tyler said. Before it started when my mom was down visiting us I had to beg her and my dad for a little bit of money so I could go. It was a lot of fun and I played a whole bunch of basketball.”

The camp was held for 3 days over night, all of the campers got to stay in their own dorms with their friends. Tyler attended the camp and also roomed with his neighbor Michael Meginley.

“It kind of felt like I was in college haha”, Tyler said.

The Caleb Jacobbe award was given to the camper of the week who shows the most heart, hustle, sportsmanship and passion for the game of basketball. There were around 400 campers who attended and was divided up between three different age groups and one winner was chosen from each one.

Below you will see a video of Tyler’s basketball highlights from his 7th grade year and the other video is being filmed at the award ceremony of the campers by Billy Donovan. Right around 3:14 in the second video is when Donovan announces Tyler’s name and he is brought up to the front.

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Tons of news: USC, status of Antwine and Jones

Posted by Staff Writers on July 7th, 2010   No Comment

USC Apologizes
-After USC freshman Dillon Baxter accused the Florida coaching staff of illegally contacting him during recruiting the air has been cleared. USC AD Mike Garrett sent a formal letter to Jeremy Foley apologizing for the confusion and embarrassment that was caused by the situation and that there was no evidence found in Baxter’s claims.
Injury Front
Brandon Antwine
- For a while it appeared as if Brandon Antwine could never play football for UF ever again. Injury after injury and setback after setback. Antwine confirmed that he is 100% healthy and feels great. Antwine said this is the best he has felt in about a year and that he is “ready to get out there in two-a-days and see what I can do.”
AJ Jones
- AJ Jones has been cleared for all football activities after tearing his MCL and ACL prior to the SEC Championship game. This is the second time he has had a season ending surgery. Jones said he has put on some extra weight and the coaches are just wanting him to focus on regaining his speed.
By: Calvin McDermid

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Florida to Finish Second in the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup

Posted by Staff Writers on June 25th, 2010   No Comment

Congratulations to the University of Florida Athletic program and Athletic Director Jeremy Foley. Not for the football team’s recent accomplishments, nor for the basketball team’s not-so –recent success. And, even though the baseball team ended an improbable run at a College World Series Title against FSU just last week, this congratulations belongs to no one sport at the University of Florida. It belongs to all of them, collectively.

When the standings are made official after the College World Series is all wrapped up, the University of Florida will place second to Stanford for the 2009-2010 Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup. The Directors’ Cup is awarded to the college with the most outstanding sports program as a whole.

The Gators (1,237.25 points) will finish a distant second to Stanford (1,508.5 points), the winner of sixteen consecutive awards and counting. The second place finish will tie a Florida Program high finish. They also finished second after the 1997-98 school year.

According to a release by the University, “[Florida] is the only program to finish among the nation’s top 10 in each of the last27 national all-sports standings” Also, the second place finish will be the first time the school has finished in the top three in consecutive seasons.

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Great season comes to a tough end

Posted by Staff Writers on June 22nd, 2010   No Comment

While the Florida Gators scored the first run of the game with a RBI single the bats were mostly silent in their 8-5 loss to Florida State on Monday night. The Gators left 10 runners on base and were out hit as well by the Seminoles.

Most fans are wondering if Florida left it’s solid pitching back in Gainesville. The Gators pitching staff gave up 32 hits over their only 2 CWS games this week and 19 runs. While the pitching was less then stellar the Gator offense was nearly as bad totally only 6 runs in 2 games.

While this is quite a disappointing end to baseball season their was much achieved and a bright future awaits. Florida returns tons of talent next year as well as another good recruiting class. Kevin O’Sullivan has give this program new life and looks as if they can compete in the NCAA’s year in and year out.
Baseball Celebrates
By:
Calvin McDermid

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Gators continue to “rack-em up”

Posted by Staff Writers on June 17th, 2010   No Comment

Florida got another good commitment today from Tampa Catholic fullback Hunter Joyer. Despite Joyer’s solid offer list there was a particular school that was missing and that was the Florida Gators.

Earlier in his recruitment coach Dan McCarney had said they did not know if they would have a scholarship for him, but apparently the coaches believe that he is more then worth the offer. Joyer does not seem as if he will waiver in his decision much either saying “I always kind of knew if I was offered I would take it. Now I can relax and enjoy my senior year.”

Hunter Joyer is considered to be a fantastic physical prospect at his position at 6’0 245 lbs and extremely strong and quick. Rivals.com has Joyer as the number one player at the fullback position and ESPN.com has him ranked in the number three spot. Most scouts and fans expect Joyer to fill a role similar to Billy Latsko in his senior year. A player able to catch out of the backfield, block well, and run the ball on occasion.

Florida’s 2011 class continues to look to be one of the top 5 in the nation and is steamrolling as of late.

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Gators Punch Ticket to College World Series

Posted by Staff Writers on June 12th, 2010   No Comment

For the first since 2005, the Florida Gators will be taking a visit to Omaha for the College World Series. The Gators clinched their spot after another Miami miscue resulted in a 3-3 tie in the top of the ninth inning, leading to the eventual game winning double by Austin Maddox that put them up 4-3 in the top of the tenth of inning.

Miami recorded a dismal nine errors in the two combined games, and their miscues proved to be the main factor that ended their season. The Gators are the first team to clinch a spot in Omaha (as of now).

For now, the Gators will enjoy the moment, and will have to wait to see who they will square up against in the opening game of the College World Series.

Courtesy of GatorZone.com

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Softball Falls to Georgia, Ends World Series Hopes

Posted by Staff Writers on June 5th, 2010   No Comment

After their 2008 world series appearance against Washington, the Lady Gators fell just short of making their second straight appearance in the final series. The 3-2 defeat to the hands of the Georgia Bulldogs put an end to their season, and a bit of a disappointment to conclude the year.

With the season over, the Gators will lose one of their greatest players of all-time – Francesca Enea. She was named to many First and Second teams in her career, including the following:

  • Easton First-Team All-American in 2008 and 2009
  • Women’s College World Series All-Tournament Team in 2008
  • SEC All-Freshman Team in 2007
  • Point of Light Award winner in 2009

Enea’s absence will be greatly missed, but the Gators will rely on the bat of Brittany Schutte, who will most likely take Enea’s batting spot in the order. Besides Enea, the Gators will also lose their starting third baseman, Corrie Brooks. Although never a star player while at Florida, Brooks managed to play hard every game and contribute in various ways throughout her career. She was named to Southeastern Conference All-Tournament Team in 2009, her greatest individual honor while playing for Florida.

Gators Sports Nation congratulates the Lady Gators on a terrific season, in which they went 51-9 (20-4) and won one game in the World Series against Missouri. We would also like to congratulate the graduating seniors, Enea and Brooks, both played outstanding in their Gator careers.

(Photo: Jim Burgess/ESPN.com)

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Recruiting class makes Florida deep again

Posted by Staff Writers on May 22nd, 2010   No Comment

Billy Donovan added his final recruit with six foot two inch guard Scottie Wilbekin from Gainesville, FL. Donovan stated after the NCAA Tournament he needed to do a “better” job of providing depth for his basketball team and he has certainly lived up to his word.
Wilbekin was not scheduled to graduate until 2011, but because of his excellent academics in high school he qualified to graduate early and enroll at the University of Florida in the fall. Questions have been raised if he is physically ready to play in the SEC a year early, but many scouts had Wilbekin listed as one of the top point guards in the 2011 class.

The guard position was the highest priority in the offseason, but with Brandon Knight and other targets picking other schools it looked as if Donovan and Florida were to be on the outside looking in again. What seemed to be a dire situation, turned into a blessing.

Last years Florida team seemed to fade towards the end of many games last year so Billy Donovan added 5 players in this class which will give him the ability to keep starters fresh all year.

Here is a run down of this years class:

Casey Prather
- A 6’5 small forward with great versatility to play on the wing or slash to the basket. He also is a good defender coming out of high school and rebounds fairly well at his position. It looks as if Prather will play some guard as well as the forward position and be a nice player off the bench his freshman year.
Cody Larson
- A underrated power forward that is a solid rebounder and good defender that may not play a lot early, but has a good amount of upside.
Will Yeguete
- Yeguete is a bit undersized for the power forward position, but has the motor that the coaching staff likes. He understands the importance of rebounding and defense.
Patrick Young
- Some call Patrick Young “Baby” Al Horford for his physical play and solid defense and rebounding. Young will be able to make an immediate impact. While his offensive game is not as polished as some, he is tenacious on the glass and a physical defender.
Scottie Wilbekin
- A very “heady” guard that understands the game inside and out. He shoots the ball well and has very good handles. Wilbekin has a huge amount of upside and will probably get plenty of playing time early in the year.

As one can see there are 2 very glaring issues the coaching staff wanted to take care of in this class. One was depth and the other was players that excelled at the fundamentals. All of these players are hard workers with high basketball IQ. This class gives the Gators a chance to be a consistent top 25 team and possibly top 10 team.

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