FIVE PLAYERS RECEIVE HONORS

GAINESVILLE - Okay, so the Gators aren't looking all that great right now, but apparently that hasn't diminished what others think of their overall accomplishments this season.

Joakim Noah, Taurean Green and Al Horford were all named to the Division I All-District 6 first-team by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Corey Brewer was a second team selection.

Also, Lee Humphrey was named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America First Team, only the second Gator men's basketball player to ever do so. Humphrey joins former Gator Matt Bonner as the only other Florida men's basketball player to earn First Team honors. Humphrey also joins Bonner as the only other Gator to earn Academic All-America in multiple years of his career. He is one of only four men in Florida basketball history to earn Academic All-America honors, and in addition to Bonner, Mike Leatherwood was a third team honoree in 1969 and Andy Owens earned second team honors in 1970.

The reigning SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year, Humphrey has a 3.68 grade point average in Applied Physiology and Kinesiology. On the court, he leads the SEC in 3-point accuracy at 45.6 percent and is just 22 three-pointers shy of breaking the Florida career record in the category.

UF Gymnast Honored

GAINESVILLE - Freshman gymnast Amanda Castillo was named the SEC Gymnast of the Week on Tuesday, her first honor this season.

Castillo shares Florida's season-best floor score (9.95) and is tied for second among the Gators with eight event titles this season. She ranks sixth among the nation's all-arounders with her regional qualifying average (RQS) of 39.305 and is No. 3 for the floor (9.90 RQS) and No. 7 for the bars (9.890 RQS).

Castillo and the rest of the No. 1 Gator gymnastics team return home to play host to No. 22 North Carolina State (10-9) on Friday in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. The first 500 fans will receive free burrito bucks courtesy of Chipotle. It is also Alumni Night and former Gator gymnasts and the 1982 AIAW National Championship team will be recognized. Admission is $4.00 for adults; youth 17 and under and UF students with identification are admitted free.

Dotson All-SEC selection

GAINESVILLE - Despite a miserable season for the women's basketball team, the Gators got some good news on Tuesday.

Sophomore Marshae Dotson was named a second team All-SEC selection by the league's coaches. Dotson led the Gators in scoring and rebounding in SEC regular-season games, averaging 16.4 points and 8.1 rebounds while shooting 55.5 percent from the floor. In the SEC games stats, Dotson ranked No. 4 for scoring, No. 7 for rebounding, No. 4 for field goal percentage, No. 13 for steals and tied-No. 14 for minutes played.

Dotson, who is the only Gator who has scored in every game this season, reset every personal career statistical game category, including her scoring total four times. She has eight 20-point games in 2007, most recently 22 in the regular-season finale against Kentucky (Feb. 25), when she hit 10-of-14 from the floor.

Florida will open play in the SEC women's basketball tournament on Thursday.

Shyatt to New Mexico?

GAINESVILLE - Could Florida assistant coach Larry Shyatt be headed to New Mexico?

Reports out of New Mexico have Shyatt listed among the potential candidates to replace Ritchie McKay, who was fired last week.

Shyatt has ties to the New Mexico program. He was an associate head coach with the Lobos from  1982-88. He is said to be interested, but has not commented publicly.

A former head coach at Clemson, Shyatt has been with the Gators since 2004.

McArthur Out For Season; LaPorta Injured

  GAINESVILLE – Florida junior infielder Brandon McArthur will undergo surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow and will miss the remainder of the season.

  The Gators will also be without the school's leading home run hitter, Matt LaPorta, who injured his left ankle Friday night in a 10-4 loss to Kent State and is out indefinitely.

  McArthur, a former Armwood standout, was the Gators’ starting third baseman, but has missed the last seven games since he played opening night on Feb. 9.

  “This is disappointing news for Brandon, his family and our team,’’ head coach Pat McMahon said. “He is a first-class young man . . . his presence both on and off the field will be missed.’’

  McArthur missed his freshman season after he was severely injured when a stranger punched him and he fell and hit his head on the pavement on Oct. 30, 2003.

  As a sophomore, McArthur participated in 46 of the Gators' 56 games, starting 25 at second base, 13 at third base and five at designated hitter. He earned Academic All-SEC honors for the second time and hit .262 with 20 RBI, 19 runs, 10 multiple-hit games and five multiple-RBI outings. He was named to the College Baseball Foundation Honor Roll for the first time in his career oafter a 6-for-14 (.429) outing against Harvard.

  During the Gators' run to the 2005 NCAA College World Series, McArthur played in 64 games and made 60 starts at third base. He batted .268 overall with 30 RBI and was the only Gator chosen to the SEC's All-Freshman squad after batting .286 in 28 league outings. McArthur also put together a team-best 15-game hitting streak in which he hit .448 (26-for-58).

 

Women Suffer Another Loss

  Fresh off its first conference win of the season on Sunday, the Florida women suffered their 21st loss of the season when the Gators were defeated 78-62 by Auburn Thursday night.

  Like they have all season, the Gators managed to hang tough - at least for one half. Auburn outscored Florida in the second half by only two points, but Florida couldn't overcome a 14-point first half deficit.

  "Effort was the big culprit in the first half,'' coach Carolyn Peck said. "Auburn brought the intensity and we didn't.

  Sha Brooks led the Gators with 17 points.

  Florida (7-21, 1-12) will close out the regular season Sunday against Kentucky. UF seniors Kim Dye and Brianna Phillips will be honored in their last game at the O'Connell Center.

Players Not Upset At Vanderbilt Fans

  GAINESVILLE - The SEC may be upset about Vanderbilt's inability to keep fans from storming the court last Saturday after its win over then-No. 1 Florida, but some Gator players said the postgame celebration was perfectly understandable.

  In fact, some even took it as a compliment, albeit in a strange kind of way.

  "It's kind of like a sign of respect,'' junior center/forward Chris Richard said. "I'm not against it. Any team will do that when you have the best team in the country coming to play at your home
arena and win a game.''

  Vanderbilt defeated the Gators 83-70. The school was fined $25,000 on Monday by the SEC for its second violation of the SEC's policy prohibiting fans from running onto the competition area.

   The policy, which went into effect on Dec. 1, 2004, states that "access to competition areas shall be limited to participating student-athletes, coaches, officials, support personnel and properly-credentialed individuals at all time. For the safety of participants and spectators alike, at no time before, during or after a contest shall spectators be permitted to enter the competition
area.''
    The policy was approved by all 12 SEC institutions and imposes financial penalties for violations in the sports of football and men’s and women’s basketball, at the discretion of Commissioner Mike Slive. The penalties are $5,000 for the first offense, $25,000 for a second offense and $50,000 for the third and subsequent offenses.

   Vanderbilt was fined $5,000 last spring when fans rushed the court after an NIT win over Wichita State.

   UF junior center Al Horford said he fully expected the fans to storm the court after beating the Gators. If he were a Vanderbilt fan, he said, he probably would have done the same thing.

    "It's in the moment, it's kind of like history for anybody like that,'' Horford said. "So it's just exciting.''

UF Clinches Miami Series

  GAINESVILLE - A season-high crowd of more than 4,000 watched Florida defeat Miami 7-5 to clinch the series for the third consecutive season.

  Sophomore reliever Patrick Keating earned his first career victory for UF and senior David Hurst picked up his first save - including 1.2 scoreless innings.

  The Gators (4-2) have now won four consecutive games.

  "I am extremely pleased with our bullpen's performance today,'' Florida coach Pat McMahon said. "Guys are beginning to understand their role on the mound, and that is important so that we can defend well behind them. Our bullpen is something that we take a lot of pride in with their work ethic to keep us at the level of play we need to be at throughout the season. . . Miami is a terrific team and they give us a lot of competition every time we play them. One of our goals is to not
to look at yesterday or tomorrow. We just take on today, so this was a great game for our team's psyche.''

  The Gators will close out the series Sunday at 1 p.m. Billy Bullock, a freshman right-hander from Valrico (1-0) is expected to start.

 

 

Gators Strictly Focused On The Present

  GAINESVILLE - There's no escaping it.

  With a month left in the regular season, talk has turned to two things concerning the Florida men's basketball team: Can the Gators go undefeated in the SEC and whether a return to the Final Four is inevitable, considering how they are playing.

  But coach Billy Donovan and the Gators refuse to go there. Donovan is using every way possible to keep the players from looking too far ahead and not getting caught up in the hype that's proclaiming them nearly invincible.

  "I talked to the guys about washing your hands in success because I think when you're successful like they have been it softens and weakens you,'' Donovan said after Wednesday night's come-from-behind win over Alabama. "I felt that coming in the last two days _ our team was emotionally drained. Having to get to that level all the time emotionally, knowing you are getting everyone's best shot and playing talented teams becomes emotionally draining. It's easy for team to get up to play us, but our guys have to get to a very, very high level every single time. I don't think the last few games we were getting to that level, we looked tired emotionally. Physically . . .they have taken on every challenge.''

  Junior forward Joakim Noah said the players occasionally talk among themselves about what could be, but are determined to keep it in perspective.

  "We understand, coach always talks about pressure,'' Noah said. "You don't put pressure on yourself, people around you instill pressure on you. I think right now, we're right where we need to be. We know how good we can be. We don't feel like we're playing our best basketball. We just have to stay humble, stay hungry, stay driven and the sky's the limit.''

Gators Honored By SEC

  GAINESVILLE - Longtime swimming coach Gregg Troy was named the SEC Men's Swimming Coach of the Year on Wednesday. It is the third coach of the year honor for Troy, who also won in 2000 and 2002.

  "I'm honored for this award, which is a reflection of our entire coaching staff,'' Troy said.   

  Also, freshman Roland Rudolf of Budapest, Hungary, was named the SEC Freshman of the Year. At the 2007 SEC Swimming and Diving Championship, Rudolf earned a pair of silver medals after posting career-best and automatic qualifying times in the 200 back (1:43.54) and 500 free (4:17.90) events. He also set a personal-best and provisional-qualifying time of 1:37.62 in the B-Final of the 200 free to place second in his heat. Rudolf swam the anchol leg of the men's 800 freestyle relay that recorded a nation-best time of 6:22.31 to win the Gators' sixth-straight title in the 800 free relay. He also swam the final leg of the 400 free relay that earned second place (2:55.56).

  "Roland had a great season, but we had a handful of freshmen who were also candidates for this honor,'' Troy said. "There are many talented freshmen competing in the SEC, and it should make future meets that much more exciting.''

 

   

Peck Fired; Will Finish Season

  GAINESVILLE - Caroylyn Peck was fired Monday as the Florida women's head basketball coach, but will finish out the season with her team.

  The former Purdue and Orlando Miracle head coach stood in front of reporters five years ago and promised to take the Gator women's program to the next level. But when it became apparent that wasn't going to happen, atheltic director Jeremy Foley said he had no choice but to make a change.

  "After appraising our women's basketball program over the past few seasons and seeing where we are today, it is evident that a change of coaching personnel is needed,'' Foley said. "This was a very difficult decision that came after much thought and evaluation. Coach Peck is a talented person with great qualities. She tried very hard to make it work here at Florida, but for whatever reasons, the program hasn't flourished.''

  An emotional Peck addressed the media Monday afternoon, saying she loved the university and understood Foley's decision.

  "The administration has made the decision to make a change. The program has not reached the level where we had envisioned it being five years ago. For me, the game is not just about the wins and losses, it's about the development of the players and I have seen some great improvements from the young women I have coached," Peck said. "Jeremy Foley is an excellent athletic director and I want to thank him for the opportunity to work with him and the University of Florida. He is a major reason why the Gators are one of the most successful programs in the country. I do not have a bit of anger about his decision. I love the Gators and I always will."

   Peck, 41, led Purdue to a national championship in 1999,  but is 69-74 in her fifth year as the Gators head coach. Florida is 6-20 overall this season and 0-11 in the conference.

Carolyn Peck Expected To Be Fired

  GAINESVILLE - Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley will hold a news conference at 2:45 p.m. Monday in which he is expected to announce the firing of women's basketball head coach Carolyn Peck.

  Peck is in the fifth-year of a 6-year contract.

  The Gators are nearing the end of an abysmal regular season. Florida is currently 0-11 in the SEC, and 6-20 overall.

  It is unclear at this time whether she will be allowed to complete the season with the team.

Brewer SEC Player of the Week

   

    GAINESVILLE - Florida junior forward Corey Brewer was named SEC Player of the Week on Monday.

    Brewer led the Gators to road wins over Georgia and Kentucky by averaging 17.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.0 steals.

   Against Georgia, Brewer finished the game with a game-high 18 points and two steals, hitting 6-of-8 shots from the floor and going perfect from both the free throw line and three-point range. Three days later he helped Florida reach 10 wins in SEC play for the eighth time in nine years, scoring 11 of his team-high 16 points in the final 9:27 of play, as UF won at Kentucky. He finished the game with seven rebounds and two steals.

   

Women Still Winless In Conference

  GAINESVILLE - The women's basketball team is still looking for its first conference win.

  The Gators went on a 19-9 run in the second half to turn a 16-point deficit into a tie game with less than two minutes to play, but eventually suffered a 79-74 loss to Mississippi State Sunday at the O'Connell Center.

  The Gators are 6-20 overall and 0-11 in SEC play. Sha Brooks led the Gators with 19 points. Brooks
had her 19th double-figure scoring game this year and with three treys, tied former Gator Kerry Cremeans (1990-94) for fifth in UF history with 109 in her career.

  “We really felt like this was going to be our night,” Florida coach Carolyn Peck said. “It was disappointing because we felt like we were in a position to win the game. Sha Brooks and Briana Phillips really stepped it up down the stretch and picked up their play. Sharielle Smith also played really well for just a freshman in the first half. I really liked what we did defensively, but we need
to continue to work on taking care of the ball.”

LaPorta Is New Home Run King

  GAINESVILLE - Two days into the season, Matt LaPorta has worked his way into the record books.

   The senior hit his second home run in two days Sunday, becoming the all-time home run hitter in Florida history with 56. He takes over the record previously held by Brad Wilkerson. The record-setting homer came at the bottom of the seventh, on the first pitch from VMI senior reliever Ian Casher over the wall in left center field.

  LaPorta hit .583 (7-for-12) in the series against VMI.

  “I was telling myself to relax and I got a good swing to get it out of the yard,” LaPorta said. “It didn’t really hit me as I was running the bases, but when I sat down in the dugout it hit me that I had the Florida home run record. I just thought that was amazing.”

Gators grab nation's top recruiting class

When it comes to Florida's football program, the rich is getting richer.
Just one month removed from their BCS national championship, the Gators have all but clinched top recruiting class in the country, according to two recruiting services.
Florida has commitments from nine of the top-45 players in the nation, according to scout.com and 11 in the top-71.
"They're so far ahead, the only team that would get them are the Colts," said national recruiting analyst Larry Blustein. "They've cleaned up."
Texas, LSU Southern Cal and Tennessee round out Blustein's top-five so far, with Miami closing strong with a top-15 class.
For more updates, visit tampabay.com's  Preps blog.  You can also view a photo gallery of bay area players who signed today.

-- JOE SMITH

Trattou, Finch Are In

  GAINESVILLE - The defense stepped up first.

  Florida kicked off national signing day with two letters of intent early Wednesday morning from two of its top defensive commitments.

  Defensive end Justin Trattou and safety Jerimy Finch were the first two to make their intentions official today.

  Finch was a huge pick up for the Gators Tuesday afternoon. The 6-foot-1, 203-pound safety out of Indianapolis Warren Central is the 37th-rated prospect by rivals.com.

VanDyke Back With the Hurricanes

GAINESVILLE - Pace defensive back Demarcus VanDyke is wavering again, and most likely is signing with Miami on Wednesday, not the Gators.

VandDyke orally committed to the Hurricanes last June, but later changed his commitment to Florida after former Miami coach Larry Coker was fired.

But on Tuesday, his coach told CaneSport.com that VanDyke is expected to sign with Miami and he has notified the Gator coaches. He finished his senior season with 56 tackles, seven interceptions and also cause 21 passes for 417 yards.

Florida is still awaiting word from Moses Jenkins of Lauderdale Lakes Boyd Anderson, who took an official visit to UF two weeks ago, but hasn't said where he will sign.

Ponte Vedra Nease cornerback Justin Grant may also be wavering on his oral commitment to the Gators.

National signing day is tomorrow, Feb. 7.

Gymnast Ashley Reed Honored

  GAINESVILLE - Junior Ashley Reed was named the SEC Gymnast of the Week, the league office announced Tuesday.

  It's the second honor for Reed, the first for the Gators this season.

  Reed set or matched all of her collegiate-best apparatus marks last Friday in the Gators' win
over No. 10 Auburn. She used the fifth-best all-around total in UF history of 39.675 to claim her second title of the season and her seventh as a Gator. She also shared the evening's vault (9.925), balance beam (9.90) and floor exercise (9.95) titles. Reed also matched her collegiate-best of 9.90 to take second on the uneven bars.

   "The biggest thing for Ashley and why she's having such a successful season is because she's healthy,'' UF coach Rhonda Faehn said. "She was our top freshman her freshman year, but her sophomore year she struggled with a back injury. . . This season, she's in her best physical shape, she's so strong and she's not hurting. And that has allowed her to increase her skill level.

  "She is probably the most talented girl on our team and has a tremendous amount of talent,'' Faehn said. "She's finally getting to show it and I'm really happy for that.''

Taurean Green Among 17 Bob Cousy Finalists

GAINESVILLE - Junior guard Taurean Green was named Tuesday as one of 17 finalists for the Bob Cousy award, presented annually to the nation's top point guard.

  Organziers said this year's voting was the tightest since the award's inception, and a tie led to the 17,  instead of the intended 16.

  Green and the other finalists were chosen from a field of more than 50 point guards from Division I, II and III member institutions.

  If you want to help Green win the award, which will be presented on April 2, you can go to www.cousyaward.com and cast a vote in the nationwide fan poll - which also enters you in a drawing for two tickets to the 2007 NCAA Men's first, second or regional round game. The top vote-getter from the online poll will get on vote to be cast for the committee selecting the winner.

 

Green Among 17 Bob Cousy Finalists

GAINESVILLE - Junior guard Taurean Green was named Tuesday as one of 17 finalists for the Bob Cousy award, presented annually to the nation's top point guard.

  Organziers said this year's voting was the tightest since the award's inception, and a tie led to the 17,  instead of the intended 16.

  Green and the other finalists were chosen from a field of more than 50 point guards from Division I, II and III member institutions.

  If you want to help Green win the award, which will be presented on April 2, you can go to www.cousyaward.com and cast a vote in the nationwide fan poll - which also enters you in a drawing for two tickets to the 2007 NCAA Men's first, second or regional round game. The top vote-getter from the online poll will get on vote to be cast for the committee selecting the winner.

 

Gators Unanimous No. 1

  GAINESVILLE - Billy Donovan said there's still plenty of room for improvement with his Gator basketball program.

  The rest of the nation apparently thinks they are pretty good, already.

  The Gators earned all 72 first place votes in the Associated Press poll released Monday afternoon, becoming the first unanimous No. 1 since Illinois in the final 2004-05 poll. The Illini were unanimous in six of the final seven polls that season.

  Florida had 45 first place votes last week, but losses by last week's No. 2 Wisconsin and No. 3 North Carolina, led ever voter the Gators' way.

   "We're very honored to be voted a unanimous No. 1 in the nation,'' Donovan said. "I realize it doesn't happen very often. At the same time, we're aware that a lot of that has to do with what other teams have done around us. There's still a long way to go and we're just trying to get better each day, but it's certainly always flattering to be No. 1 in the nation.''

 

 

 

 

Keep Up To Date on National Signing Day

  GAINESVILLE - Fans wanting to keep up-to-date on recruiting on signing day will have several options to do so.

  Fans can watch live, streaming video of Urban Meyer's press conference at 5 p.m., Wednesday, on GatorVision online. to watch, fans must be a subscriber to GatorVision online and can sign up by going to www.gatorzone.com. There will also be on-deman video highlights of early Florida enrollees.

  The general public may also obtain the updated list of Florida signees who have signed their letters of intent by calling 1-800-344-2867 (toll-free) or (352) 375-4683, then wait for the automated system and press 6 to get the signing day hotline.

 

Parade All-America Linebacker Commits

GAINESVILLE - He had planned to wait until national signing day to make his annoucement, but in the end linebacker Brandon Hicks couldn't wait until Wednesday.

  The four-star prospect from Jacksonville Forest announced live on local televison Sunday night that he will sign with Florida on Wednesday. He chose the Gators over Miami.

  Hicks, 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, had nine sacks and intercepted three passes his senior year for Forrest.

  On Sunday, he was named among six Parade All-America linebackers.

  While Florida scored big with Hicks, they lost out on Michigan receiver Ronald Johnson. The nation's No. 2 cornerback chose USC.

  Also, Panama Cith receiver/cornerback Bert Reed, who previously orally committed to the Gators, is expected to change his mind and sign with Florida State.

Brewer's Injury Not Serious

GAINESVILLE - When junior forward Corey Brewer went on a free-fall from above the rim, hit the ground and grabbed his left knee with 1:01 left in Saturday's game against Tennessee, more than 12,000 fans saw Florida's season flash before their eyes.

  But fortunately for Florida, coach Billy Donovan said Brewer suffered only a bruised knee, and is expected to practice on Monday.

  "He's fine,' Donovan said after the game. "They don't think there's any need for X-rays or anything else, they think he just bruised his knee. He should be able to practice on Monday, they don't see a problem at all. I think he just landed a little bit awkwardly, which probably scared him more than anything else. But he's fine right now, according to the doctors, which is obviously good news.''

  So why was Brewer and the rest of the starters on the floor late in the game with a double-digit lead?

  Competing, Donovan said, which is why they play the game.

  "You have to look at Tennessee's style,'' Donovan said. "I think we were up by 15 at the time. If all of a sudden with over a minute to go, or two minutes to go, you clear the bench and take your starters out, Tennessee didn't concede the game. They pressed all the way to the end. And you're asking guys who haven't played in 40 minutes, you throw them in there and all of a sudden they turn the ball over a couple of times, they knock down a couple of 3's, and now it's 1:20 and it's 9 points (deficit). Then you're dealing with a totally different thing

  "My job, my role as a coach is to make sure that we play all the way to the end and the best of our ability,'' Donovan added. "There are certainly times in a game where you feel like it's secure and you know it's okay. With the way Tennessee plays, they continued to press to the end of the game.''

Another loss for Florida women

GAINESVILLE - Carol Ross was back walking the sidelines in the O'Connell Center Thursday night, and just like she had so many times before, she left with a victory.

An Ole Miss (17-6, 6-2) victory.

The former Florida coach led Ole Miss to 72-64 win over the Gators, keeping the Florida women winless in conference play.

Florida (6-17, 0-8 SEC) got double-doubles from Depree Bowden (game-high 24 points, 12 rebounds) and Marshae Dotson (14 points, career-high 18 rebounds), but it wasn't enough.

The Gators have now lost 10 consecutive games, but coach Carolyn Peck continues to look for the positive.

"For a team that is as young as we are and as small as we are, our players have hearts that are huge,'' she said. "I’ll take trying too hard rather than quitting or giving up. That’s two things that the players on my team have not done.''

 

Lakeland's Brown chooses Florida

GAINESVILLE - The pipeline from Lakeland High School to Gainesville just keeps producing.

On Thursday, Lakeland defensive tackle John Brown orally committed to the Gators, the seventh player from Lakeland High to commit to Urban Meyer. He chose Florida over Alabama.

The 6-foot-1, 295-pounder is the rated No. 15 in the state of Florida, and the No. 10 rated defensive tackle in the nation by GatorBait.net.

He will join Lakeland teammates Paul Wilson, Ahmad Black, Steve Wilks, Chris Rainey, Maurkice Pouncey and Micheal Pouncey who are currently committed or enrolled at Florida.

Meanwhile, five-star receiver Terrance Toliver of Hemptstead, Texas, is still deciding between Florida and LSU.

With less than a week before national signing day (Feb. 7), Florida has what many experts believe is the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation.

The flag of the Gator Nation

Former Gator QB and starting Super Bowl QB Rex Grossman shows off a Florida Gators national champions flag during Super Bowl week in Miami.

[AP photo]