Alligator Army - 2014 NCAA Tournament: Florida falters in Final Four, ending dream seasonChampionship Mode: It's when we thrive.https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46671/ali_army_fave.png2014-04-15T12:15:10-04:00http://www.alligatorarmy.com/rss/stream/52898992014-04-15T12:15:10-04:002014-04-15T12:15:10-04:00Announcing the winners of the AA bracket pool
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<figcaption>Ronald Martinez</figcaption>
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<p>Four winners have emerged from the fray to win prizes.</p> <p><i>Mea culpa for not doing this sooner. Didn't really want to dwell on certain things last week.</i></p>
<p>The Alligator Army bracket pool wrapped up last week, when the NCAA Tournament did, and we have our four winners:</p>
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<li>
<a href="https://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/quickenloansbracket/5627603" target="new">Sir Jonathan Smith</a> took first, buoyed by Kentucky's run to the final and a slew of correct picks in the West Region that got him 97 points.</li>
<li>
<a href="https://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/quickenloansbracket/5071659" target="new">Chris</a> took second with 95 points, but having the three Final Four teams that weren't Kentucky couldn't help him more than Kentucky helped Jonathan.</li>
<li>
<a href="https://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/quickenloansbracket/5941941" target="new">k.b.</a> ended up in third, despite nailing three Final Four teams <i>and </i>Kentucky in the final, because those three Final Four teams were also the only Elite Eight teams he got right.</li>
<li>And <a href="https://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/quickenloansbracket/1733544" target="new">Elizabeth</a>, who had the most picks right in the entire pool, with 49, ended up in fourth. Such was the peril of picking a Florida-Louisville final when the teams that beat the Gators and Cardinals ended up vying for the title.</li>
</ol>
<p>No one picked UConn to win it all, which probably isn't surprising for a bracket pool full of Gators, but I found this interesting: The only three people in <i>the entire bracket pool </i>to get even one of the finalists right finished first, third, and fifth. (Sorry, <a href="https://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/quickenloansbracket/2347250" target="_blank">David</a>; that Sweet Sixteen was rough.)</p>
<p>All four of you are eligible for prizes, and I'll be getting in touch with all four of you within the next 24 hours about those prizes. Thank you, thank you, thank you for following directions and making your emails visible.</p>
<p>Also, if you didn't win ... <a target="new" href="https://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/quickenloansbracket/1596165">you probably still beat me</a>.</p>
https://www.alligatorarmy.com/2014/4/15/5617160/alligator-army-bracket-pool-prizesAndy Hutchins2014-04-09T16:43:00-04:002014-04-09T16:43:00-04:00Sky's the limit: Walker will return to Florida
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<figcaption>Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Florida's immensely talented big man will be a Gator again in 2014-15.</p> <p><span>Chris Walker</span> will return to Florida for his sophomore season.</p>
<p>Florida's towering and talented forward made the announcement on Twitter on Wednesday after a handful of reports indicated he was leaning toward remaining in Gainesville.</p>
<p></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>This year has been a great one, and I'm happy to say I will be joining the gatornation again for one more year!</p>— <span>Chris Walker</span> (@cwalkertime23) <a href="https://twitter.com/cwalkertime23/statuses/453993420672229376">April 9, 2014</a>
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<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p>That announcement was immediately followed by <a href="http://www.gatorzone.com/story.php?id=27896" target="new">a Chris Harry write-up announcing Walker's decision on GatorZone</a>.</p>
<p>Walker did little on the court in his 18 games as a Gator, which all came after his February 4 debut against Missouri, and a prolonged struggle to be cleared by the NCAA. He averaged 1.9 points and 1.3 rebounds per game, not the statistics of a surefire <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba-draft">NBA Draft</a> pick by any stretch.</p>
<p>But Walker also looked every bit the future NBA star he was billed as during the season of hype for the high school class of 2013 for stretches, most notably against UCLA. Walker had seven points, three rebounds, and a block in six minutes against the Bruins, and looked as good in his limited minutes as any player on the floor, in a game that featured a handful of likely future NBA players.</p>
<p>Just four days after suffering his first loss as a college player, Walker is ready for more of them — and some wins, too. And he will become a focal point of Florida's reload after the winningest season in school history.</p>
<p>Walker, more than anyone else, has some unfinished business to attend to: He, after all, guaranteed a national title for Florida <a href="http://www.alligatorarmy.com/2012/7/22/3175458/chris-walker-commits-florida-gators-basketball-recruiting" target="new">when he committed in July 2012</a>.</p>
<p>After coming close as a little-used role player for Florida's Final Four run, the man nicknamed "Sky" can begin the work of turning himself into the star that can help lead Florida to that promised title.</p>
<p>Given his unearthly gifts, the sky is still the limit for Chris Walker.</p>
https://www.alligatorarmy.com/2014/4/9/5598716/chris-walker-return-florida-gators-2014Andy Hutchins2014-04-07T19:17:59-04:002014-04-07T19:17:59-04:002014 NCAA Tournament final, Open Thread
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<figcaption>Ronald Martinez</figcaption>
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<p>Florida's only hope of avoiding a Kentucky national title depends on UConn.</p> <p>...so I'm just putting this up as a place for you to say things about this game tonight. I'm gonna be watching with something less than full interest.</p>
<p>But, hey, UConn! Shabazz Napier's great! <span>DeAndre Daniels</span> has had a quietly excellent <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/march-madness">NCAA Tournament</a>! Kevin Ollie seems like the kind of players' coach who could have a long and great career as a head coach in college if his future didn't lie in the NBA!</p>
<p><sup>Sure, UConn beat Florida and delivered a bitter end to the sweetest of seasons for the Gators, but UConn is pretty good at basketball and an objective observer would probably conclude that the Huskies are appealing, too.</sup></p>
<p>UConn's not Kentucky. You should be rooting for UConn. There is no such thing as SEC pride, especially not when the zero-sum game of college sports means that a Kentucky win elevates the Wildcats, Florida's only truly important basketball rival.</p>
<p>Let's go, Huskies. I guess.</p>
https://www.alligatorarmy.com/2014/4/7/5591854/2014-ncaa-tournament-final-open-threadAndy Hutchins2014-04-06T14:21:03-04:002014-04-06T14:21:03-04:00UConn 63, Florida 53: They will live forever
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<figcaption>Tom Pennington</figcaption>
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<p>Florida's unbelievable 2014 season ended on Saturday. Its legacy has only just begun.</p> <p>It has become easier and easier, with modern science, to determine a cause of death.</p>
<p>Yesterday, for the Florida Gators, it was a blend of the causes that led to their only two defeats of the 2013-14 season. Just as at Wisconsin, Florida built an early 16-4 lead, then watched it vanish thanks to a hail of threes; just as in their first loss to UConn, the Gators could not effectively deal with the Huskies' ball pressure on defense, which again all but erased Michael Frazier II, and could not stop Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright from creating. There were precious few ways to beat this Florida team, but deploying brilliant guards, guarding as ferociously as Florida does, and making threes was probably the optimal strategy, and UConn did so wonderfully.</p>
<p>Because we learn more and more about death with each passing, building knowledge from end after end, we have also gotten better and better at preventing those demises. These Gators of the hardwood have, too: After three years of defensive lapses and three-dependent offense left Florida blue in the Elite Eight, the 2013-14 edition knew how to apply the clamps on defense and leave bruises on offense, and got to this Final Four stage for the first time since 2007 because of that. That those new tricks produced the same old dispiriting result on Saturday doesn't diminish their value, nor the work done by Florida to this point.</p>
<p>This team won more games than any other band of Gators, won every game it played against SEC competition, surpassed its own high bar for tournament success by breaking through at a level that bedeviled it, and made the whole of Gator Nation about as proud as it has ever been.</p>
<p>But death is inevitable, and this team died. It lost to UConn on Saturday night in the Final Four, in a 63-53 nightmare of a game.</p>
<p>In a season full of them, Florida produced one final unbelievable result — even if it was an unwanted one.</p>
<p>And though we know much about death and its causes, and know its inevitability as dark truth, we're still missing one piece of understanding, and always will.</p>
<p>We don't know what happens after death.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/images/blog/star-divide.v59c7267.jpg" alt="Star-divide"></p>
<p>Tears happened in the Florida locker room last night.</p>
<p>Everyone cried, I was told. Scottie Wilbekin, Will Yeguete, and Patric Young were able to compose themselves enough to go to the NCAA-mandated press conference with Billy Donovan; Casey Prather, the fourth horseman of their wonderful, unforgettable senior class, could not, even if he had wanted to, because only three players take the stage in these NCAA press conferences.</p>
<p></p>
<div class="pullquote">For the first time in my life, I was a part of a group of guys that were really willing to bleed for one another.<span>— Patric Young</span>
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<p>Those four men will ply their trade as professional basketball players for as long as their bodies let them. Young is likely headed to the NBA, as a second-round pick; if he can replicate his defensive intensity and continue to improve as an offensive player, he could be a valuable frontcourt reserve. Wilbekin might be an NBA player, too, but he is more physically limited than Young, and prone to the sorts of off nights like Saturday's that make his defense his only asset. He'll have to earn his spot on the end of a bench.</p>
<p>Casey Prather, so good as a driver and capable as a defender, likely isn't big enough to be a great NBA small forward, nor is his shot good enough to make him a reliable shooting guard. Falling between those cracks will force him to ply his trade in the D-League, or overseas, and hope for a cup of coffee. Will Yeguete lacks an NBA-caliber offensive game, but his energy and rebounding savvy will make him a fine player in his native France. (Allez, Willy.)</p>
<p>Those four players wanted so badly to go out as the ultimate winners, something only one team can do each season. Moreover, they wanted to have what they had forever: This team was a family, one on an endless working vacation, and it wanted this long, strange, wonderful trip to go on as long as possible, because none of the brothers could conceive of anything better.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/images/blog/star-divide.v59c7267.jpg" alt="Star-divide"></p>
<p>The brothers left behind will carry those seniors' memories forward.</p>
<p>Frazier, the adopted senior, had maybe the worst game of his career on Saturday. He will come back with more game than the one that allowed him to be pigeonholed as a shooter, and his shot may yet get better. Dorian Finney-Smith, the adopted Gator, will have a larger role on a team structured around him, rather than one he contributed to.</p>
<p>Chris Walker, who suffered the first loss of his collegiate career — his first loss on a basketball court since AAU ball in 2012, I believe — on the night, was shattered. This Florida basketball family is not his first, but has loved him well, and he loves it, too. Kasey Hill, so good and so young, will grow up and get better; he might even develop a jumper.</p>
<p>DeVon Walker could be next year's Finney-Smith in terms of sixth man contribution. Damontre Harris may be next year's Finney-Smith in terms of pleasantly surprising production; Eli Carter might beat him to that spot, though. Dillon Graham could give Florida a shooter off the bench. Talented freshmen — waterbug point guard Chris Chiozza, burly combo guard Brandone Francis, and lanky tweener Devin Robinson — will fill holes.</p>
<p>Most of all, these Gators learned how to win from seniors who had to learn how not to win the hard way, over and over and over. Hard work is a prerequisite for success at the highest levels in college basketball, but talent is often the difference between great teams and champions — it was for these Gators — and Billy Donovan can use the specter of this incredible team to remind all future teams that hard work can forge great individual talent into a collective far greater than its constituent parts.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/images/blog/star-divide.v59c7267.jpg" alt="Star-divide"></p>
<p>But while we know what the players on Florida's 2013-14 basketball team — the Forever Gators, maybe, if there ever were a Florida team that deserved that honorific — will do, we do not know what their legacy will be.</p>
<p>Will it be one of the team that finally got Florida back over the hump? Three straight Elite Eights made the teams that Prather, Wilbekin, Yeguete, and Young were part of before this one both accomplished and disappointing, with the losses at the cruelest stage of the NCAA Tournament — the one before the Final Four spotlight — overshadowing their accomplishments.</p>
<p>Will it be one belonging to the best team in SEC history? Florida never, ever lost a game against its conference foes, including the Kentucky team that will at least play for a title on Monday, practically unprecedented in a major conference in the modern era, and totally unprecedented since the addition of the three-point shot, David's favorite sling.</p>
<div class="pullquote">It was one of the most special experiences I've had being around a group of guys away from the court maybe since I've been in coaching. <span>— Billy Donovan</span>
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<p>Will it be one dotted with the nouns used to canonize college athletics as something special and wonderful? Family, loyalty, friendship, teamwork, drive, diligence, desire, responsibility — these Gators were or had or evinced all of them.</p>
<p>Or will it be one with a final chapter all about how the Gators, as the No. 1 overall seed and NCAA Tournament favorite and Final Four favorite, failed their hardest test? How there just wasn't enough at the end to beat teams with better players? How a 30-game winning streak and the best winning percentage in school history don't mean a thing because the Gators didn't get rings?</p>
<p>All of these are possible. And the legacy you remember will largely depend on the tellers of the story.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/images/blog/star-divide.v59c7267.jpg" alt="Star-divide"></p>
<p>Let the Gators tell it, and the story has a happy ending of sorts.</p>
<p>"This game is not changing anything, regardless of how I feel, of my relationship with them," <a href="http://www.asapsports.com/show_interview.php?id=97886" target="new">Yeguete said</a> in his postgame interview. "They're great guys. I love them, love to be around them."</p>
<p>"I think that everybody will remember this season for the team that we were able to become, because at the beginning of the year, it didn't look like we would be much of a team," Wilbekin said. "Even though it's hard right now, I'm sure that I'll look back on this year and be really proud of the guys that were standing next to me and just us as a team."</p>
<p>"For me personally, where they were as individuals and where they were as a team to where they came from in terms of becoming a team," Billy Donovan said, "I mean, it was one of the most special experiences I've had being around a group of guys away from the court maybe since I've been in coaching."</p>
<p>Young, the team's loudest leader and best speaker, predictably said the most and said it best:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Can't really explain how I feel because it just hasn't hit me, that these guys right next to me, the guys in the locker room, that we're not going to be together in the same way again. Who knows where we're going to be in a couple of months? Just this team was so special, something I'm never going to forget for all my life. We accomplished a lot just by loving each other and being really committed and loving playing with one another.</p>
<p>So I'm just really going to cherish everything that we had this year and it's going to be something I'll never forget.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>I think for the first time in my life, I was a part of a group of guys that were really willing to bleed for one another. Guys that were really willing to just do whatever it took to go outside of themselves, to commit to the greater goal.</p>
<p>Looking at the year, going into it, we didn't know what was going to happen with the suspension and the injuries and all that stuff. But we stuck together through it, had a lot of great memories. One thing I can take from this team is just when you can truly love a group of guys or people like this, you bring out the best out of them and you bring out the best out of your self.</p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/images/blog/star-divide.v59c7267.jpg" alt="Star-divide"></p>
<p>Words are easy for legacies, because they echo and get written down. Actions, even in a world that is increasingly Vined and Instagrammed and Snapchatted, last mostly in minds and in words.</p>
<p>When Florida was out of it — down 10, with no chance of a three-fueled comeback, in the final minutes — Patric Young still laid out for a loose ball. When Florida was well and truly felled, Young hugged every UConn player before departing for the locker room, then high-fived UConn fans on his way in.</p>
<div class="pullquote">This game is not changing anything, regardless of how I feel, of my relationship with them. They're great guys. I love them, love to be around them. <span>— Will Yeguete</span>
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<p>When a friend of mine saw Will Yeguete in a hotel after the game, all she wanted to do was hug him — not as a fan stealing a moment, but as a friend giving a little love in return for all the love he's given all of us.</p>
<p>When Casey Prather, quiet and humbled and as aware of his identity as much as anyone on the team, needed to be great, on a day after a month of never quite being it, he was, fighting to keep his brothers alive.</p>
<p>When Scottie Wilbekin needed to be great, and wasn't, turning in the worst performance of his spectacular senior season and possibly the worst performance of his Florida career, he owned his part ... while also covering for Hill, one of his little brothers.</p>
<p>"A couple of us were having bad shooting nights," <a href="http://www.asapsports.com/show_interview.php?id=97886" target="new">he said</a>. "We were just being too loose with (the ball)," he said. "All credit goes to them and their guards and the way they were denying and putting pressure on us," he said.</p>
<p>Us, we, them. For this team, it was hard to think, speak, or act like anything else.</p>
<p>This team has changed not only what I think of Florida basketball, and what I thought of every player on it, but what I think of the concept of a team as a whole. I have never in my life seen a team as wholly and unshakably committed to each other, and it <i>never </i>wavered in its love for more than fleeting moments.</p>
<p>After fouls, it huddled and reassured itself. After big plays, it celebrated as a group. After wins, it reveled in the triumph together. After losses, it shared the blame. It did what it did together, happily fitting all its jagged individual pieces into place, and solving a puzzle that allowed it to find a high rung among some of the greatest teams in college basketball history.</p>
<p>I didn't think this team was possible. But it proved me wrong, time after time.</p>
<p>Watch sports for long enough and you'll fall in and out of love with them routinely, beaming when your teams win and souring when players you don't like prevail. <i>Cover </i>sports for any stretch of time, even only as long as the six or seven years I have, and it's hard not to be jaded. The whole of sports played by humans is a cup runneth over for anyone who wants to get drunk on victory or excellence or defeat or schadenfruede; the scribes who work their fingers to the bone to describe that world get paid for temperance, in large part. Even those of us who haven't seen much, thanks to the rapid proliferation of <i>everything</i>, have seen so much.</p>
<p>It is fine, I think, to forgo temperance for things like these Florida Gators. This was and is the best team I have ever had the privilege of watching, and will be the impossible standard for every team I will watch for the rest of my life. Many will try to do what these Gators did, to be what they were. Most, and maybe all, will fail.</p>
<p>And so, for me, these Gators will have a life after death, one that will last forever.</p>
https://www.alligatorarmy.com/2014/4/6/5586852/florida-uconn-2014-final-four-ncaa-tournamentAndy Hutchins2014-04-05T15:30:01-04:002014-04-05T15:30:01-04:00Florida-UConn, Game Thread: Ls up for our Gators
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<figcaption>Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Florida didn't come this far in the 2014 NCAA Tournament to lose. But the Gators won't be leaving unhappy if they do lose. Such is the nature of a team as tight as this one.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><i>"Ls up for them hittas"<br></i><i>— Lil Durk, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MntLMkF1z2c" target="new">"L's Anthem"</a></i></p>
<p>Florida's been here before.</p>
<p>It's the school's fifth Final Four in the last 19 years. It's Billy Donovan's fourth since 2000 — only Roy Williams and Tom Izzo have more. Donovan assistants and Florida athletic department personnel remember the 2006 and 2007 Final Fours well.</p>
<p>These Gators haven't.</p>
<p><span>Casey Prather</span>, <span>Will Yeguete</span>, and Patric Young were high-schoolers in 2007, when Corey Brewer, Al Horford, and Joakim Noah led Florida to its second consecutive <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/march-madness">NCAA Tournament</a> title. <span>Scottie Wilbekin</span> was an eighth-grader, three years removed from the fateful decision to skip his senior year of high school and enroll early at Florida.</p>
<p>And they have struggled and suffered on their way to this stage, this 6:09 p.m. Eastern game on TBS and TNT against UConn, this last step before the last game of the college basketball season.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Star-divide" src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/images/blog/star-divide.v59c7267.jpg"></p>
<p>I've written about <a href="http://www.alligatorarmy.com/2014/3/7/5481478/florida-gators-2014-senior-class-casey-prather-scottie-wilbekin-patric-young-will-yeguete" target="new">all of that at length before</a>, about the trials and tribulations and growth that made this crew of four seniors "The Four," indelibly etched in the minds and memories of Florida fans as among our favorite players ever.</p>
<p>But those seniors are not the whole of this team.</p>
<p><span>Michael Frazier II</span> has worked his ass off for this team. He is first to shoot before the game — every game — and works hard enough to <a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/blogs/swamp-things/os-gators-ray-allen-flattered-by-work-ethic-michael-frazier-20140404,0,7188866.post" target="new">impress Ray Allen</a>, his favorite player.</p>
<p><span>Kasey Hill</span> has made himself into potentially Billy Donovan's finest point guard ever by slowing down and fighting through injuries. He turned his ankle early this season, got healthy, suffered a groin injury, got healthy, suffered turf toe, and is now playing as well as he has all year despite that last malady.</p>
<p><span>Dorian Finney-Smith</span> bided his time. He transferred from Virginia Tech in 2012, and sat out the 2012-13 season per NCAA transfer rules. He's <i>still</i> biding his time: As a starter, next year, he may well be the focal point of Florida's offense, and play himself into an <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba-draft">NBA Draft</a> selection. But Florida's crowded frontcourt has better defenders and more consistent scorers right now, and he will be the best sixth man in Dallas, after being the best sixth man in the SEC and the best sixth man in many years for the Gators.</p>
<p>Like Scottie Wilbekin, <span>DeVon Walker</span> could've left after last season; unlike Wilbekin, he wanted to. Walker's transfer was <a href="http://www.alligatorarmy.com/2013/5/6/4305142/devon-walker-transfer-florida-gators-basketball" target="new">announced in early May</a>, and <a href="http://www.alligatorarmy.com/2013/5/13/4327730/devon-walker-will-return-florida-gators-transfer" target="new">rescinded a week later</a>, as he reconsidered his place and role at Florida. With Eli Carter and <span>Dillon Graham</span> being forced to take injury redshirts early in the fall, and <span>Chris Walker</span> failing to enroll until December, DeVo became Florida's spot-duty defender and emergency point guard off the bench.</p>
<p><span>Chris Walker</span> has been Florida's Red Bull for the frontcourt time and again of late, playing seven good minutes here or five great ones there. He's still young, and raw, and far from the player he's eventually going to be — Walker has both given Gators reason to be inordinately excited about his development at Florida and given NBA scouts all the red flags they need to not draft him. But he is not the lost boy he was on the court for his first few appearances anymore, having been taken under <span>Patric Young's</span> bulky wing and dedicated himself to the craft of defense, and that improvement has made him a playable member of Florida's rotation.</p>
<p>It wasn't that long ago that <span>Jacob Kurtz</span> was one of those players, too: He played 21 minutes at Wisconsin when Florida met the Badgers with Wilbekin and Finney-Smith still suspended, and played another six minutes at UConn. Since then, he's played fewer and fewer minutes, mostly in garbage time, going back to being one of the nation's best walk-ons when the rest of his team was healthy and eligible.</p>
<p>He played another minute last Saturday — against Dayton, in the Elite Eight, in the first half. His role can still include critical moments.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Star-divide" src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/images/blog/star-divide.v59c7267.jpg"></p>
<p>Nearly every team that gets to this level in college basketball does so with players sublimating themselves to the wants and needs of their team. To get this far, by winning four games in two sets of two over three days in unusual locales against varied teams, you have to do that.</p>
<p>Florida's not selfish; we know that well. But UConn's not selfish, either, and neither is Wisconsin, or even Kentucky. Shabazz Napier is UConn's star, but his team knows it can count on him. <span>Frank Kaminsky</span> is Wisconsin's go-to player, but has emerged slowly, finding his role over time. Kentucky has a constellation's worth of stars, and has spent a season figuring out its proper formation.</p>
<p>There are posts like this to be written about the Huskies and the Badgers and the Wildcats; I believe that wholeheartedly.</p>
<p>I believe this, too: Those teams aren't anything like these Gators.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Star-divide" src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/images/blog/star-divide.v59c7267.jpg"></p>
<p>The Ls you see in the picture above? Florida's been throwing them all season, not just since the wins and the rankings and the championships and the snipped nets.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.alligatorarmy.com/2014/4/3/5577998/florida-gators-basketball-2014-glossary-nicknames-hashtags" target="new">I explained them yesterday:</a></p>
<blockquote>
<h4>Ls</h4>
<p id="paragraph16">Hand signs <a target="new" href="http://bricksandpalmtrees.wordpress.com/2013/11/14/4-songs-for-a-2013-2014-gatorboyz-soundtrack/">meaning "Life, love, and loyalty"</a> displayed by Gators in picture below. Derived from Chicago rappers' Lamron (reverse it) crew and sign. Always thrown up, never taken.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But that's not the whole explanation.</p>
<p>Chicago is producing some of the nation's best rap right now, mostly in a subgenre called "drill" music, which orients itself around crews — gangs, really — and around posturing about who is hardest and realest. Some of it is performative; some of it is in keeping with Chicago's dismaying, dizzying recent history of violance among young men. When Lil Durk commands "Ls up for them hittas," he's talking about his buddies .. who shoot guns, and sometimes people.</p>
<p>And yet, in that tumult, and borne of some of that illegality, there is strength and resilience. Ls don't stand for lasciviousness, larceny, and looting; they stand for life, love, and loyalty. They're shows of affection, softness from boys and men who have grown up on hard roads.</p>
<p>Florida's taking that definition. These Gators throw and show Ls — and some have had them tattooed on their person — because they love each other.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Star-divide" src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/images/blog/star-divide.v59c7267.jpg"></p>
<p>There's a chance that Florida could lose tonight — a good one, in fact. The Gators are playing a UConn team with one incredibly good player and several very good ones, and that team already shot the lights out against the Gators once. Sure, the Gators UConn will play on Saturday <a target="new" href="http://www.cbssports.com/general/writer/gregg-doyel/24513616/uconns-secret-to-beating-florida-injured-gators-fluke-buzzer-beater">are not the Gators who lost to the Huskies in Storrs</a> — but who else can say they beat these Gators, even in their reduced form? Only Wisconsin.</p>
<p>And if Florida gets past UConn tonight, the Gators might well lose to either Kentucky or Wisconsin on Monday. Those teams, too, are good at basketball — good enough to give them a chance against Florida, still the nation's best team.</p>
<p>For me, preparing for all of the potentialities of a game — wins, losses, and all the flavors thereof — means considering all of them as possible. A loss tonight is possible.</p>
<p>It's not likely. It's not what I would bet on. But it's possible.</p>
<p>It is <i>impossible</i> for that hypothetical loss to change anything about these Gators.</p>
<p>Florida plays basketball as beautifully as I've ever seen it played. The Gators share the ball well, share defensive duties even better, and play smart and hard for every second they're on the court. They play for each other and play together. I could not ask for anything more from a team I root for, except maybe results.</p>
<p>And the results won't change my feelings for this team.</p>
<p>I don't think they'll change how this team feels about itself, either.</p>
<p>Florida didn't come all this way to lose. It came to make a mark, make memories, make these seniors' final season the best in their lives.</p>
<p>"I don't think any team wants to go to the Final Four and be like, "All right, we made it. That's it,'" Young <a href="http://www.alligator.org/sports/baseball/article_b4d356b4-bc84-11e3-bca9-0019bb2963f4.html" target="_blank">said last Saturday</a>, after finishing off Dayton. "We're going to go ... into the game fearless."</p>
<p>The opposite of fear is not bravery. It is love, tinged with respect. That love powers this Florida team.</p>
<p>Win or lose, that love will last forever. Ls up for these Gators.</p>
https://www.alligatorarmy.com/2014/4/5/5584724/florida-vs-uconn-game-thread-2014-final-fourAndy Hutchins2014-04-04T13:05:20-04:002014-04-04T13:05:20-04:00CAB: The last pre-Final Four edition
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BilVX7p5zv7xCHvG-DuabAgBFxA=/0x0:4000x2667/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/31145947/20140329_ajl_ad8_102.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So many links, so little time.</p> <p><i>Chomping at Bits comes stocked with the best <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/teams/florida-gators" class="sbn-auto-link">Florida Gators</a> links and news we can find. Got a link we should check out? Email us at <a href="mailto:alligatorarmy@gmail.com">AlligatorArmy@gmail.com</a>, subject line CAB, or find us on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/AlligatorArmy" target="new">@AlligatorArmy</a> or on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AlligatorArmy" target="new">Facebook.com/AlligatorArmy</a>.</i></p>
<p><b>Florida tops two power rankings:</b> You probably knew that the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.alligatorarmy.com/">Gators</a> would be No. 1 in mine. But they're No. 1 in Luke Winn's, too, and he cites their defense (with an awesome graphic) as the reason why. (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/2014/4/4/5580280/final-four-2014-power-rankings-florida-wisconsin-kentucky">Andy Hutchins, SB Nation</a> / <a target="_blank" href="http://college-basketball.si.com/2014/04/03/final-four-power-rankings-florida-wisconsin-kentucky-uconn/">Luke Winn, One And One | SI.com</a>)</p>
<p><b>KenPom history favors Florida:</b> The best team usually wins. Top-five teams usually win. Florida is both. (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/24511233/final-four-analysis-kenpom-vs-seed-success-over-the-years">Matt Norlander, CBS Sports</a>)</p>
<p><b>Ray Allen likes Michael Frazier II's work ethic:</b> Which is awesome. (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/blogs/swamp-things/os-gators-ray-allen-flattered-by-work-ethic-michael-frazier-20140404,0,7188866.post">Edgar Thompson, Swamp Things | <i>Orlando Sentinel</i></a>)</p>
<p><b>Predictions from the pundits:</b> Good hustle to get all of these thoughts. (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.gatorcountry.com/florida-gators-basketball/gc-qa-final-four-edition/">Richard Johnson, Gator Country</a>)</p>
<p><b><span>Patric Young</span>, pick-and-roll monster...</b> ...on defense. I also laughed at how Donovan described Pat's movement. (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.gatorzone.com/story.php?id=27842">Chris Harry, GatorZone</a>)</p>
<p><b>Someone's busting a narrative:</b> Here's hoping it's Florida. (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/24512667/one-of-these-final-four-teams-is-about-to-kill-a-popular-narrative">Gary Parrish, CBS Sports</a>)</p>
<p><b>Donovan's changed his own narrative:</b> Dunno if I think this is entirely right, but it's worth noting. (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.cbssports.com/general/writer/gregg-doyel/24512592/donovan-not-only-redefined-florida-basketball-hes-evolved-as-coach-too">Gregg Doyel, CBS Sports</a>)</p>
<p><b>Florida's been in bad Final Fours before:</b> Not that we mind. (<a target="_blank" href="http://bloguin.com/runthefloor/2014-articles/the-5-worst-final-fours-of-the-shot-clock-era.html">Matt Zemek, Run the Floor</a>)</p>
<p><b>"Deserve's got nothing to do with it":</b> A great eulogy for Louisville. (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.cardchronicle.com/2014/4/3/5579320/deserves-got-nothin-to-do-with-it">Mike Rutherford, Card Chronicle</a>)</p>
<p><b>Why the Final Four is on TBS:</b> M-o-n-e-y. You can watch a Gators-centric broadcast on TNT, though. (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2014/04/04/why-final-four-games-arent-on-cbs-saturday/?clsrd">Cindy Boren, The Early Lead | <i>The Washington Post</i></a>)</p>
<p><b>Where to go and what to do in Dallas:</b> Good thoughts from Ian Rapoport at the link, a quick guide from the DFW Gator Club in the tweet. (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.jeansandties.com/ian-rapoport-nfl-dallas/">Jeans & Ties</a>)</p>
<blockquote lang="en" class="twitter-tweet">
<p>Comin into town for <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23FinalFour&src=hash">#FinalFour</a> - check out our travel guide! <a href="http://t.co/5tHCUMpLOc">pic.twitter.com/5tHCUMpLOc</a></p>
— DFW Gator Club (@DFWGatorClub) <a href="https://twitter.com/DFWGatorClub/statuses/451426903799234560">April 2, 2014</a>
</blockquote>
<p><b>GIF Session for the Final Four:</b> Great work by one of our Mizzou bros. (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.rockmnation.com/2014/4/4/5581802/final-four-march-madness-ncaa-basketball">Armchair Analyst, Rock M Nation</a>)</p>
<p><b>Proposed changes for college hoops:</b> I agree with all four. (<a target="_blank" href="http://johngasaway.com/2014/04/03/let-them-play/">John Gasaway</a>)</p>
<p><b>On Florida's revamped (football) offense:</b> Right, football. (<a target="_blank" href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20140401/florida-gators-offense-spring-practice/">Andy Staples, SI.com</a> | <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jeremy-fowler/24511675/ufs-roper-wvus-holgorsen-among-most-important-offensive-coaches">Jeremy Fowler, CBS Sports</a>)</p>
<p><b>The extraordinary Joakim Noah:</b> <i>Sui generis</i> works pretty well for Jo. (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.cbssports.com/nba/writer/ken-berger/24511945/on-and-off-the-court-theres-no-other-player-like-joakim-noah">Ken Berger, CBS Sports</a>)</p>
<p><b>New developments in Jameis Winston's saga:</b> Basically, Florida State seemed to have reacted to an alleged rape somewhat unconventionally, as we knew last fall — and now its investigation into that night is being, er, investigated. (<a target="_blank" href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fncaaf%2F2014%2F04%2F03%2Fjameis-winston-florida-state-rape-investigation-title-ix-civil-rights%2F7262359%2F&referrer=sbnation.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.alligatorarmy.com%2F2014%2F4%2F4%2F5582134%2Fflorida-gators-final-four-2014-news-notes" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener">Rachel Axon, USA TODAY Sports</a> | <a target="_blank" href="http://deadspin.com/fsu-investigates-jameis-winston-charges-2-teammates-in-1557216579">Adam Weinstein, Deadspin</a> | <a target="_blank" href="http://therotation.sportsonearthblog.com/suspension-of-disbelief/">Colin McGowan, The Rotation | Sports on Earth</a></p>
<p><b>Programming note:</b> I'm going to be in a car and en route to Dallas for just about the next 16 hours, so I won't have anything more posted here until about 10 a.m. Saturday morning. But I <i>will</i> have a couple of longer pieces that you can look forward to, and I will also be fielding questions — of all kinds! — <a target="new" href="http://twitter.com/AlligatorArmy">on Twitter</a> for an hour or two this afternoon, in case you're worried or curious about something or anything. Please do feel free to ask me anything.</p>
<p><i>The comments are yours.</i></p>
https://www.alligatorarmy.com/2014/4/4/5582134/florida-gators-final-four-2014-news-notesAndy Hutchins2014-04-04T11:00:52-04:002014-04-04T11:00:52-04:00Final Four hype videos do justice to Gators
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_AElQG9AJjnm8JOXU3oVfB86Scs=/0x0:4000x2667/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/31138213/20140329_rvr_sc6_280.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They're just incredible.</p> <p>Yes, the Final Four hype video up top is ridiculously good, thanks in part to the overlaid <span>Billy Donovan</span> audio and the theme — the work is its own reward, and everything else is symbolic — that works perfectly for this Florida team.</p>
<p>But I'm not entirely sure it's actually better than this one.</p>
<p><iframe frameborder="0" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/tpMROL5bK9E" height="338" width="600"></iframe></p>
<p>There's just <em>so</em> much material to work with when it comes to celebrating this team, and the GatorVision folks have done a tremendous job working with it this year. They've done so well, in fact, that they've all but obsoleted the garden-variety highlight or hype videos for me; I only really want to watch something that's not official if it's as spectacular as that "Fix You" video we posted here a little while ago. Kudos to the GatorVision folks for stepping up their game, and to <a href="http://www.160over90.com/">160over90</a> for being behind the video up top and the <a href="http://gatorsalways.com/">Gators Always</a> site.</p>
<p>...and no, I don't know which video here is better. Let me know which one you prefer in the comments.</p>
https://www.alligatorarmy.com/2014/4/4/5581668/florida-gators-2014-final-four-hype-videosAndy Hutchins2014-04-03T16:31:27-04:002014-04-03T16:31:27-04:00Thursday Takeaways: Football can learn from hoops
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Ao4uqBHgh2e9CUqP9GgF5aP6aV8=/0x0:4000x2667/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/31105193/481372331.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Streeter Lecka</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It's like Tuesday Musings, except not on Tuesday, and not really musings!</p> <p><i>As Tuesday Musings is a column for me to just sort of expound on things, so will Thursday Takeaways be a column that will distill opinions about news involving Florida to its essence.</i></p>
<h3>Florida football could learn a lot from Florida basketball</h3>
<p>One reason — of many — I am optimistic about Florida's 2014 football team and season? Those Gators have lived through this Florida basketball run just like we have.</p>
<p>Some of those Gators mix and mingle and call each other friends; others don't. Some of the football Gators have gone to Florida basketball games; others haven't. But there should be a sense of pride <i>and</i> envy that bubbles for much of the football team with each bit of praise — and each slight to football — that comes for Florida basketball this spring and summer.</p>
<p>To a degree, that might not mean much: Any slight can be motivational in the right player's mind, or the right coach's toolbox, and Will Muschamp does not lack motivational skills. But it's rare to have both plenty of reason to feel slighted <i>and</i> as fine an example of the worth of hard work, teamwork, and unselfishness as Florida has right now.</p>
<p>And it's not just basketball, either, though basketball is clearly the best and most powerful example: The Gators have only to walk across their campus to see championship-caliber teams, and can't help but fraternize with fellow champions.</p>
<p>I don't know if it will burn them to see rings and things on their friends' hands. But I can tell you it would burn <i>me</i> — and that I would be trying to pick up tips wherever I could.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Star-divide" src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/images/blog/star-divide.v59c7267.jpg"></p>
<h3>Florida's new offense will help its defense, too</h3>
<p>There's <a href="http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jeremy-fowler/24511675/ufs-roper-wvus-holgorsen-among-most-important-offensive-coaches" target="new">a good read on Kurt Roper's challenge</a> from Jeremy Fowler at CBS Sports today, and while it's light on details, the ones in there are good — Roper bought a house in Gainesville! Roper's made fun of that Gator-blocking-Gator moment, too!</p>
<p>There's also this explanation of Florida's offense, straight from Roper:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Early on, Muschamp had a clear message for Roper, who first called plays for Cutcliffe at age 29: More up-tempo, more shotgun formations, utilize Jeff Driskel's dual-threat ability.</p>
<p>So this is what Muschamp is getting, according to Roper: "Spread formation team with spread run game principles with pro-style drop back pass game."</p>
<p>For the Cliffs notes version: "Speed in space."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>All of that sounds like something Florida has the personnel to do; many of the things Florida's 2013 offense tried to do under Brent Pease were things it could not do because of personnel limitations. So, in that one sense, Florida's already got a better offensive approach than it had last season.</p>
<p>But I think another thing is sort of going unmentioned or underreported so far: Florida now has an offense that can prepare its defense for hurry-up tempos and smart short passing attacks, two things that have consistently given even the really good defenses Muschamp has put on the field trouble.</p>
<p>There are good reasons that <i>both</i> Alabama and Florida, two of the schools with the finest defenses in the country, have made public overtures toward more up-tempo and spread-based offense — it's where football is going. Getting to scout your opponent by scouting your own offense is one of them.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Star-divide" src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/images/blog/star-divide.v59c7267.jpg"></p>
<h3>How to handle #EverythingSchool trolling</h3>
<p>It's a shame that, largely because I've been running around and not stoking the fire, #EverythingSchool has mostly become a jab for Florida State fans to use in the endless Twitter war between the bored lawyers and law students of #FSUTwitter and the Florida fans who still haven't totally learned how to find a Zen-like state of balance between teasing FSU fans and thanking our lucky stars that we're not them.</p>
<p>But Florida's also been putting together close-but-no-cigar performances of late. Florida's men's and women's track team entered the NCAA Indoor Championships as the nation's No. 1-ranked teams, and finished third. Florida's women's gymnastics team faltered on its final rotation — on the floor, of all apparatuses — and took second at the SEC Championships. Florida's men's swimming team finished third at the NCAA Championships last weekend, tying their best performance under Gregg Troy, after entering as the nation's No. 1-ranked squad.</p>
<p>And Florida softball has lost its grip on No. 1, and just lost to Florida State (surprisingly good this season) at home, and Florida baseball managed to work its way back into the national rankings (with a bullet!) by beating Florida State twice and sweeping LSU, then lost to Florida Atlantic on Friday night. It's been a rough few weeks for the #EverythingSchool mantra...</p>
<p>...you know, except for the No. 1-ranked men's basketball team making the Final Four, the men's and women's track teams moving on to the outdoor season that plays more to their strengths, the No. 1-ranked gymnastics team still being in great shape to defend their national title, the consensus top-five lacrosse team putting the American Lacrosse Conference in a familiar stranglehold, that baseball team <a href="http://www.alligatorarmy.com/2014/3/26/5549728/florida-fsu-baseball-2014-series-brawl-jameis-winston" target="new">frustrating Florida State</a>, Florida's oft-criticized women's basketball team winning an <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/march-madness" class="sbn-auto-link">NCAA Tournament</a> game, and Florida's men's and women's tennis teams hanging out in the top 15 and top 10 of their respective polls.</p>
<p>It is much easier to throw out hashtags sarcastically than to exhaustively cover all of Florida's good programs. Mea culpa on the latter.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Star-divide" src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/images/blog/star-divide.v59c7267.jpg"></p>
<h3>Recruiting, politics, and Twitter</h3>
<p>As I've been getting deeper and deeper into recruiting over the last few years, I have come to realize that recruiting boils down to politics in many ways, and that coverage of recruiting is a lot like political coverage. Every college is vying for what amounts to an endorsement from the high school player, and the best way to stay on a recruit's mind is to either a) be in the recruit's ear whenever possible and build a relationship or b) catch eyes of both recruits and national writers who provide valuable publicity for free by writing about your recruiting.</p>
<p>The latter is what Georgia's done this week with <a href="http://www.dawgsports.com/2014/4/3/5578284/mark-richt-portrait-contest-scooters-and-cash-live-fast-die-young-bad-dawgs-do-it-well" target="new">its ingenious "hand-drawn" portraits mailed out to recruits</a>; they've been written up and passed around Twitter ad nauseam. It's what Florida did, if somewhat inadvertently, with <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/college-football-recruiting/2013/4/24/4260644/florida-football-twitter-photoshops-harry-potter-joker#pgh/51/7282" target="new">the lower-quality images it made</a> last year.</p>
<p>The former is harder, though, and it requires being "on the ground," or in players' minds on a daily basis. You can't do that like you can in politics, by buying ads and such, because the NCAA regulates recruiting better than the United States regulates political campaigning — the irony should not be lost on you — but you can do that by being where the recruits are. Increasingly, that's Twitter, which is why Florida seems to be ramping up its Twitter presence.</p>
<p>Florida defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachDurkin" target="new">has a new Twitter account</a>. Tight ends coach Derek Lewis <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachDLew" target="new">is using his more often</a>. Defensive backs coach Travaris Robinson tweeted that it was "his" "first day on Twitter" just the other day:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>Welcome to the 21st century, my first day using twitter. Y'all overwhelming me right now lol</p>
— Travaris Robinson (@UFCoach_TROB) <a href="https://twitter.com/UFCoach_TROB/statuses/450678063492112384">March 31, 2014</a>
</blockquote>
<p>And then there's <a href="https://twitter.com/_Gators_" target="new">@_Gators_</a>, which I would bet any amount of money is the brainchild of <a href="http://www.alligatorarmy.com/2013/12/20/5230020/florida-gators-jeff-choate-resigns-coleman-hutzler-hired-drew-hughes" target="new">new Florida director of player personnel Drew Hughes</a>, and not just because <a href="https://twitter.com/dhughes234" target="new">Hughes retweets it all the time</a> and it links to <a href="http://coachwillmuschamp.com/" target="new">Muschamp's official site</a>, currently being overhauled.</p>
<p>Whether Florida's coaches stay on their Twitter grind — I have my reservations and suspicions — remains to be seen, but it's clear that Hughes will be on his, and grinding. That's already a big, big upgrade over Jon Haskins, the little-liked former director of player personnel Hughes replaced, akin to trading in some two-bit no-name for Olivia Pope as your fixer <i>du jour</i>.</p>
<p>Twitter mastery alone won't land recruits; Florida has to do things the old-fashioned way, too. But given that Florida's <a href="https://twitter.com/MistaAlderman/status/450807350392549376" target="new">doing things</a> to make itself memorable for recruits via Twitter, it's likely that Florida won't <i>miss out</i> on any players because of its presence on the tweets — or a lack thereof.</p>
https://www.alligatorarmy.com/2014/4/3/5579350/florida-gators-football-basketball-2014-kurt-roperAndy Hutchins