June 18th, 2013 11:35pm
by Kevin Brockway
The chance that Eli Carter can play right away at Florida remains up in the air.
The 6-foot-3, Rutgers transfer guard is still awaiting approval from his former school before the process can move on to the NCAA.
There is thought that Carter could receive a waiver due to the player abuse scandal involving former Rutgers coach Mike Rice. Rice resigned after a videotape released to ESPN showed him throwing basketballs at players and verbally abusing them.
“Still no word,” Carter’s father, Dale …
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June 12th, 2013 08:14pm
by Kevin Brockway
With the recent indefinite suspension of Florida point guard Scottie Wilbekin, it would be easy to assume Braxton Ogbueze is kicking himself.
After all, had Ogbueze stayed at Florida for his sophomore season, he could have been in line to compete for the starting point guard job to start the 2013-14 season.
But according to Ogbueze’s older bother, Klem, Braxton is doing just fine.
“He doesn’t regret it,” Klem Ogbueze said. “He’s looking forward, not back. As a family, we look forward.”
Ogbueze left …
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June 11th, 2013 06:17pm
by Kevin Brockway
The second Florida summer session is a few weeks away. But incoming freshman McDonald’s All-American Florida power forward Chris Walker still has work to do to ensure initial eligibility for the 2013-14 season.
The 6-foot-9 Walker is still taking three academic courses online with the Florida virtual school to finish core requirements, according to his high school coach at Bonifay, Poe White. He also took the ACT for the third time last Saturday.
“He’s improved each time, from 13 to 16,” White …
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June 10th, 2013 07:59pm
by Kevin Brockway
The Southeastern Conference announced its new head of men’s basketball officials on Monday.
It’s a familiar face. Dr. Robert “Jake” Bell, an SEC official from the 1970s to the early 2000s, has returned to the conference to coordinate its officiating crews.
Bell replaces Gerald Boudreaux, who was let go in April. He has served as the Coordinator of Basketball Officials for the Atlantic Sun Conference since 2006 and of the Southern Atlantic Association since 2012. He also worked as the Coordinator of …
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June 5th, 2013 09:19pm
by Kevin Brockway
The NBA playoffs started with eight former Gators competing on seven different teams.
Given those numbers, it’s no surprise that three former Gators are playing in the NBA Finals.
Udonis Haslem (Miami Heat), Mike Miller (Miami Heat) and Matt Bonner (San Antonio Spurs) will each be going for title rings when the Spurs play the Heat in Game 1 on Thursday night (9 p.m. ET, ABC).
All three have filled important roles off the bench for their teams this season. And all three …
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May 31st, 2013 04:28pm
by Kevin Brockway
He’s no longer Billy The Kid, but Florida coach Billy Donovan is still young in college basketball coaching circles.
Donovan turned 48 on Thursday. He’s the dean of Southeastern Conference men’s basketball coaches, with 17 years of experience at Florida, and 19 overall. But because Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley took a chance on hiring Donovan a few months shy of his 31st birthday, Donovan has managed to put together an impressive resume at a young age.
Donovan’s 450 college coaching wins …
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May 28th, 2013 12:35pm
by Kevin Brockway
Another season. Another former Gator in the NBA Finals.
This time, it’s 10-year NBA veteran Matt Bonner. The 6-foot-10 bearded sharpshooter was all smiles following San Antonio’s sweep of the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA Western Conference finals on Monday night.
“We’re going to enjoy it for a couple of days but we’re going to go back to the Spurs way of doing things and start to prepare for whoever comes out of the East,” Bonner told San Antonio TV station WAOI …
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May 23rd, 2013 03:55pm
by Kevin Brockway
Former Florida forward Erik Murphy made the most of his invite to the NBA predraft camp in Chicago.
Murphy, who led the SEC in 3-point shooting at 45.3 percent this past season, opened a few eyes with his combination of size and perimeter touch.
“Early on, he struggled a little bit with his shooting but he finished strong,” said an NBA personnel executive who attended the camp. “The key for him is going to be the workouts. I was told he has …
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May 22nd, 2013 04:23pm
by Kevin Brockway
After a year focusing on academics at Florida, former Gator forward Cody Larson will resume his basketball career closer to home.
Larson has transferred to South Dakota State, saying he “just wants to play basketball”. The campus, located in Brookings, S.D., is about 45 minutes from Larson’s hometown of Sioux Falls, S.D. South Dakota State has reached the NCAA Tournament in each of its last two seasons as champions of the Summit League.
A change of scenery was needed for Larson, who …
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May 14th, 2013 05:38pm
by Kevin Brockway
The SEC-Big 12 pairings were officially released on Tuesday. We’ve known for a little while that Florida will host Kansas on Dec. 10, but the matchup at the O’Connell Center just gained a little more star power.
Top 2013 national recruit Andrew Wiggins announced that he’s accepted a scholarship to Kansas, surprising many recruiting analysts that had him pegged for either Kentucky or Florida State.
The 6-foot-7, 205-pound Wiggins, son of former NBA and FSU guard Mitchell Wiggins, has been dubbed as …
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Kevin Brockway gave up on his dream of becoming a lefty starting pitcher for the New York Mets when he walked four straight batters, then hit one in a middle school game in Suffern, N.Y. Since graduating college in 1993, he’s worked as a sports writer at daily newspapers throughout the state of Florida, beginning with the Key West Citizen. He then moved on to the Northwest Florida Daily News and Naples Daily News before becoming the men’s basketball writer for The Gainesville Sun in 2003. Brockway has won multiple state and national writing awards during his 16-year career. Favorite pastimes include karaoke and watching baseball. Favorite college hoops team growing up was St. John’s.