Hodge hocking ring
Former Florida guard Walter Hodge has put his 2006 national championship ring up for sale on eBay.
Hodge is selling the 10 karat diamond ring for $12,500. The reasons for the sale are unclear. But since leaving Florida last season, Hodge has struggled to find a steady gig playing overseas. He last played for the Puerto Rico Capitanes of the Premier Basketball League, but was released on March 12.
Hodge has a wife and two young children to support. Both were born during his Florida career.
Hodge was a role player off the bench during UF’s back-to-back national championship seasons as a freshman and a sophomore. In his final two seasons, Hodge was a starter. He finished his career with the most wins (117) of any player in UF history.
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.
Too bad about a guy that actually stayed with the program for four years and gave everything he had. But what’s with our recruiting? We had only eight guys who were good enough to play last year, we lost two of them, three are seniors next year, and depth is a key issue. We seem to recruit guys who are actually pretty good and leave for the big bucks as soon as they can, and a bunch of others who aren’t as good as they think they are, and transfer thinking they are going to get more playing time somewhere else. And we “are no longer going after” a stud like Knight or “have no plans for” the kid from the Ocala JC. BD won’t even have enough players to run a practice in two years. It seems to be we should be going after everyone who has some ability, and also try to find some guys that want to be a Gator enough to stay around four years and fill their role on the team, whatever that may be.
by George
Maybe one of his friends in the NBA will buy it for him and hold on to it until he’s back on his feet. Walter should come back to Florida and finish his schooling if necessary. Maybe there is a booster out there who can give him a job. It’s tough to let go of the playing pro dream, but having kids changes everything. Good luck.
by pam
Did he not get a degree???
by Ralph Teshon