July 30th, 2009 06:15pm
by Kevin Brockway
In its search for added backcourt depth next season, Florida has turned its focus overseas.
Florida associate coach Larry Shyatt spent last week in France watching 6-foot-6 Israeli guard Nimrod Tishman play at the Under-18 European Championships.
Tishman didn’t disappoint, averaging 18.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists.
“He was one of the best players, the best athletes there,” said Jonathan Givony, who covered the event for Draftxpress.com, his NBA draft web site.
Givony compared Tishman to a Nick Calathes-type, “Not necessarily as polished …
Read More »
View All Comments (4)
CATEGORY Uncategorized
July 29th, 2009 06:00pm
by Kevin Brockway
Brazilian 7-foot center Fab Melo listed his final four choices for schools in this order — Louisville, Syracuse, Florida and Miami.
Melo, the seventh-ranked overall player in the Class of 2010, told me he wants to commit next week before he leaves to visit family in Brazil. However, a source close to Melo told me Wednesday, “He’s not going to Florida, I can tell you that.” The source said it will probably come down to Syracuse and Louisville.
Melo attends Sagemont High …
Read More »
View All Comments (8)
CATEGORY Uncategorized
July 23rd, 2009 07:43pm
by Kevin Brockway
In search of future point guard depth, Florida could be honing in on a former Tennessee commitment.
According to ESPN.com’s Dana O’Neil’s twitter page, Florida coach Billy Donovan was among a handful of elite coaches watching 2010 five-star point guard prospect Josh Selby on Thursday at the Reebok Championships in Las Vegas. Also on hand, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, Kansas coach Bill Self and members of Kentucky’s basketball staff.
Selby announced his de-commitment from the Vols on his Facebook page a few …
Read More »
View All Comments (1)
CATEGORY Uncategorized
July 21st, 2009 06:38pm
by Kevin Brockway
Forecasting recruits is a tricky science.
I have little doubt that the people at Scout.com and Rivals.com work hard at what they do. They’ve spawned a cottage industry that’s resulted in millions of web hits each year. People always want to know what’s next.
But P.T. Barnum also once said there’s a sucker born every minute. Which brings me to the 2007 Florida basketball recruiting class, one that Rivals.com and Scout.com both ranked as the best in the nation.
It’s why many (including …
Read More »
View All Comments (0)
CATEGORY Uncategorized
July 16th, 2009 08:19pm
by Kevin Brockway
Former Florida assist record holder Nick Calathes will leave for Greece on Saturday to begin his career overseas.
Calathes had tried to work out an arrangement to play summer league with the Dallas Mavericks in Las Vegas, but it fell through at the last minute. Dallas acquired Calathes’ rights after the Minnesota Timberwolves drafted the All-SEC first team point guard in the second round of last month’s NBA draft.
Instead, Calathes will play in international competition with the Greek national team through …
Read More »
View All Comments (2)
CATEGORY Uncategorized
July 13th, 2009 05:50pm
by Kevin Brockway
Yes, it’s still July. But because some friends are working on SEC basketball previews for magazines, it brought to mind where I would pick Florida in this October’s league media days.
Losing Nick Calathes hurts the Gators because so many of the league’s other marquee players are coming back. Tennessee returns Tyler Smith and Wayne Chism. South Carolina returns Devan Downey and Dominique Archie. Kentucky lost Jodie Meeks, but brings back Patrick Patterson and brings in the country’s top recruiting class …
Read More »
View All Comments (2)
CATEGORY Uncategorized
July 10th, 2009 08:22pm
by Kevin Brockway
Few Florida fans will forget what Al Horford and the rest of the fab 2004 class meant to the Gators.
Could another Horford be coming down the pike? Horford’s younger brother, 6-foot-9, 200-pound power forward John Horford, attended UF’s individual and team camps in late June. According to sources at the camp, the younger Horford put on an impressive showing in front of Florida coaches.
“He had a great couple of weeks down there,” Horford’s father, former NBA center Tito Horford, said …
Read More »
View All Comments (2)
CATEGORY Uncategorized
July 9th, 2009 03:14pm
by Kevin Brockway
Thought this would be a fun list to chew on during the summer. Who would you consider to be the greatest Florida basketball player of all time? I composed my own list, based on the criteria of individual ability and what the player did to impact winning. Not surprisingly, many players from the past decade are on the list.
1. Al Horford
2. Mike Miller
3. Neal Walk
4. Vernon Maxwell
5. Jason Williams
6. Joakim Noah
7. Corey Brewer
8. Udonis Haslem
9. Matt Bonner
10. Ronnie Williams
Honorable mention: …
Read More »
View All Comments (20)
CATEGORY Uncategorized
July 3rd, 2009 06:54pm
by Kevin Brockway
Florida coach Billy Donovan said on his twitter page he expects to finish his team’s non-conference schedule by the end of July. He also said that fans will be “excited” about the schedule.
Perhaps Donovan learned an important lesson last season. Florida failed to make the NCAA Tournament despite having as many or less losses than 11 of the 34 teams that earned at large berths on Selection Sunday. The big reason? Florida scheduled four teams last season with RPIs of …
Read More »
View All Comments (1)
CATEGORY Uncategorized
July 1st, 2009 05:42pm
by Kevin Brockway
Dan Cross, a good guy and former star point guard from Florida’s first Final Four team in 1994, will be holding his annual All Fundamentals basketball camp in Gainesville from Aug. 4-7.
Cross’s former Florida teammate and former NBA big man Andrew DeClercq will help him out during the four day event. The camp is designed to teach the fundamentals of the game while providing intangible lessons in respect, teamwork and discipline.
For more information, visit www.allfundamentals.com
View All Comments (2)
CATEGORY Uncategorized
