GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Ten former University of Florida basketball players were in the NBA this season. Nearly a third garnered postseason honors.

“Hopefully, playing here, in our system and this style of play, helped put them in position and prepared them for that,” Gators coach Billy Donovan said Friday. “I’m really proud of those guys.”

Headlining the trio is Golden State power forward David Lee, who Thursday was named third-team All-NBA after averaging 18.5 points and 11.2 rebounds in helping guide the Warriors to a playoff berth.

Joining Lee on the postseason hardware circuit were Chicago center Joakim Noah, named to the league’s All-Defensive team, and Washington guard Bradley Beal, the third overall pick in the 2012 draft who was named to All-Rookie squad.

“The one thing about those three guys, they all had talent, but they also had work ethic,” Donovan said. “They maximized those two things and put themselves in situations to flourish.”

Lee, a 2005 first-round by New York, signed a six-year, $79.5 million free-agent deal with Golden State in 2010. This season, he led the league in double-doubles with 56 and is the first UF alum ever to receive All-NBA honors.

When Lee played at Florida (2002-05), he did so alongside noted scorers like Anthony Roberson and Matt Walsh. Donovan tried to get Lee to be more aggressive on the offensive end during those Gator days, but that wasn’t in his makeup.

“He was always a team guy,” Donovan said. “Look at Golden State. He’s surrounded by guys like Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes, so he can play that other role where he’s comfortable.”

On Beal, whose pro career started slowly (like his college career a year earlier): “I thought that would happen. He needed to feel his way around some, have his ups and downs, then become a more consistent player.”

And on Noah (Donovan just shrugged): “No surprise at all. Just a warrior. Terrific player.”

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The opportunity to represent his country both humbles and excites Michael Frazier II.

The mere honor of being one of 24 players invited to try out for USA Basketball’s U19 FIBA World Championship squad speaks for itself. But there’s an underlying perk to the process that has Frazier particularly jacked.

A built-in chance to get better. A lot better.

“This is going to make me work even harder,” Frazier said of the run-up to the tryouts next month and the June 14-19 training camp at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. “Whether I make the team or not, just being in that setting, working with all the great players there, it’s going to be very motivating for me.”

Frazier, the 6-foot-4, 200-pound guard from Tampa, was one of the biggest surprises of the 2012-13 season for the Gators. He arrived last summer a far more polished product than even UF’s coaches anticipated, thanks to his year of prepping at Montverde (Fla.) Academy, and gave the team a jolt of outside scoring.

In 36 games, Frazier averaged 5.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and was one of the deadliest 3-point marksman in the Southeastern Conference, finishing at 46.8 percent from the arc on his way to being named to the league’s All-Freshman squad.

Now comes a doorway Frazier did not anticipate: a chance to wear the uniform of his country at the FIBA World Championships, set for June 27-July 7 in Prague, Czech Republic. To do so, he’ll have to line up and perform against the likes of Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart, Tennessee’s Jarnell Stokes, Duke’s Rasheed Sulaimon, Louisville’s Montrezl Harrell, plus 19 other elite players either already in college or entering this fall.

“I’ll have a level of respect for everybody there, but I’m also going to go there and play with confidence and play within myself,” Frazier said. “I want to show people what I can do.”

He’ll have at least one familiar face.

Billy Donovan will coach the U19 squad.

“There are going to be some exceptional players there,” Donovan said Wednesday. “But I think regardless of what happens in the tryouts, the experience of three or four days there is really going to help Mike get better.”

Frazier needs and wants to get better. In no way is he satisfied with how he performed last season, despite the accolades that came his way. And there’s plenty of room for growth, too.

Or as Donovan put it, “He’s going to have to do a lot more there than shoot the ball.”

Frazier’s role as 3-point specialist off the bench was ideal for him as a freshman and that facet of his game will be crucial for the Gators next season, with Florida losing the outside shooting punch of Erik Murphy, Kenny Boynton and Mike Rosario.

But Frazier intends to use the summer (both in Colorado and in Gainesville) to expand his game off the dribble, upgrade his defense and work on lateral quickness and conditioning.

“There’s always room for improvement,” he said. “And my goal is to shoot better than I did last year. That means being a gym rat. The goal is to get better every day.”

If that means taking an international route, all the better.

For Frazier and the Gators.

For two weeks, I’ve been absent from one of the most whirlwind sports times of year; a time my colleagues at the University Athletic Association like to call “Championship Month.”

For me, it's been “Life-Changing Month.”

My father died on Mother’s Day morning after being diagnosed with cancer nine months ago. The last two weeks were spent at my parents' home in Arlington, Va., with my family. His service was Friday. I’m back at work Monday, writing about the Gators.

Last week, I had to write the hardest thing of my life.

My dad’s eulogy.

Trying to encapsulate in 10 minutes the 60 years he shaped our family, loved and took care of our mother and imparted his wisdom on my brother and I was  impossible -- and I won’t try to do it here in cyberspace.

Instead, I’m re-posting a story that ran in The Orlando Sentinel eight years ago. A story about my father, and me, and baseball. It’s because of him, I truly believe, that I ended up in this business of writing about sports.

This particularly story, was the second-hardest thing I’ve ever written.

The first time, it ran was for my job.

This time it’s in his memory.

==============================================================

COMING HOME: BASEBALL RETURNS TO WASHINGTON
On Sept. 30, 1971, Baseball Left The Nation's Capital In Pandemonium, And Sentinel Staff Writer Chris Harry Was There. This Was His Ticket Stub. Tonight, He'll Be There For Its Return.

April 14, 2005
By Chris Harry
Sentinel Staff Writer

WASHINGTON -- The room would be dark, except for a slight glow from the clock radio on the bedside table. West Coast games, with those 10:30 starts, required a plan. Volume had to be low, vigilance high.

Around the fifth inning, the door creaked open, and my father's silhouette appeared.

"Turn that off and go to sleep!" he'd snap with just a hint of impatience before disappearing around the corner. His slippers would stop sliding about halfway down the hall.

Then came the whisper.

"What's the score?"

The Washington Senators were always behind. It didn't matter. The Senators were ours. We treated them as property, yet spoke of them like royalty. We forgave ineptitude because of that "W" on the cap.

There was something special about having a team to call your own -- and something crushing about losing it at age 11.

Sept. 30, 1971, was the day baseball died in the nation's capital. It was the day it died for me, too.

From a $4.50 box seat behind the first-base line, I watched as several thousand stormed the field at RFK Stadium and robbed my beloved, woeful Senators of what dignity was left for a laughingstock franchise.

The mob scene came with the Senators leading the New York Yankees 7-5 and two outs in the ninth inning of the last game in team history. A forfeit was declared. The game's statistics were wiped from the books. With that, the Senators became the Texas Rangers.

I knew nothing of Senators owner Robert W. Short. Why would I? I was in sixth grade and had enough trouble handling beginning algebra, Virginia history and a secret crush on Laura Schram. Short's money problems? All I knew was the team I loved -- the game I loved -- was leaving.

It would be years before I realized how clueless baseball's powers that be were -- even then. The nerve to steal America's pastime from America's most powerful city.

How dare they?

Over the years, resentment festered into cynicism about a game that exited my life in pandemonium. I never forgave baseball for my idle summers. I refused to root for the Rangers, refused to root for anyone. How could I pledge allegiance to a team that never truly would be mine?

Soon, the keepsakes that honored the Senators' significance -- posters, caps and Keds boxes stuffed with trading cards -- were tossed in the back of a closet with forgotten board games, puzzles and G.I. Joes.

Baseball. It saved Ray Kinsella's soul. It put a dagger through mine.

No wonder I became a football writer.

IN FAMILY BLOOD

My father used to spin tales of the old days, when his friends, home on Navy leave, would roll like kings in their white '51 DeSoto convertible, through the lush Shenandoah Valley and into the city. They'd park and take a 25-cent streetcar ride to old Griffith Stadium, where they cheered Mickey Vernon and his hapless teammates in defeat. Their devotion was no match for Ted Williams or Joe DiMaggio, but their loyalty never wavered.

Neither did mine. It was in my DNA.

Station-wagon windows down, the summer rides from nearby Arlington took us by monuments built to heroes past -- Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln -- while my heroes warmed up at RFK.

I recall the eagerness of walking through the gates and waiting for that first glimpse of the diamond. Smelling the hot dogs. Hearing the organ music. Buying a program. Filling out the scorecard. Keeping watch for the cotton-candy man.

And waiting for Frank Howard to come out of the dugout.

"Hondo," the Senators slugger, stood a steroid-free 6 feet 7 and 285 pounds. His homers were moon shots in an era of Apollo launches. So titanic were Howard's blasts that stadium officials used white paint to designate their touchdowns in the gold upper-deck seats.

Amazingly, three of those white tributes remain at RFK. As I walked into the stadium Wednesday, my eyes immediately went searching for them. The admiration for their staying power put a smile on my face.

The city weathered nine presidential inaugurations, three wars, Watergate and a terrorist attack since the last regular-season baseball game here. The stadium hosted more than a hundred Redskins games.

Through it all, those hallowed seats remained untouched, as if beckoning for baseball to come back.

Memories of playing catch with Dad are every son's treasure. I have those, yes, and many others. I used to scan the Little League bleachers for his face. It showed approval after a diving catch and support after a called third strike. I needed those then, cherish them now.

But the most poignant baseball moment of my life occurred at my father's side, right here, at RFK.

Section 211, Row 2, Seat 11.

That's where I sat 34 years ago. Together, we chronicled the death of the Senators in the form of a scorecard obituary. It hung in a basement gallery of precious family memorabilia for a third of a century.

Tomorrow, a new scorecard will hang next to it.

It would be fitting if I could be in 211-2-11 next to my father tonight when the Washington Nationals bring baseball back to the nation's capital. Dad couldn't get a ticket. He'll watch from home but be with me in heart.

I'll watch from the press box.

How is it that a league that put a team in an empty dome in St. Petersburg goes more than three decades without one in Washington, D.C.? Only baseball's owners can answer that question.

At least they had the good sense to make things right. Just you watch. The Nationals, formerly the Montreal Expos, are about to go from paupers to princes.
Some 46,000 are expected for the spectacle that'll mark baseball's first relocation since the Senators high-tailed to Texas. George W. Bush will join Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon as presidents to throw out D.C.'s ceremonial first pitch.

The Expos routinely played to crowds of 1,500 in Montreal and for the past two seasons played 22 home games a year in Puerto Rico. Now, they've moved to America's No. 6 television market. Nationals season-ticket sales already have topped 20,000, placing '05 attendance estimates at nearly 2 million. In three years, the team will move into a $528 million downtown waterfront ballpark.

Finally.

"We're seeing everything from the reverse side this year," Nats center fielder and former University of Florida star Brad Wilkerson said. "We're going to a city that's getting a team and is excited about it."

Wilkerson, 27, wasn't alive when the Senators existed. Only two of his teammates were.

"You can only imagine what a city like Washington must have gone through when it lost that team," he said.

Nats hitting instructor Tom McCraw played first base for the Senators in '71. His single in the eighth against the Yanks 34 years ago was the last hit at RFK.

"If you look at the cycle of events, I've made this big circle around the Earth and now I'm back where I started," said McCraw, wearing a cap with the same shade of red and familiar script "W" that stamped the last Washington franchise. "It's the strangest thing I can imagine."

Not as strange as the image of McCraw and his teammates being chased into oblivion.

THE FINAL GAME

History books tell of baseball being played in D.C. before the first shots of the Civil War were fired in 1861. Two National League franchises failed in Washington in the late 19th century. The Senators arrived in 1901, a charter member of the American League.

Behind Walter "Big Train" Johnson, they won the World Series in 1924. Over the next five decades, the city earned the slogan, "Washington: First in war, first in peace, last in the American League."

In 1960, the franchise moved to Minnesota and became the Twins. An expansion version that took the original's place lost more than 100 games its first four seasons.

Short, the miserly owner, bought the team in '69. In just his third year, he gutted a team managed by Ted Williams with a series of horrific trades. He didn't even wait for the '71 season to end to announce he was moving to Texas.

Our family went to the Senators' farewell game anticipating a sentimental sendoff.

Not a rebellion.

Barely 14,000 showed, but starting pitcher Dick Bosman sensed the uneasiness well before taking the mound. Now a minor-league pitching instructor with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Bosman refused to warm up at the usual spot in foul territory, opting for the bullpen.

"It was evident early there wasn't enough security," Bosman said.

In center field, a banner honored the reviled owner: "Bob Short Fan Club." The section was empty.

Patrons yelled anti-Short chants throughout. One group climbed atop the home dugout and stomped away, shouting Short obscenities until stadium police came. In the eighth, three fans began circling the bases, shaking hands with players. By the time the trio had been rounded up, 40 or 50 more raced into the outfield. They were cleared without incident, but tensions were mounting.

In the top of the ninth, Senators reliever Joe Grzenda got Felipe Alou to ground out. McCraw, playing first, saw hundreds of fans inching toward the fences.

Umpires did, too.

McCraw recalled verbatim the conversation with a man in blue.

"Mac, they're about to come on the field. If they do, I'm out of here."

"I'll be in your back pocket."

Bobby Murcer bounced one back to Grzenda, who threw to McCraw for the second out. Horace Clarke was in the on-deck circle.

Grzenda waved frantically for Clarke to hurry into the batter's box. There was no chance.

"They wanted something, anything," Bosman said. "They wanted a memento."

The infield and outfield were torn apart in a ravenous souvenir hunt. The bases disappeared, the outfield was a pockmarked mess, and the light bulbs and placards from the scoreboards were gone.

What I remember most was a primal scream for order. Mine.

"Nooooooooooooooooo!'"

Minutes later, the loudspeaker crackled: "This game has been forfeited to New York." The stadium lights dimmed.
For me, so did baseball.

BASEBALL IS BACK

In January, Wilkerson accompanied teammates to RFK. Someone pointed to Howard's white seats in the gold upper-deck distance. Wilkerson shook his head at the longest homer ever recorded here.

"There's no way he hit one that far," he said.

Back in RFK on Wednesday, I was thinking the same thing as I circled the stadium and made the long walk to that immortalized spot. Climbing the outfield ramps, I thought of the trinkets I saved from back when baseball mattered to me. Just last week, I placed a 35-year-old Senators pen set on my desk and dusted off a key chain and cap. Collectors items, they'd been unretired from storage recently.

Sitting in the seat Howard made famous -- that same wooden chair back, with paint so battered it chipped off with a flick of a fingertip -- I squinted to see home plate in the distance. Wilkerson was right. It was hard to believe Howard, or anyone, could hit a ball that far. Not as unfathomable, though, as baseball ever leaving here in the first place.

It probably took Howard's homer about four seconds to get here. It took baseball and me a lifetime.

But can I love it again?

It's two weeks into the 2005 season. Already, I've found myself watching ESPN crawls, waiting for Nats highlights and spending a few more minutes with the box scores each morning. That's a start. This summer, I'll be back in Washington on vacation. I'll bet my daughter -- she's 11 -- would enjoy going to a game at RFK with her daddy . . . and granddaddy.

I can see it now: I'm walking through the house one night and catch her e-mailing friends and surfing the Net when she's supposed to be asleep. I tell her to go to bed.

Shuffling down the stairs, I stop halfway, knowing all too well what she's up to. And vice versa.

Then the whisper.

"What's the score?"

======================================================

Ralph B. Harry
March 20, 1930 - May 12, 2013

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The 2013-14 non-league schedule won’t rack up the air miles of last season’s travel agency special, but the Florida basketball team definitely will be tested before opening Southeastern Conference play.

Highlighting the slate for the Gators will be home dates against powerhouse Kansas and Florida State, plus road dates at Wisconsin and Connecticut. There also is the likelihood of a Florida-Memphis matchup in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden, with negotiations for the event ongoing.

The season will tipoff against North Florida the afternoon of Nov. 8 -- yes, the afternoon -- as a precursor to Gator Growl on football homecoming weekend, followed by a road trip to Wisconsin, as the return for the Badgers playing at the O’Connell Center.

Next up for the Gators is a trio of home games against Arkansas-Little Rock (Nov. 16), Southern (Nov. 18) and Middle Tennessee (Nov. 21). Both Southern and MTSU made the 2013 NCAA Tournament, with Southern giving top-seeded Gonzaga fits in their first-round West Region matchup.

The Gators will play a true road game at Jacksonville on Nov. 25 at Memorial Arena, a date for which UF will get two guaranteed future home games against the Dolphins in return.

Then comes what could be one of the toughest gauntlet of opponents in the program’s history.

Florida will host Florida State on Nov. 29, the eve of their football rivalry, then three days later play at UConn and All-America candidate Shabazz Napier (pictured) on Dec. 2. UF’s first trip ever to Storrs -- and first game against the Huskies since the 1994 NCAA Tournament -- will be followed by just the second visit to Gainesville for perennial power Kansas on Dec. 10, with the trip to New York and the Jimmy Classic (likely against Memphis, another NCAA team this past season)  a week later on Dec. 17.

The Gators will be back at the Orange Bowl Classic at Sunrise, Fla., to face an undetermined opponent on Dec. 21 then return from Christmas break for home dates against Savannah State (Dec. 29) and Richmond (Jan. 4), the latter serving as the final tune-up before SEC season tips off.

UF men's 2013-14 Non-Conference Basketball Schedule (all times TBA)

Nov. 8: North Florida (afternoon game)

Nov. 12: at Wisconsin

Nov. 16: Arkansas Little-Rock

Nov. 18: Southern

Nov. 21: Middle Tennessee State

Nov. 25: at Jacksonville

Nov. 29: Florida State

Dec. 2: at Connecticut

Dec. 10: Kansas (Jayhawks coach Bill Self, pictured right)

Dec. 17: vs. Memphis in Jimmy V Classic at New York (details still in negotiation)

Dec. 21: TBD in Orange Bowl Classic at Sunrise, Fla.

Dec. 29: Savannah State

Jan. 4: Richmond

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- With Thursday’s announcement in Atlanta that the Southeastern Conference and ESPN are joining forces to launch the SEC Network in August 2014, there obviously are questions from Florida fans wondering how the new network will impact coverage of the Gators.

Mike Hill, UF’s executive associate athletics director for external affairs, anticipated some of those questions.

What does this mean for the Gators on Sun Sports? 

“We will still have a relationship with Sun Sports, but it will be dramatically reduced in terms of television programing. “The Coach Will Muschamp Show” will remain on Sun Sports. So will Billy Donovan and Amanda Butler’s shows. Our magazine show, “GatorZone Television,” will stay on Sun Sports. But in terms of live events and replays, no, they will no longer air on Sun Sports. . “Breakfast With the Gators” will be gone, and football replays will likely air on the new network. 

How about GatorVision and live streaming of events on the GatorZone website?

“Moms and dads who want to watch their daughters play softball, for example, won’t see it streamed through our GatorVision system anymore. But we will still be able to stream those events through ESPN. Basically, for select games not being telecast on the network or on one of the national platforms, the new network will produce some streaming events on ESPN or the WatchESPN app. Beyond that, the institutions will be allowed to produce additional events to be streamed, but they will have to be streamed through the SEC Network and ESPN’s site, provided that ESPN has enough capacity on that event day to accommodate it and provided the production is of a certain quality -- and we will give them high quality.  I will say, for example, Friday nights in February, when you have gymnastics going on and baseball games going on and softball going on, not everybody is going to get [streamed]. We don’t stream every baseball and softball game right now, anyway. Our hope is that we’ll maintain the number of events we stream now and hopefully increase programming in the future.” 

Will this make it any easier to find games on TV?

“It should make it much easier. Basically, this is going to consolidate a lot of programming that has been piece-mealed between the syndicated, over-the-air network currently branded “SEC Network,” plus events on Sun Sports, Fox Sports, etc. to one channel, in addition to the national networks: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and, of course, the CBS deal.”
 

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It was just over a year ago that he sat in Billy Donovan’s office torn and in tears over the biggest decision of his life.

Stay or go?

“I can still remember all my conversations with Coach Donovan,” former Florida basketball star Bradley Beal told The Washington Post. “This year went really fast, probably the fastest year of basketball I’ve ever played. It’s definitely been a fun year.”

A rewarding one, too.

Despite a string of injuries that bounced Beal in and out of the Washington Wizards lineup, the team’s first-round draft choice -- the No. 3 overall pick last June after an All-Southeastern Conference freshman season -- still placed third in the 2012-13 NBA Rookie of the Year voting announced Wednesday.

Beal, the 6-foot-3 shooting guard, finished behind Portland Trailblazers guard Damian Lilliard, who won the award by a unanimous haul of first-place votes, and runner-up Anthony Davis, the center from the New Orleans Hornets.

In 56 games, Beal averaged 13.9 points and 3.8 rebounds while shooting 41 percent from the floor and 38.6 percent from 3-point range. Those latter two numbers may not be so impressive, but his 47-percent shooting from the arc once former No. 1 overall pick and point guard John Wall joined the team off a knee injury gave the Wizards hope they’ve found their backcourt for years to come.

In many ways, Beal’s rookie season mirrored his freshman season at Florida, where he struggled through the first couple months to find his rhythm and confidence then blossomed into UF’s go-go scorer in a run to the 2012 Elite Eight.

“It was everything I thought it would be and a little bit more,” Beal said of the NBA. “I know there would be time when I would struggle. Guys are a lot stronger and faster -- and these guys are good. That’s what a lot of people don’t realize. You may never have heard of anybody, but they can play.”

Beal was one of 10 former UF players in the NBA this season and at No. 3 overall tied Al Horford as the second-highest a Gator had ever been selected in the draft. Center Neal Walk went No. 2 overall in 1969. 

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Got a kick out of a tweet that went Tuesday morning from the account of Brendon Suhr.

If you’re not familiar with Suhr, he was the late Chuck Daly’s assistant for those back-to-back NBA championship teams in Detroit in 1989-90 and worked alongside Daly during his tenure with the Magic. In the years since, Suhr has become a respected coaching consultant while working out of Orlando.

Here’s what he had to offer after Houston Rockets forward and former Florida star Chandler Parsons went for 27 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in a huge comeback 105-103 win Monday night over Oklahoma City in Game 4 of their playoff series.

In the perfect and analytic world of the NBA DRAFT, Chandler Parsons was the 38th pick in 2011 Draft. What a joke. #playoffstar

Just last week, a banner displaying Parson’s name and No. 25 (right) was hung alongside the likes of Joakim Noah, Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem inside the Gators basketball complex, commerorating the 2011 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year one of Coach Billy Donovan’s all-time greats.

Suhr’s tweet got me thinking some more about Parsons.

Get a load of some of the stiffs players who were selected in the 37 spots before the Rockets had the foresight to pluck the 6-foot-9 forward who -- at the time -- was not only a willing rebounder in a very good league but an excellent ball-handler and adept passer.

Of those 37 players, nearly two dozen either are playing overseas or have logged mostly scrub duty from the end of the bench their first two seasons.

To be fair, 27 teams passed on Chandler Parsons, so I could pick on just about any of them. Heck, a handful passed on him twice.

But only two passed on him three times.

That’s where we here at GatorZone.com draw the line.

Cleveland was one of two teams that passed on Parsons three times, but one of those passes was point guard Kyrie Irving with the No. 1 overall pick. Forgiven. Another was forward Tristan Thompson, who started every game in his second season and averaged 11.7 points and 9.4 rebounds. OK, also forgiven.

The other team?

Well ...

Take a bow, Washington Wizards. You may have got it right in taking Gators freshman Bradley Beal last year -- and when you’re picking third overall, you better get it right -- but General Manager Ernie Grunfeld showed in 2011 why he’s in the lottery every year.

With the sixth overall pick, the Wizards drafted 6-foot-11 Euroleaguer Jan Vesely (right), who’s averaged 3.6 points and 3.4 rebounds in two seasons, going stretches of games without ever leaving the bench.

Twelve picks later, Grunfeld used the No. 18 overall choice on Florida State’s Chris Singleton, another forward. He’s 4.4 points and 3.4 rebounds for his career and also has plenty of “DNPs” to show for it, also.

And four picks into Round 2, the Wizards drafted Butler point guard Shelvin Mack, who may have helped end Parson’s collegiate career in the 2011 NCAA South Region, but has already bounced around three teams (Washington, Philadelphia and Atlanta) and this past year played in just 31 games.

Parsons went four picks after that.

This past season, in starting all 76 games he played, Parsons averaged 15.5 points on 48.6 percent from the floor and 38.5 from the 3-point line, to go with 5.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists. In the playoff series against the reigning Western Conference champion Thunder he's at 18.5 points and 6.8 rebounds.

When defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd was picked by the Minnesota Vikings with the No. 24 overall selection Thursday night in the 2013 NFL Draft, he became the 44th player in University of Florida history to be taken in Round 1. Safety Matt Elam, eight picks later, brought the all-time Gators first-rounders to 45.

Here's a list of UF's first-round alumni over the years.

Pick     Player                           Year        Pos.         Team
2          Paul Duhart                   1945        B               Pittsburgh    
3          Chuck Hunsinger          1950        RB             Chicago
            Steve Spurrier               1967        QB            San Francisco
            Wes Chandler               1978        WR            New Orleans
            Gerard Warren               2001       DT             Cleveland
6          Lomas Brown                1985        OT             Detroit
            Kevin Carter                  1995        DE             St. Louis Rams
7         Ike Hilliard                       1997        WR           New York Giants
           Joe Haden                      2010        CB            Cleveland
8         Larry Smith                     1969        RB            Los Angeles Rams
           Derrick Harvey                2008        DE           Jacksonville
9         Fred Taylor                     1998        RB            Jacksonville
10       Travis Taylor                   2000        WR           Baltimore

11      Wilber Marshall                1984        LB            Chicago
12      Trace Armstrong              1989        DE           Chicago
13      James Jones                   1983        RB           Detroit
14      John Reaves                   1972        QB           Philadelphia
          Glen Cameron                 1975        LB           Cincinnati
          Kenyatta Walker              2001        OT           Tampa Bay 
15     John L. Williams              1986         RB           Seattle
         Huey Richardson             1991        LB            Pittsburgh
         Ellis Johnson                   1995        DT            Indianapolis
         Mike Pouncey                 2010         OG           Miami
16    Reidel Anthony                1997         WR           Tampa Bay
        Jevon Kearse                  1999         DE            Tennessee
17    Jarvis Moss                     2007         DE            Denver
        Emmitt Smith                   1990         RB            Dallas
18    Maurkice Pouncey           2010        C               Pittsburgh
20    Steve Tannen                  1970         S              New York Jets
       Jack Youngblood              1971        DE            Los Angeles Rams
21   Clifford Charlton               1988        LB             Cleveland
       Reggie Nelson                  2007        S              Jacksonville
22   Rex Grossman                 2003        QB           Chicago
       Percy Harvin                    2009        WR           Minnesota
23   David Williams                1989         OT            Houston Oilers
       Mo Collins                       1998        OG            Oakland
       Sharrif Floyd                   2013        DT            Minnesota
24   Reggie McGrew              1999         DT            San Francisco
25   Louis Oliver                     1989         S              Miami
       Tim Tebow                       2010        QB            Denver
26    Lito Sheppard                 2002        CB            Philadelphia
27    Lorenzo Hampton           1985        RB           Miami
       Neal Anderson                1986        RB            Chicago
       Ricky Nattiel                    1987        WR           Denver
32   Matt Elam                         2013       S              Baltimore

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- However his team’s playoff series against Brooklyn goes, it’s been a milestone season for Chicago Bulls center and first-time NBA All-Star Joakim Noah.

Apparently, it’s about to be an eventful one away from the court, too.

Noah, six years removed from the second of those back-to-back NCAA championships with the Gators, has teamed with former New York basketball prodigy Lenny Cooke to make a documentary film about the player’s rise to stardom (left) and crash to reality (right).

Trailers and media teasers for the film, “Lenny Cooke,” began circulating on the Internet this week. Noah played AAU ball with Cooke, the top-five national prospect and playground legend once was dubbed as the next Magic Johnson. On Wednesday, Noah tweeted out a link to the trailer (below).

“To all you young hoopers out there. This is a must see.”

The New York Times tracked down Cooke amid production of the film last year, a decade since he bypassed a chance to sign with a handful of major Division I schools (North Carolina, Ohio State, Miami, St. John's and Seton Hall were his finalists) to enter the NBA draft. Cooke went undrafted and never advanced beyond the D-League.

"Lenny has always been one of my biggest inspirations as a basketball player," Noah told The Times. "His story always reminds me to keep my eyes on the prize and to keep distractions away. ... I hope Lenny will push his story out to the next generation of kids who aspire to one day play competitive basketball at any level. ... If his story can make an impact on just one or two kids who have the opportunity to see the film, I believe we'll be making a difference.”

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Well before the 2012 football season began last summer, Florida defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd sat down with Coach Will Muschamp and then-defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.

Both coaches could sense the sort of junior season the 6-foot-2, 303-pound Floyd was going to have.

Not to mention the opportunities that would follow.

“If you’re a first-rounder, I’m kicking you out,” Muschamp told Floyd. 

Floyd (pictured left) relayed that exchange to reporters two months ago at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, where a jaw-dropping workout validated what everybody already knew -- and what Muschamp envisioned as a possibility months before.

“That took a chip off of my shoulder where I didn’t have to worry about what I was going to do after this season and allowed me to focus on my team,” Floyd said of his preseason chat with the coaches. “At the end of the year, after the Sugar Bowl, Coach came in and shook my hand and said, ‘Congratulations, now go make your name known in the league.’ So I shook his hand, shook all the coaches hands.”

Come Thursday night, Floyd will shake NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s hand.

And he won’t have to wait very long, either.

Floyd, a first-team All-Southeastern Conference selection, is considered the top-rated interior lineman in the draft -- a quick, slippery and strong vintage three-technique tackle -- with a slew of mock drafts placing Floyd to the Oakland Raiders with the third overall pick.

“They’re talking about me,” Floyd said. “Let’s keep ‘em talking about me.”

Former UF teammate Matt Elam, the safety who also left the Gators a year early, could be in for an anxious first night, but his overall draft experience will be a good one. Elam’s name is jumbled among five or so other top-tier safety prospects with projections placing him anywhere from the late first round to the middle of the second.

Ask Elam (pictured right), though, and he’ll tell you he’s at the top in his safety class.

“Yeah, I’m very confident in myself,” he said. “I’m very versatile and I feel that I can do a lot of things for teams: special teams, covering, tackling.”

The second and third rounds will be held Friday, with the balance of the draft -- Rounds 4-7 -- set for Saturday.

After Elam and Floyd, a handful of former Gators figure to be taken, with tight end Jordan Reed, linebacker Jon Bostic and tailback Mike Gillislee possibilities to be picked Friday.

Linebackers Lerentee McCray and Jelani Jenkins, safety Josh Evans, offensive tackle Xavier Nixon and kicker Caleb Sturgis are candidates for Saturday’s latter rounds.

Below are some thoughts, courtesy of draft analysts Mike Mayock (NFL Network) and Todd McShay (ESPN) on the status of some of these league-bound Gators.

>>> Mayock on Floyd: “What I love about the kid is he's a prototypical three technique which is the defensive tackle in a 4-3 defense. His quickness and ability to get off the field and disrupt the pass game is unique for a defensive tackle, and if you can get a defensive tackle that can affect the pass game, you've got something special. And he's also stout enough to play the run, so I have him No. 2 on my board. I love the kid.”

>>> McShay on Bostic (pictured right): “The more tape I watch of him, the more I appreciated Jonathan Bostic. He's just always around the ball and makes a lot of plays. He does a pretty decent job at 245 pounds of taking on blocks. He's probably a fourth round pick.”

>>> Mayock on Elam: “Really, the only downside is his height, and there's nothing you can do about that. I put the Tennessee tape on and the tight end, Michael Rivera, beat him down the seam twice. And it wasn't that he beat him down the seam, because it was really good coverage. It was just that they threw the ball up high and Rivera went and got it. The only downside with Elam as far as teams are concerned is there's nothing they can do about 5-10, and occasionally you're going to have to live with that. But on the positive side you get a kid that tackles, a kid that's tough, a kid that cares. ... I think he's going to play a lot of years in the league.”

>>> McShay on Gillislee (picturd left): “He doesn't have the great top‑end speed. You look at him size‑wise, and only one year of production. You can find all the things that you want about him. But when you have him back with the lateral quickness that he has and the determination that he has and the competitiveness with which he runs, I just like him. I think he's one of those guys that doesn't matter in the measurables. He's going to get in the league. He waited his turn, finally got his shot; and when he did, he took advantage of it.  I think it could be a similar story in the NFL. To me, he's slippery in tight spaces, and I think that is the biggest thing with him. That lateral agility, playing with balance and competitiveness, just really impressed with the way he ran. I think he's one of the more underrated backs in this class. I wouldn't have a problem with the team using a third‑round pick on Gillislee.”

>>> Mayock on Reed: “He's an H-back type of guy, not a blocker, doesn't block and you can tell he was a former quarterback but has really good speed and hands and I think he's going to end up going in the fourth round.”

>>> McShay on Jenkins: “Coming into the year, I really liked Jelani Jenkins and thought that he was going to have a breakout year. Unfortunately, he couldn't stay healthy, and that's the big concern with him. ... One of the better natural cover linebackers that I evaluated coming into the year. Going back to study his 2011 tape, this year he was never healthy. I think he missed four games with different injuries; it was the foot, the thumb, the hamstring. He had a cast on in some of the tapes I studied. He's undersized. He's got to get stronger. ... But in terms of potential and in this league finding guys that can cover is so important, that I think a team takes a chance on him.  It wouldn't surprise me if he goes in the fourth round. Because there is a lot of ‑‑ I hate using this word because I feel like we're constantly linked to it ‑‑ but there is a lot of upside with Jelani Jenkins. I think you're going to find some coaches that would come in and develop him.”

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- With their University of Florida careers winding down with Saturday’s Senior Day celebration and showdown against Northwestern, we asked the members of the first Gators lacrosse graduating class for a thought or lasting memory they will take with them. 

Thank you, ladies, for providing the below items.

And the memories.

>>> Ashley Bruns (Attacker, Ellicott City, Md. -- right): “My favorite memory of being a Gator was the day we decided to tell strength conditioning Coach Karin (Werth) it was National Hair Net Day before conditioning. It all began when we somehow managed to find an entire box of hair nets, normally used during massages to keep the head piece sanitary. Everyone put on a hair net, turned off the lights, and started a huge dance party! Right in the middle of this ridiculous dance party, the career development and life skills specialist at the time walked in the locker room. And, yes, he too put a hair net on. ... I have learned so many things by being a Gator that this answer could be endless. I have learned dedication and what it takes to achieve my goals. Most of all, I am so lucky to have been surrounded by my teammates through this entire experience. They have molded me into the person that I am today and for that I am forever grateful.”

>>> Caroline Chesterman (Attacker, South Nyack, N.Y.): “My favorite memory was sophomore year when we beat Northwestern for the first time.  It was the first time for us that we realized that we could play with the best teams in the country. It was a truly awesome feeling.”

>>> Kitty Cullen (Attacker, Rockville, Md. -- right): “I have made so many great memories over the past four years, it is impossible to just pick one. I think the most special part of all of them is that I have had the opportunity to compete on one of the best lacrosse teams in the country while doing it beside all my best friends. The relationships I have made with my teammates are ones I will carry forever. Every single one of my teammates has affected me in her own special way and each of them mean more to me than they will ever know.”

>>> Brittany Dashiell (Midfielder, Bel Air, Md.): “My favorite memory as a Gator would have to be the first time we beat Northwestern my sophomore year. At that time we were still a young team, but this game changed the way everyone saw Gator lacrosse. We were no longer the underdog, but a strong competitor. I will never forget that day. I don't think anyone on this senior class will.

>>> Emily Dohony (Defender, Parkton, Md.): “Over the last four years there are many things I have learned from being a Gator. If there is one thing I had to pick out it would be that hard work does pay off and your only limitation is yourself. We wouldn't have achieved the accomplishments we have attained if we hadn’t stuck together.”

>>> Sam Farrell (Defender, Millersville, Md.): “One of my favorite memories as a Gator is the first time we beat Northwestern. We stepped on that field as the underdog and pulled a 13-11 win over one of the top teams in the nation. That is definitely a moment I will never forget.”


>>> Erin Graziano (Attacker, Mendham, N.J. -- right): “After being a part of a program of this caliber, I believe that I will walk away with a relentless work ethic. I have learned how to work very hard every day for something on a much larger scale than I’ve ever done before.  I’ve learned to take care of business and by pushing my teammates and myself to improve each day to go for a title that this program has not yet attained -- national champions.  It has been quite the journey and one that I will never forget.”

>>> Hayley Katzenberger (Attacker, Damascus, Md.): “My favorite memory as a Gator would be making it to the Final Four last year. Everyone was beyond excited and ready to compete once we stepped on the field. Although it wasn't the outcome the team hoped for, it only made us stronger and more determined to be there the next year. Another one of my favorite memories was meeting my teammates for the first time. Even though I was definitely nervous, I was excited to meet the people who I was going to make history with on the lacrosse field, and be with for the next four years of my college career.”

>>> Mikey Meagher (Goalkeeper, Liverpool, N.Y. - right): “Being a Gator has taught me many valuable life lessons that I will take with me when this is all over. Being a part of this team and program has taught me the value of friendship and it's unbreakable bond to get through the toughest times of your life together. And that is exactly what my experience has been for me. I will forever value my opportunity here and the best friends I have made along the way. It is something that can never be taken away from me or this team.”

>>> Jamie Reeg (Defender, Atlantis, Fla.): “My favorite memory as a Gator has been all of the great friendships I've made. This team is my family and I know that we will all stay really close and continue to make great memories, starting with Emily Dohony’s wedding! I have learned that once you're a Gator, you're always a Gator. No matter where we've traveled, the Gator Nation was always there saying "Go Gators." So, now that I am leaving I will be sure to continue that tradition.”

>>> Colby Rhea (Midfielder, Abingdon, Md.): “One of my favorite memories as a Gator is beating Syracuse this year in Miami. After the game in the locker room, Mikey started the, “It's Great To Be A Florida Gator" cheer and we all joined and chanted it over and over again and danced around the room. This is a memory of this team that I will cherish forever.”

>>> Kayla Stolins (Defender, Glen Arm, Md. -- right): “My favorite memory as a Gator is a hard question. I think that the whole adventure of starting a program and meeting all my now best friends is the best memory. We have come so far in the last four years and have made so many different memories that choosing one specific thing as my favorite would be very difficult. What I have learned in my time here at Florida is the determination and commitment it takes to accomplish tasks. Starting from nothing and wanting to be a top competitor is a hard goal to accomplish. The determination and commitment that my team, coaches, trainers, and all the other people who have helped and pushed us toward our goal is something that I will definitely take with me into my career and down the road.”

>>> Gabi Wiegand (Attacker, Bay Shore, N.Y., transfer from University of Richmond): “In my time as a Gator I have learned that no goals are unattainable when you put all of your heart and determination into them.”

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Every golf fan has seen the iconic white overalls worn by caddies at The Masters.

Now, Tyler McCumber knows them better than most -- from the inside.

“Man, those things are odd,” McCumber said Thursday night by phone from Augusta, Ga. “It was hot out there, especially when we got in the sun, so I had to strip off my clothes -- down to my shorties -- and it was still a sweat fest.”

McCumber, the University of Florida senior, was bibbed up and on the bag for his Gators teammate T.J. Vogel during the Par 3 Contest played annually on the eve of golf’s cherished opening major championship of the PGA season.

Vogel, the senior from Cooper City, Fla., who qualified for the 77th Masters by winning the 2012 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship in Utah, last July, finished 2-over in the nine-hole Par-3 event, with a birdie on the final hole.

For the two Gators, though, the Par-3 Contest wasn’t about the golf as it was the experience. The holes average about 110 yards each (only pitching and sand wedges needed) and players often walk the short course with family members. Some even let their children hit shots.

“It’s really laid back,” McCumber said. “But it’s fun.”

Picture Vogel and McCumber (in overalls, alongside Vogel, above) playing two holes behind a triumvirate of Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player -- with 13 Masters titles and 34 major championships between them -- armed with a hearty gallery. The group in front of the Gator duo featured Rory McIlroy, the world’s No. 2-ranked player who brought along tennis star and girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki as his caddy.

[Note: No offense, Tyler, but ... “Advantage, McIlroy”]

Among the Par-3 traditions is that each caddy gets to hit a tee shot on No. 9 and McCumber was looking forward to taking his swing. In fact, he’d told Vogel that if he aced the ninth hole -- and, yes, it’s happened before -- he was going to zip off the bib, toss it aside and take a dive in the pristine lake that fronts the green.

His glove and ball in hand, McCumber was ready to step to the tee box when a tournament official informed him the event was running behind schedule and to bypass the shot and proceed to the green.

“I was so bummed,” McCumber said. “I wanted a chance to swim across that lake.”

Probably at the cost of being banned from Augusta for life.

“Would’ve been worth it, though,” he said. “I would’ve had a hole-in-one.”

True.

Instead, he had to settle for a steamy walk around the little-known short course that partners with one of the true cathedrals of the game.

On Thursday, McCumber followed Vogel during the tournament’s opening round and watched his teammate fire a 77.  

“T.J., I think, handled the whole thing pretty well,” he said. “It’s tough. You don’t really go into this tournament, in his position, with expectations. You go more to enjoy it and have a good time and be happy that you’re there.”

That’s what McCumber did, too.

An overall cool (and sweaty) day, no doubt.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The only surprise about Patric Young’s decision to return to the University of Florida for his senior year would be if anyone was surprised.

Young, UF’s junior center, is the two-time Southeastern Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year and a loyal teammate and friend who adores Will Yeguete, Scottie Wilbekin and Casey Prather, all of whom arrived on campus together and have lived together since the fall of 2010.

Now, they’ll go out together in 2014.

A few weeks back, the day the league announced its postseason accolades, I asked Young about cramming a college career’s worth of memories and trophies into his first three seasons. He was proud, rightfully so, but not necessarily satisfied.

“I would like to think I can still improve as a person and player,” Young said. “I have goals.”

He smiled.

“Like being the three-time SEC scholar athlete. Or All-Conference. Maybe even SEC defensive player of the year.”

Lofty goals, all of them, and the only thing we know right now is that Young will be back in a Gators uniform to try and reach them.

In the big Gators picture, what does the return of the 6-foot-9, 260-pound pivot man mean? Well, the answer is easy: Florida will have the deepest and most experienced frontcourt in the SEC. Maybe in the country.

Think about that a second.

For the last two seasons, the Gators have started (maybe) 6-3 Bradley Beal and (no chance) 6-3 Mike Rosario at what normally would be the small forward position. Not only that, but in each season UF lost its top backup forward, defensive specialist and rebounder Will Yeguete, for significant time due to injuries, thus further depleting the Gators’ size up front.

Now, fast forward to the fall, keeping in mind that no one knows right now who’s going to start. For the time being, who cares? Instead, just consider the possibilites.

Let’s start with Young, who needs 122 points to become the 50th player in school history to score 1,000 points and is on pace to finish his career as one the 10 best rebounders in school history. Donovan’s pleads for Young to play with passion and energy on a more consistent basis are well documented. So are UF’s results when he does. Assuming these past three years and 111 games have sunk in, there will be no secret as to Donovan’s expectations for Young as a senior.

But he won’t be banging around down there alone.

It’s possible the Gators could pair Young with 6-11 Damontre Harris, the transfer from South Carolina, where he was a first-team All-SEC Defensive Team selection and second in the league in blocked shots last season behind only Kentucky’s Anthony Davis. How’s that for length at the “4” and “5” spots (either can play both).

Now, throw 6-8 Dorian (“Doe-Doe”) Finney-Smith, a real face-the-basket forward, at the “3” spot. Finney-Smith, who some in the program feel may have been in the best player on the practice court this season, transferred from Virginia Tech, where he averaged six points and seven rebounds a game as a freshman. He’s a high-flying finisher and improving shooter, who can get his own shot, too. So at 6-11, 6-9 and 6-8 up front, the Gators are potentially mashing teams inside.

There's more.

Namely, the 6-7 Yeguete and 6-6 dunk-crazy Prather off the bench. Maybe one of them starts. Maybe both at times, given the opponent. Bottom line: either is capable of guarding at least three positions, not to mention what they do in the press (wait ‘till you see Doe-Doe do that, too).

Oh, and we're not Done-Done, yet.

Welcome 6-10 incoming freshman Chris Walker, out of Bonifay (Fla.) Holmes County, who just won the slam-dunk contest at the McDonald’s All-America Game festivities last week. Another long and leaping guy to roll in and mix it up down low.

Lots of potential combinations. Lots of different looks. Lots of options.

Now, take your pick in the backcourt, with Wilbekin and sharp-shooting Michael Frazier back, plus freshman point guard Kasey Hill, an electrifying, pass-first McDonald’s All-American who Saturday led his team, Montverde (Fla.) Academy, to the high school national championship.

That's a nine-deep squad (nice press potential) and without taking into account what the Gators could get from returning freshmen Braxton Ogbueze, DeVon Walker nor Dillon Graham, assuming they use the offseason to build on their rookie season improvement to provide competition and depth down the road.

Clearly, next year’s Gators will have a much different look to them relative to the last two teams. After Frazier and Wilbekin, for example, there will be questions about how well the '13-14 squad shoots from the 3-point line.

But with Young back, they’ll have plenty of live, long and athletic bodies to chase missed shots.

Not a bad place to start.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Meet Chris Walker.

A gym full of high school basketball fans -- and future college superstars -- did Monday night.

Walker, who signed with Florida last fall, won the Powerade Jam Fest dunk contest in Chicago by out-pointing some far-better known players during the popular run-up even to Wednesday night’s McDonald’s All-America Game from the United Center.

Here’s a sample of what the 6-foot-10, 205-pound forward -- known as "Sky" Walker, of course -- threw down last night in finishing ahead of the likes of Jabari Parker (Duke) and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (Arizona), along with uncommitted stars Andrew Wiggins, the No. 1-ranked player in the nation, and Aaron Gordon.

@cwalkertime23 tweeted this out after the competition:

Had fun going out there and competing in the dunk contest , we all put on a great show for crowd #McDAAG

Walker, who led Bonifay (Fla.) Holmes County High to the state championship last month with a spectacular title-game performance, is a part of UF’s two-man recruiting class -- along with point guard Kasey Hill -- rated a consensus top-five in the nation by most services. Both Hill and Walker were five-star recruits who finished rated among the nation’s top 10 prospects by Rivals.com

DALLAS -- Florida’s defensive focus going into Sunday was clear, but wasn’t going to be easy. Billy Donovan knew that.

The Gators set out to limit not only scoring options, but passing options for Michigan point guard Trey Burke, who likely will be named National Player of the Year at the Final Four next weekend in Atlanta. He was the engineer who drives the Wolverines’ offensive locomotive.

“It’s all a result of Burke,” Donovan said.

The UF coach said that after Michigan’s 79-59 blowout win in the NCAA South Region at Cowboys Stadium even though the Gators held Burke to 5-for-16 from the floor and 1-for-5 from 3-point range. Burke’s ability to get into the lane, force a defense to collapse, then get the ball out and rotating proved the difference.

“The shooter, I can’t pronounce his name, he just knocked down shots,” senior guard Kenny Boynton said. “He shot the lights out.”

The name was Nik Stauskas, and, yeah, 6-for-6 from 3-point range qualifies for “lights out.” He was 5-for-5 in the first half, staking the Wolverines to a 47-30 lead. That was the most points the Gators had surrendered in a first half since giving up 53 at Georgia on Feb. 14, 2009.  

Stauskas came into the game at 42 percent for the season from the arc and just 2-for-16 over his last four games. Burke and his teammates found him at the perfect times and he made the Gators pay.

UF had a similar point guard challenge Friday against Florida Gulf Coast’s Brett Comer, another guy adept at driving and finding the open man. The Gators smothered Comer and forced him into nine turnovers, but they could not defend Burke the same way, Donovan explained, because Comer can’t shoot 3s all that well.  

“He has such deep range,” Donovan said of Burke, whose 28-footer (and 23 second-half points) helped oust top-seeded Kansas two days earlier. “Now you’re playing him on the 3-point line, with his speed and quickness. When he turns the corner you have to provide help. ... Some 3s Stauskas got off were our fault and some were really, really good offense by them.”


STAYING OR GOING?

Before he’d even had time to process another unanswered knock on the Final Four’s door -- his third in as many seasons -- junior center Patric Young was peppered with questions in UF’s post-game locker room regarding his possible early entry into the NBA draft.

Sunday’s outcome, he said, had no bearing on his decision.

“I’m just going to catch up on school, take a little bit of time away, talk to my family,” said Young, whose season numbers showed 10.1 points on 58.6-percent shooting, 6.3 rebounds and 58 blocked shots. “I’ll do whatever I feel is best.”

Most draft projections have Young as a mid- to late-round selection in the second round. The two-time Southeastern Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year very well could opt to return to school, but has not discussed the future with his coaches.

NOT-SO GREAT LAKES STATE FOR GATORS 

Perhaps Florida should avoid facing teams from Michigan in future NCAA tournaments. Of UF’s eight double-digit losses in tournament play, four of the eight have come against either Michigan or Michigan State.

Margin    Score                                       Year       Site                         Comment
23            Michigan 108, UF 85             1988       Salt Lake City       Glen Rice’s 39 rips Gators
22            Michigan State 66, UF 46      2003      Tampa, Fla.           Rematch of 2000 NCAA title game
                Colorado State 68, UF 46      1989       Dallas                    SEC champs ice-cold vs Rams zone
21            Temple 75, UF 54                   2001       New Orleans        Gators trailed by 20 at halftime
20            Michigan 78, UF 58                2013       Dallas                    Nic Stauskas 6-6 from 3
15            Manhattan 75, UF 60             2004       Raleigh, N.C.        Lowest seed (12) ever to beat Gators
13           Michigan State 89, UF 76       2000      Indianapolis          Gators first NCAA title game
11           Villanova 76, UF 65                2005       Nashville, Tenn.    Final game for Lee, Walsh, Roberson



TOUGH NIGHT FOR COMBO

Two weeks earlier, the Gators played Ole Miss in the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game. In that one, point guard Scottie Wilbekin and forward Erik Murphy struggled offensively, combining to go 8-for-34 from the floor and 2-for-12 from the 3-point line.

Wilbekin-Murphy is an inside-out, pick-and-pop combination that UF needs, especially against really good teams that can score. Like Marshall Henderson and the Rebels. And the Wolverines.

Their output against Michigan was 1-for-17 from the floor, 0-for-2 from distance.

They weren’t much better Friday against FGCU (5-for-18, 0-4).

For the two regional games, the Wilbekin-Murphy combo shot 17 percent (six of 35).


MR. 2,000

In his final game as a Gator, Boynton scored 13 points, taking his career tally 2,033.

That turned out to be 57 points shy of the school scoring record of 2,090 held by forward Ronnie Williams (1981-84).

“I’m honored to have played for Coach Donovan,” Boynton said after the game. “I’ve played with great players, I’ve met some great people. They’re players that play college basketball and never make the NCAA Tournament, so I’m honored to make it to three straight Elite Eights. I’m proud of my team to come this far.”

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Seems like last year.

And the year before.

The Florida Gators (29-7) hope they’re not saying the same Sunday afternoon when they try to reverse their fortunes in NCAA Elite Eight play in taking on the Michigan Wolverines (29-7) in Sunday afternoon’s South Region championship game at Cowboys Stadium.

As far college programs go, Florida and Michigan are big-ticket attractions, but this will mark just the third time the teams have played in men’s basketball and the inside-the-game dynamic is mind-blowing.

The Wolverines will roll out the nation’s second-most efficient offense as it relates to the points-per-possession advanced metric. UM scores at a 1.135 clip every time it has the ball. Only Gonzaga was better this season and the Bulldogs, seeded first in the West, did not survive the tournament’s first weekend.  

The Gators will counter with the nation’s second-most efficient defense, allowing just .838 points per possession. Only Stephen F. Austin, of the Southland Conference, was better and that team did not make the NCAA field.

Something has to give.

In the meantime, allow me to breakdown five key areas, any one of which could determine the outcome that puts UF in its first Final Four since 2007 or leaves the Gators one win shy -- and devastated yet again -- for the third year in a row.


The Backcourts
The Wolverines have a huge advantage in Trey Burke -- and that would be the case no matter who they were playing. The 6-foot, 190-pound sophomore is the favorite to be named National Player of the Year next week. He is a scorer (18.9 ppg) and a maestro facilitator (6.8 apg) who can do damage in both categories from anywhere on the floor and is most deadly when it reaches the lane. He will drive and score, drive and leave for cutters, and drive and kick out to 3-point shooters. He is the No. 1 concern for the Gators and containing him -- they’re not going to stop him -- goes far behind the responsibility of UF counterpart Scottie Wilbekin. Oh, Wilbekin will battle and he’ll fight doggedly through UM’s pick and rolls, but the Gators have to be on point with help defense and recovery when Burke throws out of or splits double- and triple-teams. If not, they run the risk of Burke, who had 25 in the second half Friday against Kansas, and backcourt mates Tim Hardaway Jr. (14.8 ppg, 39 percent from 3-point range) and deadly distance shooter Nik Stauskas (11.3 ppg, 42.9 from 3) being in sync and in rhythm. Not good. And speaking of Wilbekin, he’s the one charged with making sure UF is moving and sharing the ball; preferably in a manner unlike what was on display Friday against Florida Gulf Coast. The Gators didn’t just fail to move the ball against the Eagles, they didn’t move their bodies, with a few exceptions from senior Mike Rosario, who has 40 points the last two NCAA games. Kenny Boynton had another tough shooting night (2-for-6, 0-for-3) against FGCU, but he had a couple nice plays attacking the basket. Against Michigan’s shaky interior defense there will be some openings, so Wilbekin and his backcourt mates need to exploit them. If they can make some 3-pointers (that FGCU 4-for-15 stuff isn’t going to cut it), they’ll do their bigs some favors, too.


The Frontcourts
Burke is the key to the Wolverines. Period. If the Gators have an X-factor in their favor its 6-10 forward Erik Murphy and his ability to stretch a defense with his 3-pointer shooting (45.9 percent). Murphy, though, is coming off one of his least-productive games of the season (2-for-7 from the floor, only one attempted trey, just 4 rebounds) and it goes without saying a similar performance will undermine Florida’s chances to win. If Murphy is making shots (heck, even attempting them), the Wolverines have to send someone to the arc to check him. That guy likely would be Glenn Robinson III (11.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 56.9 percent from field), who at 6-6 is really a two-guard playing power forward. In the post, UF’s 6-9, 260-pound center Patric Young will get his jump hooks (he needs to make them after going 2-for-7 vs FGCU), but the Wolverines have a red-hot pivot man in Mitch McGary (7.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, 60.4 percent from the floor), who had 23 points and 14 rebounds against a huge and defensive-minded Kansas team Friday. McGary loves to drive to his left and float around the basket for putbacks. Young has became an excellent defender, a disciplined one too, but both he and Murphy also have to be on high-alert when it comes to Burke’s drives to the basket. Yes, they can provide help on the double-team, but at what price?  


The Benches
Florida has an edge here for no other reason than Michigan’s starters play heavy-duty minutes. How ‘bout four UM starters over 31 minutes and just one backup who plays more than 17. The Gators have three backups who play more than 17 minutes and junior forwards Casey Prather and Will Yeguete both loom as huge factors in this game. Prather and Yeguete can guard multiple positions, but Prather figures to log a bunch of minutes in matchup situations against either Robinson or Hardaway. UF will roll both players in out and utilize the depth in press defense. Gators freshman Michael Frazier was 0-for-5 in the tournament going into Friday, but knocked down his first two 3-point shots -- back to back, no less -- when Florida was down 10 early against FGCU. Huge shots. The Gators could use some more of that. The Wolverines will go to Jordan Morgan and Jon Horford (yes, Al’s baby brother) for frontcourt minutes, but the player to be leery of off the bench is guard Spike Albrecht. He’ll give Burke a minute here and there (not much more) and look for 3-pointers at all times (11-for-25 on the season, 2-2 in tournament).   


The Coaches
Florida’s Billy Donovan improved to 31-10 in NCAA play Friday. That’s a winning percentage of .756 bested by only Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and Southern Methodist’s Larry Brown among active college coaches. This will mark Donovan’s seventh Elite Eight game and he’s 3-3 coming in, including those back-to-back late-game daggers against Butler (2011) and Louisville (2012) the last two years that kept him from adding to his total of three Final Fours. Michigan’s John Beilein is one of nine coaches to take four schools (Canisius, Richmond, West Virginia and Michigan) to the NCAA Tournament. [Note: Lon Kruger is one of those nine] He is 11-7 in tournament play and this is his second trip to the Elite Eight. His Mountaineers team of 2005 lost to Louisville in the West Region final.


The Intangibles
Seven of Florida players bear the scars of the back-to-back losses in the Elite Eight; both of them after blowing double-digit leads inside of 10 minutes. Whether that’s motivation or a curse probably depends on the individual. In the grand scheme, this game has nothing to do with those, but psychologically? Who knows. UF also bears the cross of those close-game losses of the 2012-13 season: 0-6 in games decided by six points or less. The Wolverines, on the other hand, went 5-3 in the same scenario, including Fridays comeback from 10 down in the final 2:20 to beat No. 1-seed Kansas. Michigan starts three freshmen. That’s a lot, especially against an opponent with a combined 71 games of NCAA experience. How will some of those young guys handle the big stage? Especially long minutes against a deep team?

DALLAS -- After winning their NCAA South Region semifinal games Friday night, both Florida and Michigan were allowed 90 minutes of closed practice Saturday on the floor of vast Cowboys Stadium.

The Gators took about 30.

And just to shoot around.

“These guys needed to rest and recover,” UF trainer David “Duke” Werner said.

Instead, the Gators pushed back their full-blown practice and preparation for the Wolverines a couple hours Saturday to give the players more time to relax and the assistant coaches more time to scout UM before presenting a game plan to the team.

Think about the timeline and what the NCAA asks these teams to do.

Florida put the finishing touches on its 62-50 defeat of Florida Gulf Coast around 11 p.m. local time. By the time the Gators wrapped their post-game media obligations and took the 22-mile bus ride from Arlington to downtown Dallas, it was after 1 a.m. Saturday.

The players, even after some treatment from trainers, were still amped up from the game. Hardly ready for lights-out. The coaches had to cram.

Eventually, the players went to sleep while the staff spent nearly three hours previewing tape of Michigan before going to bed around 4. The coaches got five hours of sleep. Maybe.

Breakfast was at 11, immediately followed by a bus ride back to the stadium for its required media session. Afterward, the Gators had 90 minutes inside the cavernous stadium, but opted for a light half-hour of shooting and were back at the hotel around 3 for lunch and more rest.

At 5:30, the team bused to Southern Methodist University for its Saturday practice, with massages and flushes scheduled for afterward. Then dinner.

“When the schedule is this tight, the best thing we can do for them is make sure they eat right and hydrate,” Werner said.

Strength and conditioning coach Preston Greene made three trips to Whole Foods this week -- “The best place in America,” he said -- for snack foods (he likes nuts and berries) to supplement the players between meals.

After practice, the training staff provides body massages (emphasis on legs) and flushes to get the players ready for a 1:20 p.m. local tipoff Sunday that will mark the biggest game of the season ... just 38 hours after finishing the last biggest game of the season.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- We’re mere hours from the biggest basketball game involving two teams from the state of Florida in ... well ... ever.

Obviously, the only way this game could be any sexier would be if Florida State or Miami were lining up tonight in the NCAA South Region against the tournament-tested Florida Gators (28-7), but then we wouldn’t have the remarkable story of Florida Gulf Coast (26-10) and its improbable/historical run from a No. 15 seed to their place at destiny’s doorstep.

And make no mistake, the Eagles are a great story.

But when the ball goes up tonight -- tipoff is set for 9:57 ET, but expect things to start late -- neither UF’s rich and recent NCAA success or FGCU’s fairy-tale ride will mean a thing. It’ll be basketball savvy, athleticism and toughness that decides this game.

So let’s talk about those things, for a change.


The Backcourts
Both teams start three guards, with the matchup at the point taking front and center. Eagles sophomore Brent Comer is the guy most responsible for FGCU’s “Dunk City” moniker -- and not because he’s playing above the rim. He’s the one tossing those lobs or finding the cutters and open men to get easy, momentum-charged baskets the likes of which UF has to deny. Comer is averaging 12 assists per game in the tournament. Gators point guard Scottie Wilbekin will get the assignment of staying with Comer, fighting through a multitude of screens and making his counterpart work to find open men. The Eagles’ other two guards, Sherwood Brown and Bernard Thompson, have glossy resumes. Brown was the Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Year. Thompson was its Defensive Player of the Year. Together, they’re averaged nearly 30 points per game in the regular season, but have upped those numbers to 40-plus in the tournament. Both are capable 3-point shooters, so the Gators needed to close out the distance line, but Brown and Thompson also can take the ball to the basket and finish, which means UF’s Kenny Boynton and Mike Rosario are on the spot defensively. At Florida’s end, Wilbekin needs to get the Gators playing -- here comes that phrase again -- “the right way” from the outset; like he did in the last outing against Minnesota when it was Rosario who went nuclear in the first half en route to a UF career-high 26 oints. Except for five spectacular minutes against Alabama in the SEC Tournament, Boynton has been stone-cold of late (now 39.3 percent for the season, 32.6 from the arc) and Coach Billy Donovan showed last weekend (with Rosario vs. Minnesota and Boynton vs. Northwestern State) he’s now willing to sit either one down when they’re struggling. Wilbekin’s job is to get his teammates open shots, but Rosario and Boynton need to make extra passes for the UF offense (72 points per game, 48.2 percent from the floor for the season) to be at its best.


The Frontcourts
The Eagles don’t have guys the size of Gators center Patric Young (6-9, 260) or forward Erik Murphy (6-10, 240). They just don’t. So UF needs to do what No. 2-seed Georgetown either didn’t or couldn’t do and work the ball into the post. Down low, Young and Murphy will find physical mismatches against forwards Chase Fieler (6-8, 210) and Erik McKnight (6-9, 210). They are very rangy and athletic, but both Young and Murphy should be able to body them and get position -- and rebounds. And when UF gets the ball down there, those guys need to convert. Period. When the Eagles are on offense, Fieler scores 12 a game and McKnight less than 7, but a good chunk of their points come in transition or on the receiving end of Comer’s drives and dishes. Young and Murphy -- with guard help -- need to impede the Eagles from knifing and crashing down the lane (their calling card). Note: 22 percent of FGCU’s points in the NCAA Tournament have come on dunks. While Wilbekin gets a ton of notoriety for his skills as a stopper on the perimeter (and rightfully so), Young is the absolute key to the Florida defense. When he is energized, communicating and (this is key) chasing rebounds, that's when UF is that ridiculously efficient defense force and can beat anybody. When he’s not (or in foul trouble), the Gators have no chance to be great on that end.


The Benches
The Eagles go nine deep, with their most productive reserve guard Christophe Varidel, who will come off the bench with an itchy 3-point finger. Varidel averaged 6 points per game and well more than half of his field goals (39 of 65) were treys. Forward Eddie Murray is 6-8, 205 and will bang around low for some stickbacks and boards. Forward Filip Cvjeticanin (6-9, 212) and guard Dejuan Graf will give the starters about 15 minutes of rest. For the Gators, forward Will Yeguete is coming off his best all-around performance since returning from knee surgery eight games ago. He only had seven points and five rebounds, but was vintage Yeguete with his defense, in the press and with hustle/tipped-ball plays. Forward Casey Prather’s athleticism will be huge for matchup purposes against the high-flying Eagles and allow him to guard four positions, if necessary. Three-point sharpshooting Michael Frazier has missed all five of his shots in NCAA play, so this would be a nice night to get out of his funk.


The Coaches
Donovan is a staggering 30-10 all-time in NCAA plays. That .750 winning percentage ranks second in the nation among active coaches with at least 10 tournament games, behind only Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski (.771) and Southern Methodist’s Larry Brown (.760). Donovan and his staff have had parts of the last six days to prep for this game and Donovan has a pretty good track record in regional semifinals, winning five straight Sweet 16 games dating to the 2000 season. Interesting note: Donovan has been coaching at Florida since 1996, longer than Florida Gulf Coast University (founded in 1998) has been existence. Eagles coach Andy Enfield was groomed as an assistant to Mike Dunleavy with the Milwaukee Bucks (1994-96), alongside Rick Pitino with the Boston Celtics (1998-2000) and for six seasons under Leonard Hamilton at Florida State (2006-11). During his time with the Seminoles, Enfield enjoyed three wins over the Gators, so he knows Donovan’s tendencies and how to attack them. He recruited a number of the players on UF’s roster while at FSU, so he’ll have that for his scouting report, too. Enfield also beat Big East co-champion Georgetown and has done something no coach in NCAA history can claim. He’s obviously does some work at halftime, too. The Eagles outscored Georgetown 22-2 to start the second half and San Diego State 17-0 to seize control of those games.

The Intangibles
Make what you want of this stuff. The Eagles have the beloved underdog chip on their shoulder. They’ll also have most of the estimated crowd of nearly 40,000 on their side. It is the definition of David and Goliath, with the fact we’re talking two Sunshine State teams taking that storyline to another level. The Gators, on the other hand, can play the ol’ Us-Against-the-World card, if that’s the direction they want to go. America’s love affair with the Eagles has played on TV screens and front pages across the country, which includes Texas, where the Gators have been holed up the past five days soaking in highlights from FGCU pep rallies and sound bytes. Again, the moment the ball is tossed, all the distractions are gone. It will be about who’s better on this one night.

And there’s an awful lot at stake.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- So I was sitting there in a mostly empty media room at the NCAA South Region waiting for Florida Gulf Coast’s shoot-around to end so the Gators could take the floor.

Thought I’d bang out a few nuggets about Cowboys Stadium, a.k.a. “Jerry World” -- and the sports venue version of the Death Star.

Cowboys Stadium, the vision, brainstorm and virtual property of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, opened May 27, 2009 as home to the Cowboys, and a pair of college football games: the Cotton Bowl Classic and Cowboys Classic.

Originally budgeted at $650 million, the final construction costs were in excess of $1.156 billion and included a retractable roof. Jones footed the bulk of the bill, but local sales taxes, occupancy taxes, tourist taxes, plus $325 million in bonds from the City of Arlington helped cover the costs. The NFL also kicked in $150 million (that’s chump change for “The King”) to get the project done, well aware of its revenue possibilities as a Super Bowl site.

The stadium’s listed capacity is 85,000, but with considerable expansion capabilities, including more than 100,000 for Super Bowl XVL on Feb. 6, 2011 when the Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25.

The attendance record for a football game here is 105,212 for the Cowboys and New York Giants on Sept. 21, 2009, the grand opening of the stadium. Think that’s a lot of people? The most ever to see an event here was the 108,713 who filed in for the 2010 NBA All-Star Game (above). A world-championship boxing match between Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey drew 50,994 on March 13, 2010.

The famous video screen is the fourth-largest in the world (second in the U.S. to the one that Charlotte Motor Speedway) measures 60 yards long (from 20-yard line to 20-yard line). Tennessee Titans punter A.J Trapasso actually hit the screen with a kick in the stadium’s debut preseason game.

Cowboys Stadium will play host to the 2014 Final Four and is reportedly the leader to host the inaugural college football play championship game.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Gators have their required open practice and media cattle call Thursday afternoon at Cowboys Stadium, but the day’s real work gets going this morning with the start of a real practice at the University of Texas-Arlington, a few miles from the spaceship-looking edifice known as “Jerry World.”

Coach Scott Cross and members of his staff greeted the Gators upon their arrival at the UTA practice facility.

UTA is a state school, the commuter type, of 33,439 that calls its teams -- with apologies to a certain squad about 25 miles away -- the Mavericks.

These Mavs were here first, as a charter member of the Southland Conference in 1971. That’s nine years earlier than when the Dallas NBA franchise was born via expansion in 1980. UTA made the NCAA Tournament in 2008 as a 16-seed, losing to top-seeded Memphis, which later forfeited the win due to NCAA violations.

Among UTA’s famous alumni:

- Actor Lou Diamond Phillips (pictured above with Denzel Washington in "Courage Under Fire")
- Drag racer and NASCAR owner Kenny Bernstein
- Former Portland Trailblazers interim head coach Kaleb Canales
- Boston Red Sox pitcher John Lackey
- Former NFL cornerback Tim McKyer
- San Francisco Giants outfielder Hunter Pence
- Former Kansas City Royals manager Trey Hillman

Note: I think I may have written this blog just to get the first (and probably only EVER) photo of Lou Diamond Phillips on GatorZone.com.