By Franz Beard
A few thoughts to jump start your Monday morning:
NATIONAL SIGNING DAY FEELING LIKE OLD TIMES ONCE AGAIN
The suspense is back! The next 48 hours are going to be nerve-racking for Florida fans. Does Billy Napier bring home the goods with a memorable finish that could vault the Gators into the top 10 or will it be a good but not spectacular finish? It feels like old times all over again, the way it used to feel leading up to NSD before there was such a thing as the December early signing day.
This would be a beast mode finish: LB Harold Perkins, S Jacoby Matthews, DL Caden Story, DL Jack Pyburn, WR DJ Allen, WR Caleb Douglas, TE Arlis Boardingham, TE Danny Lewis, OG Jalen Farmer and RB Trevonte Citizen.
Prediction time:
Perkins: I think Mom wins and he’s a Gator.
Matthews: Ponchatoula is an hour from Baton Rouge. LSU.
Story: No Brent Venables, no Clemson. Gator.
Pyburn: He sees there is a future in Gainesville, not in Auburn.
Allen: Florida or TCU. TCU will be throwing it from the moment the players get off the bus.
Douglas: Napier recruited him at Louisiana and new UF WR coach Keary Colbert recruited him at Southern Cal. Gator.
Boardingham: Oregon or UF. Cold and rain. Warm and sunshine. He takes the sunshine.
Lewis: Let’s just say Brian Kelly isn’t John Travolta (see the video). No Pulp Fiction. Gators. Barely.
Farmer: Alabama offered. Napier goes transfer portal shopping.
Citizen: Not sure he will be a Gator, but also not sure he’ll go to LSU. Somebody’s signing day surprise.
I’ll go with six of the ten signing with the good guys, which is really, really strong. Seven or more and Billy Napier goes down as a transition class legend.
TIME TO GIVE KELLY RAE FINLEY THE FULL-TIME JOB
Forget for a moment that the Gators (15-6, 5-3 SEC) lost 62-50 to the No. 1-ranked women’s team in the country Sunday afternoon. Seeing a 5-game SEC winning streak come to end before the largest O-Dome crowd (5,319) for a UF women’s game since 1999 was disappointing, but the fact the Gators overcame a 4-30 shooting start and battled the taller, more-talented Gamecocks to the end says plenty about the job Kelly Rae Finley has done.
It would have been all too easy for the Gators to mail it in after an abysmal first quarter when they shot 1-19 and fell behind 19-3. It was 33-13 at the half and 45-19 with 4:44 left in the third quarter. Instead of giving up, the Gators found energy, amped up the pressure and fought their way back to respectability. This was not a moral victory. It was a loss, but it takes a lot of heart and character to continue to fight and battle even when the odds are so long.
South Carolina has won a national championship and six SEC Tournaments. The Gators have yet to make a Final Four and they’ve never won the SEC. To get where South Carolina is, the Gators are going to need a coach that (a) knows how to get kids to relate to her, (b) knows the Xs and Os and isn’t overwhelmed by what the other team is doing, and (c) can recruit. Kelly Rae Finley checks every one of those boxes.
Here is one more very important reason why athletic director Scott Stricklin needs to yank the interim tag off Kelly Rae and make her the full-time head coach. When former coach Cam Newbauer was fired for cause, Stricklin faced a walk-out by the entire team. When he announced that Finley was the interim, the entire roster reversed course and elected to stay. That is trust for you.
Carol Ross retired in 2002 after 13 seasons at Florida in which she compiled a 247-121 record and took the Gators to nine NCAA Tournaments and seven top 25 finishes. Carolyn Peck, Amanda Butler and Newbauer could never replicate what Ross accomplished for a variety of reasons but if you talk to coaches and women’s basketball experts, they will all tell you that Florida is a potential gold mine if the right coach is hired.
There are two choices here: (1) Hire an established coach who has a track record of winning or (2) go with the rookie, which is Finley. Peck, Butler and Newbauer all had impressive winning resumes when they arrived at Florida and all three failed. Finley is a fresh face with a fresh approach. Kids trust her.
A week ago when LSU was in town, longtime friend Kim Mulkey, the highest paid women’s basketball coach in the country, told me, “Florida need to hire her permanently. That girl can flat out recruit.” Mulkey won three national championships at Baylor and is the fastest coach to 650 wins in women’s basketball history. She knows what she’s talking about.
SHORT-HANDED, VERTICALLY CHALLENGED: WHITE, GATORS SCORE A BIG WIN
They say that necessity is the mother of invention. Necessity called for Mike White to turn in one of the best coaching jobs he’s ever done for a single game Saturday at the O-Dome when the Gators rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit to an 81-72 win over Oklahoma State in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Playing without 6-11 All-SEC Colin Castleton and 6-11, 285-pound backup center Jason Jitoboh, the Gators were not only down two players but they faced a size deficit against the Cowboys, who own a win over then No. 1 Baylor in Waco. Out of necessity and perhaps even a sense of desperation, White turned to a most unconventional lineup to start the second half and when caught the Cowboys by surprise, the Gators began to resemble an amoeba, the way the lineups kept changing shape.
To start the second half, White benched Anthony Duruji, Brandon McKissic and Phlandrous Fleming Jr., going with a lineup of Tyree Appleby and Kowacie Reeves, who started the game, and adding in sophomore Niels Lane and freshmen Elijah Kennedy and 6-9, 172-pound skinny as a rail Tuongthach Gatkek. Gatkek, Mitchell and Lane had combined for 51 points prior to the Okie State game and Lane hadn’t even played a minute since December 22. Gatkek would finish with a career-high eight points to go with three rebounds and three blocked shots. Lane impacted the game with his defense, coming up with two critical blocked shots and a steal in the game’s final seven minutes.
When White reintroduced Duruji, McKissic, Fleming and Myreon Jones into the lineup, they played with a renewed sense of energy and purpose. That enabled White to start shuttling players in and out of the game at nearly every dead ball and with each substitution White adjusted what the Gators were doing at both ends of the floor. He spent the entire second half at least one step ahead of the Oklahoma State coaching staff.
This was just one win and not even an SEC win at that, but it halted a two-game losing streak and perhaps more importantly, sent a signal up and down the bench that Mike White hasn’t thrown in the towel and neither should anyone who suits up.
SEC BASKETBALL
The SEC won the SEC/Big 12 Challenge once again, this time 6-4. Florida’s 81-72 win over Oklahoma State was a surprise because of the Gators’ injury situation, but no one should be surprised by Kentucky, Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss and Arkansas scoring wins. We consistently hear how great the Big Ten, Big 12, Big East and ACC are in basketball, but the SEC is as good or better than all four of those leagues. The Big Ten, in case no one is noticing, hasn’t had a national champ since 2000 and they don’t have a team that can or will win one in 2022. The Big 12 should get six teams in. The Big East is overrated, but has three legitimate tournament teams in Villanova, Providence and UConn. Duke is the only decent team in the ACC but the committee will take pity on North Carolina and at least one other.
I wouldn’t be surprised if both Auburn and Kentucky get No. 1 seeds with Alabama, Tennessee, LSU and Arkansas in the tournament for sure with Mississippi State, Texas A&M and Florida – if Castleton returns within a week or so – all having a shot.
Tuesday’s games: Texas A&M (15-6, 4-4 SEC) at No. 18 Tennessee (14-6, 5-3 SEC); South Carolina (13-7, 4-4 SEC) at Mississippi State (13-7, 4-3 SEC); Alabama (14-7, 4-4 SEC) at No. 1 Auburn (20-1, 8-0 SEC); Ole Miss (11-10, 2-6 SEC) at No. 19 LSU 16-5, 4-4 SEC)
Wednesday’s games: FLORIDA (13-8, 3-5 SEC) at Missouri (8-12, 2-5 SEC); Vanderbilt (11-9, 3-5 SEC) at No. 12 Kentucky (17-4, 6-2 SEC); Arkansas (16-5, 5-3 SEC) at Georgia (6-15, 1-7 SEC)
SEC FOOTBALL
Alabama: With Josh McDaniels off to Las Vegas to take over as the head coach of the Raiders, Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien is thought to be the likely replacement. It would be the second stint with New England for O’Brien, who has coached wide receivers, quarterbacks and served as the offensive coordinator (2011) in the past.
Arkansas: Running back Trelon Burks, who ran for 598 yards and five TDs in 2021, is transferring to TCU.
Auburn: Former 4-star defensive lineman Marquis Robinson is in the transfer portal.
Georgia: Bryan McClendon will coach the wide receivers, replacing Cortez Hankton, who left or LSU. McClendon was the OC at South Carolina from 2018-19 and spent 2020-21 coaching wide receivers at Oregon … Former Georgia QB Mike Bobo, who was Auburn’s offensive coordinator last year, will be an analyst for Georgia in 2022.
Kentucky: Offensive coordinator Liam Coen is being targeted for the offensive coordinator’s job on Mario Cristobal’s staff at Miami.
LSU: Wide receiver Devonta Lee is transferring to Louisiana Tech. He caught nine passes for 85 yards and a TD in 2021.
Mississippi State: Defensive end Izuchukwu King Ani is in the transfer portal. He was a 4-star recruit in 2019. He played in three games in 2021.
Missouri: Defensive lineman Ian Matthews, a 3-star recruit in 2021, is transferring to Mizzou.
Ole Miss: Former Southern Cal teammates Jaxson Dart and Michael Trigg are transferring to Ole Miss. Dart started a few games after Kedon Slovis was injured and threw for 1,353 yards and nine touchdowns. Trigg, a Tampa native who is a former 4-star recruit, caught seven passes for the Trojans in 2021. Both Dart and Trigg have three years of eligibility remaining.
South Carolina: Former Columbia running back Daniel “Little Turbo” Miller, will join South Carolina as a preferred walk-on after he graduates in May. He gained 1,281 yards and scored six touchdowns in 2021.
Vanderbilt: Former UConn corner Jeremy Lucien will transfer to Vandy.
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Joe Burrow has a Heisman Trophy and a national championship ring from his two years at LSU and now two years removed from that unbeaten season at LSU he haS quarterbacked the Cincinnati Bengals to the Super Bowl. I have to wonder how Ohio State fans must feel about now. They’ve had some very talented QBs like JT Barrett, Cardale Jones, Dwayne Haskins and Justin Fields, but none of them have gotten the Buckeyes to the promised land nor since leaving Columbus have any of them gotten their NFL teams within sniffing distance of a Super Bowl.
It has to be noted that Burrow doesn’t get a chance to add a Super Bowl title to his college national championship without a little help from a Gator. Evan McPherson kicked three field goals in Cincinnati’s 27-24 overtime win over Kansas City including a 52-yarder in addition to the game-winner. McPherson was 9-11 from 50 or more during the regular season. In the postseason he is 4-4.
A few thoughts to jump start your Monday morning:
NATIONAL SIGNING DAY FEELING LIKE OLD TIMES ONCE AGAIN
The suspense is back! The next 48 hours are going to be nerve-racking for Florida fans. Does Billy Napier bring home the goods with a memorable finish that could vault the Gators into the top 10 or will it be a good but not spectacular finish? It feels like old times all over again, the way it used to feel leading up to NSD before there was such a thing as the December early signing day.
This would be a beast mode finish: LB Harold Perkins, S Jacoby Matthews, DL Caden Story, DL Jack Pyburn, WR DJ Allen, WR Caleb Douglas, TE Arlis Boardingham, TE Danny Lewis, OG Jalen Farmer and RB Trevonte Citizen.
Prediction time:
Perkins: I think Mom wins and he’s a Gator.
Matthews: Ponchatoula is an hour from Baton Rouge. LSU.
Story: No Brent Venables, no Clemson. Gator.
Pyburn: He sees there is a future in Gainesville, not in Auburn.
Allen: Florida or TCU. TCU will be throwing it from the moment the players get off the bus.
Douglas: Napier recruited him at Louisiana and new UF WR coach Keary Colbert recruited him at Southern Cal. Gator.
Boardingham: Oregon or UF. Cold and rain. Warm and sunshine. He takes the sunshine.
Lewis: Let’s just say Brian Kelly isn’t John Travolta (see the video). No Pulp Fiction. Gators. Barely.
Farmer: Alabama offered. Napier goes transfer portal shopping.
Citizen: Not sure he will be a Gator, but also not sure he’ll go to LSU. Somebody’s signing day surprise.
I’ll go with six of the ten signing with the good guys, which is really, really strong. Seven or more and Billy Napier goes down as a transition class legend.
TIME TO GIVE KELLY RAE FINLEY THE FULL-TIME JOB
Forget for a moment that the Gators (15-6, 5-3 SEC) lost 62-50 to the No. 1-ranked women’s team in the country Sunday afternoon. Seeing a 5-game SEC winning streak come to end before the largest O-Dome crowd (5,319) for a UF women’s game since 1999 was disappointing, but the fact the Gators overcame a 4-30 shooting start and battled the taller, more-talented Gamecocks to the end says plenty about the job Kelly Rae Finley has done.
It would have been all too easy for the Gators to mail it in after an abysmal first quarter when they shot 1-19 and fell behind 19-3. It was 33-13 at the half and 45-19 with 4:44 left in the third quarter. Instead of giving up, the Gators found energy, amped up the pressure and fought their way back to respectability. This was not a moral victory. It was a loss, but it takes a lot of heart and character to continue to fight and battle even when the odds are so long.
South Carolina has won a national championship and six SEC Tournaments. The Gators have yet to make a Final Four and they’ve never won the SEC. To get where South Carolina is, the Gators are going to need a coach that (a) knows how to get kids to relate to her, (b) knows the Xs and Os and isn’t overwhelmed by what the other team is doing, and (c) can recruit. Kelly Rae Finley checks every one of those boxes.
Here is one more very important reason why athletic director Scott Stricklin needs to yank the interim tag off Kelly Rae and make her the full-time head coach. When former coach Cam Newbauer was fired for cause, Stricklin faced a walk-out by the entire team. When he announced that Finley was the interim, the entire roster reversed course and elected to stay. That is trust for you.
Carol Ross retired in 2002 after 13 seasons at Florida in which she compiled a 247-121 record and took the Gators to nine NCAA Tournaments and seven top 25 finishes. Carolyn Peck, Amanda Butler and Newbauer could never replicate what Ross accomplished for a variety of reasons but if you talk to coaches and women’s basketball experts, they will all tell you that Florida is a potential gold mine if the right coach is hired.
There are two choices here: (1) Hire an established coach who has a track record of winning or (2) go with the rookie, which is Finley. Peck, Butler and Newbauer all had impressive winning resumes when they arrived at Florida and all three failed. Finley is a fresh face with a fresh approach. Kids trust her.
A week ago when LSU was in town, longtime friend Kim Mulkey, the highest paid women’s basketball coach in the country, told me, “Florida need to hire her permanently. That girl can flat out recruit.” Mulkey won three national championships at Baylor and is the fastest coach to 650 wins in women’s basketball history. She knows what she’s talking about.
SHORT-HANDED, VERTICALLY CHALLENGED: WHITE, GATORS SCORE A BIG WIN
They say that necessity is the mother of invention. Necessity called for Mike White to turn in one of the best coaching jobs he’s ever done for a single game Saturday at the O-Dome when the Gators rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit to an 81-72 win over Oklahoma State in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Playing without 6-11 All-SEC Colin Castleton and 6-11, 285-pound backup center Jason Jitoboh, the Gators were not only down two players but they faced a size deficit against the Cowboys, who own a win over then No. 1 Baylor in Waco. Out of necessity and perhaps even a sense of desperation, White turned to a most unconventional lineup to start the second half and when caught the Cowboys by surprise, the Gators began to resemble an amoeba, the way the lineups kept changing shape.
To start the second half, White benched Anthony Duruji, Brandon McKissic and Phlandrous Fleming Jr., going with a lineup of Tyree Appleby and Kowacie Reeves, who started the game, and adding in sophomore Niels Lane and freshmen Elijah Kennedy and 6-9, 172-pound skinny as a rail Tuongthach Gatkek. Gatkek, Mitchell and Lane had combined for 51 points prior to the Okie State game and Lane hadn’t even played a minute since December 22. Gatkek would finish with a career-high eight points to go with three rebounds and three blocked shots. Lane impacted the game with his defense, coming up with two critical blocked shots and a steal in the game’s final seven minutes.
When White reintroduced Duruji, McKissic, Fleming and Myreon Jones into the lineup, they played with a renewed sense of energy and purpose. That enabled White to start shuttling players in and out of the game at nearly every dead ball and with each substitution White adjusted what the Gators were doing at both ends of the floor. He spent the entire second half at least one step ahead of the Oklahoma State coaching staff.
This was just one win and not even an SEC win at that, but it halted a two-game losing streak and perhaps more importantly, sent a signal up and down the bench that Mike White hasn’t thrown in the towel and neither should anyone who suits up.
SEC BASKETBALL
The SEC won the SEC/Big 12 Challenge once again, this time 6-4. Florida’s 81-72 win over Oklahoma State was a surprise because of the Gators’ injury situation, but no one should be surprised by Kentucky, Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss and Arkansas scoring wins. We consistently hear how great the Big Ten, Big 12, Big East and ACC are in basketball, but the SEC is as good or better than all four of those leagues. The Big Ten, in case no one is noticing, hasn’t had a national champ since 2000 and they don’t have a team that can or will win one in 2022. The Big 12 should get six teams in. The Big East is overrated, but has three legitimate tournament teams in Villanova, Providence and UConn. Duke is the only decent team in the ACC but the committee will take pity on North Carolina and at least one other.
I wouldn’t be surprised if both Auburn and Kentucky get No. 1 seeds with Alabama, Tennessee, LSU and Arkansas in the tournament for sure with Mississippi State, Texas A&M and Florida – if Castleton returns within a week or so – all having a shot.
Tuesday’s games: Texas A&M (15-6, 4-4 SEC) at No. 18 Tennessee (14-6, 5-3 SEC); South Carolina (13-7, 4-4 SEC) at Mississippi State (13-7, 4-3 SEC); Alabama (14-7, 4-4 SEC) at No. 1 Auburn (20-1, 8-0 SEC); Ole Miss (11-10, 2-6 SEC) at No. 19 LSU 16-5, 4-4 SEC)
Wednesday’s games: FLORIDA (13-8, 3-5 SEC) at Missouri (8-12, 2-5 SEC); Vanderbilt (11-9, 3-5 SEC) at No. 12 Kentucky (17-4, 6-2 SEC); Arkansas (16-5, 5-3 SEC) at Georgia (6-15, 1-7 SEC)
SEC FOOTBALL
Alabama: With Josh McDaniels off to Las Vegas to take over as the head coach of the Raiders, Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien is thought to be the likely replacement. It would be the second stint with New England for O’Brien, who has coached wide receivers, quarterbacks and served as the offensive coordinator (2011) in the past.
Arkansas: Running back Trelon Burks, who ran for 598 yards and five TDs in 2021, is transferring to TCU.
Auburn: Former 4-star defensive lineman Marquis Robinson is in the transfer portal.
Georgia: Bryan McClendon will coach the wide receivers, replacing Cortez Hankton, who left or LSU. McClendon was the OC at South Carolina from 2018-19 and spent 2020-21 coaching wide receivers at Oregon … Former Georgia QB Mike Bobo, who was Auburn’s offensive coordinator last year, will be an analyst for Georgia in 2022.
Kentucky: Offensive coordinator Liam Coen is being targeted for the offensive coordinator’s job on Mario Cristobal’s staff at Miami.
LSU: Wide receiver Devonta Lee is transferring to Louisiana Tech. He caught nine passes for 85 yards and a TD in 2021.
Mississippi State: Defensive end Izuchukwu King Ani is in the transfer portal. He was a 4-star recruit in 2019. He played in three games in 2021.
Missouri: Defensive lineman Ian Matthews, a 3-star recruit in 2021, is transferring to Mizzou.
Ole Miss: Former Southern Cal teammates Jaxson Dart and Michael Trigg are transferring to Ole Miss. Dart started a few games after Kedon Slovis was injured and threw for 1,353 yards and nine touchdowns. Trigg, a Tampa native who is a former 4-star recruit, caught seven passes for the Trojans in 2021. Both Dart and Trigg have three years of eligibility remaining.
South Carolina: Former Columbia running back Daniel “Little Turbo” Miller, will join South Carolina as a preferred walk-on after he graduates in May. He gained 1,281 yards and scored six touchdowns in 2021.
Vanderbilt: Former UConn corner Jeremy Lucien will transfer to Vandy.
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Joe Burrow has a Heisman Trophy and a national championship ring from his two years at LSU and now two years removed from that unbeaten season at LSU he haS quarterbacked the Cincinnati Bengals to the Super Bowl. I have to wonder how Ohio State fans must feel about now. They’ve had some very talented QBs like JT Barrett, Cardale Jones, Dwayne Haskins and Justin Fields, but none of them have gotten the Buckeyes to the promised land nor since leaving Columbus have any of them gotten their NFL teams within sniffing distance of a Super Bowl.
It has to be noted that Burrow doesn’t get a chance to add a Super Bowl title to his college national championship without a little help from a Gator. Evan McPherson kicked three field goals in Cincinnati’s 27-24 overtime win over Kansas City including a 52-yarder in addition to the game-winner. McPherson was 9-11 from 50 or more during the regular season. In the postseason he is 4-4.
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