Florida softball kicks off their season on February 9-11 at the USF tournament in Tampa with games against Oregon State, Michigan, Illinois State, Bethune-Cookman & USF. 2 publications so far have started the Gators off at #20 & #24 in the national polls. That should be incentive for this talented Gator team, who returns some quality players, the #1 recruiting class in the nation, plus some excellent transfers. The key reason they are projected as low as they are in that their 3 main pitchers are all freshmen, although 2 of them have been National High School Players of the Year - Ava Brown in 2023 and Keagan Rothrock in 2022. Here are links to bring everyone up to date on this year's team.

Gone from the 2023-24 Team:

PG Zyon Pullin - Eligibility expired - starter
PF Tyrese Samuel - Eligibility expired - starter
SG Alex Klatsky - Eligibility expired
CG Julian Rishwain - Eligibility expired
PG Bennett Andersen - Eligibility expired
-----
SG Riley Kugel Jr- Portal to Kansas
PF Aleks Szymczyk rsSo - April 14, 2024 6:21 pm - Portal to ??
-----

Possible Departures? (testing NBA draft)

CG Walter Clayton Jr - Jr
CG Will Richard Jr
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Returning for the 2024-25 season:

It looks to me like Golden only has 2 position groups on the team he's building.
They are either CG-SF's or they are PF-C types, which is a good way to do it imo.

Group 1: (PG-SG-SF) - 6-2, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, 6-5, 6-5
Alijah Martin 6-2 210 Grad-Sr
Walter Clayton Jr 6-3 195 Sr
Will Richard 6-4 206 Sr
Denzel Aberdeen 6-5 190 Jr
Kajus Kublickas 6-2 171 So
Cooper Josefsberg 6-4 195 rsFr
Isaiah Brown 6-5 185 Fr - signed
Jack May 6-4 195 rsSr - WO

Group 2: (PF-C) - 6-9, 6-9, 6-11, 6-11, 7-1, 7-7

Micah Handlogten 7-1 235 Jr
Sam Alexis 6-9 225 Jr - xfer-in
Thomas Haugh 6-9 210 So
Alex Condon 6-11 230 So
Rueben Chinyelu 6-11 245 So - xfer-in
Olivier Rioux 7-7 300 Fr - unsigned, hard commit

That's 13 Ships + 1 WO. It appears that the ship slots are now filled.
Unless one or both (Clayton/Richard) leave for the NBA.
==========

2024 HS Commits and Portal Additions:

SG Isaiah Brown 6-5 185 *** - Orlando Cjrostoam Prep - Signed
C Olivier Rioux 7-7 300 *** - IMG Bradenton, FL - Hard Commit
----- Portal-In-----
PF Sam Alexis 6-9 225 Jr - NR Chattanooga - Eligible
C Rueben Chinyelu 6-11 245 So **** - WashSt - Eligible
CG Alijah Martin 6-2 210 Grad-Sr - FAU - Eligible
(NCAA Final-4, and named to the All Tourney Team)

2025 Commits:

SF Alex Lloyd 6-3 165 **** 0.9794 - Westminster Academy, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
247Sports - #46 Overall - #8 CG & #13 SF - #6 Player in FL.

The Florida Gators are back on the diamond for...

I guess we should begin with those projected leaving or returning for the 2024-25 season:

Eligibility Expired:

PG Zyon Pullin - Grad-Sr
PF Tyrese Samuel - Grad-Sr
SG Alex Klatsky - rsSr- WO
---
SG Julian Rishwain - Grad-Sr (injured, so a possible returner?)
PG Bennett Anderson - Sr?
==========

Likely Returners by class:

CG Will Richard Sr
CG Walter Clayton Sr (he might be draft-able, IF he wants to go???)
PG Bennett Anderson - rsSr?
PG Jack May rsSr - WO

SG Julian Rishwain - Grad-Sr (injured, so a possible returner?)
SG Riley Kugel Jr - (Stay or Go Protal? I'm left wondering after this season?)
C Micah handlogten Jr - when/if recovered from fractured lower leg
PG Denzel Aberdeen Jr
-----
PF Aleks 'Shimmy' Szymczyk (injured, so rsSo or Jr?)
-----
SF/PF Thomas Haugh So
PF/C Alex Condon So
PG Kajus Kublickas (rsFr or So?)
==========

Committed HS Recurits:

SG Isaiah Brown 6-5 185 - (signed LOI)
C Olivier Rioux 7-6 300 - (unsigned, hard commit)
==========

Projected 2024-25 Roster By Positions:

CG Walter Clayton Jr - Sr
CG Will Richard - Sr
CG Denzel Aberdeen - Jr

PG Bennett Anderson - rsSr?
PG Kajus Kublickas - rsFr/So
PG Jack May - rsSr WO

SG Riley Kugel - Jr
SG Isaiah Brown 6-5 185- Fr

SF/PF Thomas Haugh - So

PF Aleks 'Shimmy' Szymczyk - rsSo/Jr?
PF-C Alex Condon - So

C Micah Handlogten - Jr
C Olivier Rioux 7-6 300 - Fr (hard commit, but not yet signed)
==========

So it looks like there's room for 2 ships out of the portal.
What do you want, or what position players does the team need going forward?
Any guesses on those that might stay or leave?

Big game for state superiority. We play them...

Before it comes out, UF cancelled the visit...

Home ice throughout the playoffs.

LET’S GO...

Is this your best way to comfort them?

I need to rewatch that game sober but it looked pretty bad. I know Utah kind of backed off once they got a big lead but I think this defense will be better than last season. It was bad we weren't getting much pressure on the QB though. On offense we have to be able to establish a good running game or things may get very ugly. 30 yards from our 2 main RBs isn't going to cut it. I was probably too hard on Mertz but he isn't a QB that is going to be effective when the running game isn't working. It's why we literally couldn't convert any 3rd downs.

As far as Napier I think he is going to have to be forced into giving up play calling. 7-5 is very likely off the table now and 5-7 is a real possibility if things aren't corrected like the O line.

Brandon Aiyuk showing love..
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This is fairly significant. His own accountants:

Former President Donald Trump's long-time accounting firm informed the Trump Organization last week that it should no longer rely on nearly 10 years' worth of financial statements and that they would no longer be their accountants, citing a conflict of interest.
"We have come to this conclusion based, in part, upon the filings made by the New York Attorney General on January 18, 2022, our own investigation, and information received from internal and external sources," Mazars wrote in a letter to the Trump Organization chief legal officer, advising them to no longer rely on financial statements ending June 2011 through June 2020.

"While we have not concluded that the various financial statements, as a whole, contain material discrepancies, based upon the totality of the circumstances, we believe our advice to you to no longer rely upon those financial statements is appropriate."
The company also advised the Trump Organization to inform any recipients of the statements, such as lenders or insurers, to not rely on the statements.

Mazars also said it would no longer act as Trump's accountant, citing a "non-waivable conflict of interest." The accounting firm said the only work not completed was the filing of Trump and Melania Trump's tax returns. It says they are still seeking information about an apartment for Matthew Calamari Jr., the company's head of security, which they have sought for months but have not received. Trump's main accountant, Donald Bender, testified before the grand jury investigating the Trump Organization last year, sources told CNN.
The letter was included in a court filing by the New York attorney general's office, which has been trying to enforce a subpoena for documents from Trump and seek his testimony as well as that of Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump. A court hearing is set for Thursday.


I suspect the conflict of interest is that the Trump organization is likely to blame the accounting firm for the discrepancies that will be revealed and they will defend themselves. Hard to win a battle with your own accountants.

Aaron Kliegman
Tue, February 21, 2023 at 5:00 PM EST


California's budget deficit may be billions of dollars larger than the already big number predicted by Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom, raising concerns about the Golden State's fiscal future.
Last month, Newsom announced that California faces a projected budget deficit of $22.5 billion for the coming fiscal year. The figure represented a striking downturn from last year, when the state enjoyed a surplus of about $100 billion due to federal COVID relief and surging capital gains.


Pardon my Gray Poupon.......but isn't this the same state that wants to pay reparations to people who have never been slaves by people who never owned slaves? 😂

MDFer???

Gator Gymnastics is a very young team. All-American Trinity Thomas has graduated and is helping the team as a Volunteer Assistant. Quality Gymnast Riley McCuster is going to miss the season with an injury, last year's superstar freshman Kayla DiCello is taking a hiatus from college competition to compete for the US National team. She has already won the All-Around at the Pan American Games and will be trying to make the Olympic Team for this summer. We do have the top recruiting class in the nation and started as pre-season #2. But with only Leann Wong as a consistent high level scorer, it's going to take some of the freshmen, as well as experienced veterans to step up with quality performances for the Gators to win another SEC title and challenge for a national title.



The Gator Lacrosse season starts February 10 and the Gators start the season at #12., with 2 pre-season All American on the roster.




P.S. - I know some posters don't care much about these sports, but I'm opening the thread for those of us who do.

Just to annoy you know who.

😁

Any chance here...

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Trump a liberal lunatic???


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😂 😂 😂 😂

Like seriously WTF?!?!?

Dude, we essentially had a funeral for you and you missed an entire season! After giving us daily play by play leading up to it!

Tell us that Insta is right about alien abductions or something…there has to be a good story behind this…

And yeah, yeah, sadgator knows he’s been MIA for several months…

been in a seriously bitchy mood funk…

But working out of it now…

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