By Franz Beard
A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning:
CASTLETON RETURNS: HUGE RECRUITING COUP FOR TODD GOLDEN
The fact that Colin Castleton will return for one more season is a huge recruiting coup for new basketball coach Todd Golden, but it’s also proof of what happens when the proverbial stars and planets align.
Castleton labored through the 2021-22 season with a torn labrum that has to have surgery. Still he made All-SEC for the second straight year, led the Gators in scoring (16.6), rebounding (9.0) and blocked shots (62) despite missing six games because of his injury. The injury prevented Castleton from even practicing from mid-January onward. In his two seasons with the Gators, Castleton has averaged 14.4 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.
The injury will require surgery and a rehab process that can last as long as five months. That probably would have torpedoed Castleton’s NBA Draft status but he could have still gone to the G-League next year or transferred out. There would have been no shortage of offers if Castleton had put his name in the portal, but Golden convinced him that he could better his game with one more year at Florida. Then Golden got a helping hand from the Gator Collective with an NIL deal that easily exceeded what Castleton could have made in the G-League.
The stars and planets aligned.
That the Gator Collective got involved and came up with a financial package for Castleton is a good sign for Golden, whose current roster counting signees Jalen Reed and Denzel Aberdeen plus transfer commitment Will Richard leaves three openings that can be filled either by high school, junior college or transfers. Not only does Golden have to convince kids that Florida basketball is on the upswing, but he’s got to do battle with NIL deals. Getting help from the Gator Collective will send a message to recruits that Florida does know how to play this game as well.
With Castleton returning, the current Florida roster looks like this:
Big guys (4): Castleton (6-11, 235, 5th-yr SR); Jason Jitoboh (6-11, 285, 4th-yr JR); CJ Felder (6-7, 230, 4th-yr JR); Reed (6-10, 232, FR/Signed)
Wings (2): Niels Lane (6-6, 206, 3rd-yr SO); Kowacie Reeves (6-6, 182, SO)
Guards (4): Myreon Jones (6-3, 175, 5th-yr SR); Elijah Kennedy (6-3, 185, SO); Richard (6-5, 195, SO/TR/Committed); Aberdeen (6-4, 175, FR/Signed)
NAPIER: PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE
For fairly obvious reasons – he’s still getting to know which players are capable and which ones might need to be moving on – Billy Napier hasn’t gone into specifics about individual players this spring. That hasn’t stopped him from discussing progress and consistency. Asked Saturday if he’s seeing consistent improvement, Napier provided this:
"No doubt. I think the film this week has been much cleaner. I tell the staff all the time, I should be able to look at the script and look at the offensive play and the defensive call and tell you what’s going to happen. That’s when you’re coaching. We know, hey, we call this running play against this coverage and this front, I know where the ball is going to go and who should make the tackle. We’re getting closer. We don’t do that every play, obviously. I think you could flip a coin probably that first week. I think the tape last week was cleaner, right, in particular on defense. I thought we took some steps forward. But overall, there’s no doubt the football is cleaner. So, yes, I do think we have consistency improved.”
UF BASEBALL: NO. 17 GATORS TRAVEL TO FSU
Fresh off a weekend series win against then 2nd-ranked Arkansas, the Gators (21-11) travel to Tallahassee tonight for their second of three non-conference games with Florida State (18-13). The Gators, now No. 17 in the USA Today Coaches poll (23 in D1Baseball and 20 in Collegiate Baseball), own a 6-3 win over the Seminoles a couple weeks ago in Jacksonville.
When the Gators met the Seminoles two weeks ago, Kevin O’Sullivan used a committee approach, which is likely tonight since he will be saving his more experienced arms for the weekend series in Nashville against Vanderbilt.
Purnell SEC Co-Freshman of the Week: Closer Blake Purnell had a brilliant week in which he picked up a win and a save against Arkansas. In four appearances, Purnell had a 1.29 ERA, allowing just five hits in seven innings with zero walks. For the season, Purnell is 3-2 with three saves, a 1.19 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 26-1/3 innings.
D1Baseball Top 25: 1. Tennessee 31-1; 2. Miami 26-6; 3. Oregon State 24-7; 4. Texas Tech 27-8; 5. Oklahoma State 2309; 6. Arkansas 23-7; 7. Texas 24-10; 8. Virginia 26-6; 9. Louisville 23-8; 10. Notre Dame 20-5; 11. Southern Miss 23-8; 12. UCLA 22-9; 13. Georgia 24-8; 14. Gonzaga 21-8; 15. LSU 23-9; 16. Dallas Baptist 21-10; 17. Auburn 23-10; 18. UConn 24-7; 19. Texas State 24-9; 20. Arizona 22-10; 21. Virginia Tech 20-8; 22. Stanford 17-10. 23. FLORIDA 21-11; 24. Alabama 21-12; 25. Ole Miss 19-12
USA Today Coaches Top 25: 1. Tennessee 31-1; 2. Oregon State 24-7; 3. Miami 26-6; 4. Texas Tech 27-8; 5. Arkansas 23-7; 6. Oklahoma State 23-9; 7. Texas 24-10; 8. Virginia 26-6; 9. Notre Dame 20-5; 10. Georgia 24-8; 11. Louisville 23-8; 12. LSU 23-9; 13. UCLA 22-9; 14. Southern Miss 23-8; 15. Gonzaga 21-8; 16. Arizona 22-10; 17. (Tie) FLORIDA 21-11 and Vanderbilt 22-9; 19. Dallas Baptist 21-10; 20. Texas State 24-9; 21. UConn 24-7; 22. Auburn 22-10; 23. Stanford 17-10; 24. Maryland 25-7; 25. Wake Forest 25-7
Collegiate Baseball Top 30: 1. Tennessee 31-1; 2. Miami 26-6; 3. Louisville 23-8; 4. Oklahoma State 23-9; 5. Virginia 26-6; 6. Arkansas 23-7; 7. Notre Dame 20-5; 8. Texas Tech 27-8; 9. Texas Tech 27-8; 9. UCLA 22-9; 10. Texas 24-10; 11. Vanderbilt 22-9; 12. Arizona 22-10; 13. Georgia 24-8; 14. Auburn 22-10; 15. Stanford 17-10; 16. Oregon State 24-7; 17. LSU 23-9; 18. Texas State 24-9; 19. UC-Santa Barbara 21-8; 20. FLORIDA 21-11; 21. Oregon 21-11; 22. Rutgers 25-6; 23. Wake Forest 25-7; 24. West Virginia 20-10; 25. UConn 24-7; 26. Cal Poly 20-12; 27. Southern Miss 23-8; 28. Gonzaga 21-8; 29. Grand Canyon 23-11; 30. Central Michigan 18-10
UF SOFTBALL: GATORS SALVAGE FINAL GAME AGAINST NO. 2 ALABAMA
A 6-run fourth and a 3-run sixth powered the 10th-ranked Gators (31-9, 8-7 SEC) to 12-7 win over No. 2 Alabama (33-6, 10-5 SEC) Monday night at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium, salvaging one win in the weekend series against the Crimson Tide.
Trailing 5-3 in the bottom of the fourth and facing Tide All-America Montana Fouts, the Gators batted around to take a 9-5 lead with three hits, only one of which left the infield. A hit batter, a walk, an error and three wild pitches turned the inning into a nightmare for Fouts and reliever Lexi Kilfoyl. In the sixth, the Gators added three insurance runs on an RBI bloop single by Charla Echols and a two-run single by Samantha Roe.
Picking up the win in relief for the Gators was Lexi Delbrey (10-2). Freshman Reagan Walsh hit her sixth homer of the season to go with a 2-run single and a sacrifice fly. Roe had two singles and two RBI while Hannah Adams went 3-4.
The win ended a 3-game losing streak for the Gators who hit the road Thursday for a three-game set with Ole Miss (29-11, 5-7 SEC).
D1Softball Top 25: 1. Oklahoma 36-0; 2. Alabama 33-6; 3. Virginia Tech 29-5; 4. Florida State 37-4; 5. UCLA 32-5; 6. Arkansas 28-7; 7. Northwestern 27-6; 8. Oklahoma State 21-7; 9. Duke 32-5; 10. FLORIDA 31-9; 11. Arizona State 28-5; 12. Kentucky 27-9; 13. Georgia 33-8; 14. Texas 30-10-1; 15. Washington 22-11; 16. Tennessee 26-12; 17. Clemson 30-10; 18. UCF 34-10; 19. Oregon State 31-9; 20. Oregon 24-11; 21. Michigan 23-13; 22. Auburn 29-9; 23. Notre Dame 30-7; 24. San Diego State 27-11; 25. Stanford 26-10
SEC FOOTBALL/BASKETBALL
Alabama: Guard Britton Johnson has put his name in the transfer portal.
Arkansas: Guard Chance Moore, a former 4-star recruit, is transferring to Missouri State.
Auburn: Monday morning on WJOX, Paul Finebaum painted an on thin ice picture for Auburn football coach Bryan Harsin. Finebaum said, “Now, the question I have is if the record doesn’t improve dramatically, are the powers that be, who were ready to pull the trigger in January: Are they going to say, ‘Okay, let’s give this guy a couple more years?’ Based on what I saw in January, I don’t think that is a true statement.”
Georgia: Noah Bauman, who averaged 8.1 points and 3.5 rebounds per game last year, is now the 10thBulldog to go into the transfer portal. Bauman previously played at Southern Cal and San Jose State.
LSU: Former 5-star point guard Brandon Murray is transferring to Georgetown. Murray averaged 10 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game … Former 4-star point guard Cam Hayes, who averaged 7.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 2021 is transferring in from North Carolina State.
Missouri: Tre Gomillion, a 6-4 shooting guard who averaged 10.5 points per game last season at Cleveland State, is following Dennis Gates to Missouri. He is a graduate transfer who has one season of eligibility remaining … Javon Pickett, who averaged 11.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game last season is transferring to Saint Louis.
Texas A&M: Wide receiver Caleb Chapman, who caught 28 passes for 413 yards and three touchdowns in his A&M career, is in the transfer portal.
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: “What happens to college sports if Congress gets involved and starts threatening schools to do it their way or else they’ll pull the plug on all the Federal funds that pour into every single school that fields a team?”
I got asked that question today by a long time friend who I’ve known since we worked for newspapers when we thought we had hit the big time when we worked where they had IBM Selectrics. It is a legitimate question, easily answered if you believe that our senators and representatives know enough about college sports to come up with a set of rules, regulations and guidelines to bring stability at a time when it seems sports are teetering on the verge of blowing up in our faces.
If you don’t trust Congress – I’m on record for believing Congress has far more important things to do such as run the country and keep us safe from going to war again – then there isn’t an answer you can come up with that isn’t complicated. I don’t want to see college sports run by senators and representatives who vote down party lines and don’t want to listen to each other. I also don’t want to see college sports teams wearing jerseys that resemble the chassis of a car doing 200 miles an hour in the straightaway on a NASCAR track.
Yet, I think that’s where we’re headed if the NCAA remains in charge or if Congress takes a whack at running college sports. We need common sense, but that’s in short supply. The NCAA’s sell-by date expired about 50 years ago but until the football schools of Division I elect to revolt – they have to lead the way since football money is the fuel that drives the college athletics engine – we’re stuck with an organization run by people who shouldn’t be allowed to manage a convenience store.
I don’t have all the answers to solving this enormous problem although I wish I did, but I believe there are enough smart people who actually know and understand the business of college sports – and this is what it is: a business – to come up with practical solutions. If the wheels of change aren’t set in motion soon then brace yourself for the day when you’ll be wearing a football jersey that has the Chico’s Bail Bonds logo prominently displayed on one sleeve and Café Risque “We dare to bare” on the other.
