In-Season Chatter on Gator Fall Sports / Football mostly...

[instaGATOR]

Gator freshman kicker Evan McPherson was placed on the Semi-Finalist Groza Award watch list. Evan - Evan - Evan....

https://floridagators.com/news/2018/11/1/football-mcpherson-named-lou-groza-award-semifinalist.aspx

 

[ocalaman]

Volleyball team has dropped 2 of their last 3 matches, to Missouri on 10/21 and Wednesday night to Kentucky. They now stand at 19-5 on the season, 10-2 in the SEC, tied with Missouri for 2nd place behind Kentucky, 11-0 in conference play.

The Gator soccer team had a disappointing regular season, finishing with a losing record and 8th in the SEC. But in the SEC tournament, they beat Auburn on penalty kicks Sunday, then upset conference champ Vanderbilt 1-0 on Tuesday. They play Arkansas in the tournament semifinals Friday at 1 pm on the SEC Network and if they get to the finals against either LSU or South Carolina and win that match they would qualify for the NCAA tournament with a 9-9-4 record. The Gators beat Arkansas in their final regular season game 3-0, beat LSU back in September 4-1, but lost to South Carolina 10/7 1-0. This has not been a good year for Becky Burleigh's squad, but winning the SEC tournament would be quite an accomplishment. They were pre-season coaches pick to win the SEC, but they lost one of their best players to injury and last year's SEC freshman of the year missed most of the year playing for the Canadian national team. The defense has and goal keeping have been solid, but the offense has been anemic.

 

[instaGATOR]

The Gator Volleyball Program get's their 1,000th Win vs Arkansas, (3-1).

 

[ocalaman]

The Gator Volleyball Program get's their 1,000th Win vs Arkansas, (3-1).

Yep. But they're not going to win the SEC this year. KY is undefeated and beat the Gators soundly last week 3-0. The only years we haven't won the SEC regular season title since 1991 were 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and now this year. With 5 matches left we could technically still win it, since KY has 6 matches left and a 2 game lead over us plus the tiebreaker. But Missouri is the only really good team they have left to play so I say it's safe to say we won;t win it in 2018. Mary Wise is an incredible coach, though, and what she has done at Florida is amazing.
The soccer team lost in the semifinals of the SEC tournament 1-0 in overtime to Arkansas to end their season at 7-10-4, their first losing record in the program's history. Becky Burleigh is 4th in total wins as an NCAA soccer coach and before this season was 5th in winning percentage. Having been picked by the coaches to win the SEC title this year and being ranked in the Top 10 to start the season, this has been a very disappointing year. On top of that we lose probably the best goalkeeper we've ever had along with 4-5 solid starters to graduation.

 

[instaGATOR]

28th Year at Florida | 32nd Year as Division I Head Coach | Purdue ‘81

Wise By The Numbers -- Bio

• 905 – Career Victories (5th-most in Division I history)
• .847 – Career Winning Percentage (2nd-highest among active Division I coaches; 3rd-highest in NCAA history—all divisions, min. 20 seasons)
• 824 – Career Victories at Florida (4th-most by any Division I coach at one school in NCAA history)
• 8 – NCAA Final Four Appearances (One of six programs with eight since 1991)
• 70 – NCAA Tournament Victories (7th-most in Division I history)
• 26 – Top-15 Finishes in AVCA Division I Coaches Poll since 1991 (tied for 2nd-most in that span)
• 24 – NCAA Regional Semifinal Appearances
• 23 – SEC Championships (4th-most in any SEC sport by a men’s/women’s team since volleyball’s 1979 debut)
• 15 – SEC Coach of the Year Awards
• 13 – Undefeated SEC Seasons
• 12 – SEC Tournament Titles (discontinued after 2005)
• 3 – AVCA Division I National Coach of the Year Awards (one of two coaches in history with three)
• So yeah, she's a pretty good coach alright...

As to Becky, she won a NC in just her 4th season after establishing UF's soccer program, she's the founding coach.

• 1998 NSCAA/adidas National Coach of the Year
• 1998 College Soccer Weekly National Coach of the Year
• 2010, 2008, 2000 & 1996 Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year

Few college coaches can match Becky Burleigh’s ability to bring a team ready to challenge for each season’s conference and national titles on such a consistent basis. There is no question that Burleigh stunned the soccer community when the Florida program she started in 1995 claimed the 1998 NCAA crown in just its fourth season of play. But focusing on that obvious achievement doesn't give due credit to the job Burleigh does year-in and year-out as a tactician of the sport, developing players and promoting the sport at local, state and national levels.

In 23 seasons at the helm of the UF soccer team, Burleigh, 50, has led UF to a NCAA Championship, two NCAA College Cup appearances, 14 Southeastern Conference titles and 21 NCAA Championships berths. Along the way, Burleigh picked up National (1998) and SEC Coach of the Year (2012, ‘10, ‘08, ‘00 & '96) honors. Her career winning percentage of 77.0 (489-133-38) ranks No. 4 among the NCAA Division I Active Coaches.

Both are exceptional Gator coaches, and there's no bout-a-doubt-it....

 

[instaGATOR]

11-16-18 Update:

#4 Swimming-M 5-1, 2-0 SEC

#10 Swimming-W 7-1, 2-0 SEC

#13 Volleyball-W 21-5, 12-2 SEC

#15 Football 7-3, 5-3 SEC

NR Basketball-M 2-1, 0-0 SEC

 

[ocalaman]

UF Softball & Lacrosee 2019 signing classes:
https://floridagators.com/news/2018...-to-program-on-signing-day.aspx?path=softball

https://floridagators.com/news/2018...wcomers-to-2019-2020-class.aspx?path=lacrosse

 

[instaGATOR]

Women"s Tennis signs Anastasia Kharitonova - Moscow, Russia

Kharitonova is an experienced player having spent a considerable amount of time playing with the Russian national team. She also made an appearance in the 2017 Junior US Open and claimed the Gold Medal at the 18 & Under European Summer Cup in August of 2017.

https://floridagators.com/news/2018/11/14/kharitonova-signs-with-tennis.aspx

 

[ocalaman]

And the 3 MBB players that just signed:
https://floridagators.com/news/2018...-inks-three-for-2019.aspx?path=basketball-men

 

[PacoGator19]

And the 3 MBB players that just signed:
https://floridagators.com/news/2018...-inks-three-for-2019.aspx?path=basketball-men

Big time recruiting class.

 

[instaGATOR]

"Guys being able to play hard and play with some toughness and discipline for long stretches," White said. "Some guys can do it for 30 seconds. Some guys have an ability to do it for most (of the game)." Currently 10 players are averaging at least 12 minutes per game, (still searching for the 6-8 leaders) however, Fr PG Nembhard is averaging 32 minutes per game.

The true freshman has recorded 10 assists, 5 steals and averages 3.5 rebounds and 9.5 points per game. "We have a lot of things to work on defensively and offensively," added Nembhard. "I think we just need to come together and if we put all of our ideas together and we work as a group and do what coach tells us, I think we'll be on the straight path to success."

I see some of the 'meat hook' in rsFr Stokes. If he can learn how to play without fouling, he will become a star.

~ Florida's rehabbing C/PF Gorjok Gak is still day to day.

For the rest of the B-Ball team story....
https://florida.rivals.com/news/gators-basketball-host-la-salle?guccounter=1

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

The SIGNED LOI 2019 Class for Mike White:

SF/CG Scottie Lewis ***** (13), CG Tre Mann ***** (30) and C-PF Omar Payne **** (35) – all of whom rate in the Top 35 of the ESPN 100 rankings of the 2019 class.

But don't leave out the P-WO CG Alex Klatsky 6-4 170 - Tinton Falls, NJ
He played his grassroots basketball on the Under Armour Association circuit for Team Rio National. With KeVaughn Allen and Jalen Hudson both entering their final season of eligibility, adding another option at the shooting guard position helps Florida moving forward. ~ Alex had a ship offer from Seton Hall, among others.



Klatsky interview on his Gator decision:
https://www.gatorcountry.com/florida-gators-basketball/alex-klatsky-speaks-on-his-gators-decision/

 

[instaGATOR]

MADISON, Wis. – The Florida women will end their cross country season at the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday (Nov. 17).

The group features SEC Champion and Women's Runner of the Year, Jessica Pascoe. Pascoe has been the Gators' top runner all season, notching three individual titles and two runner-up finishes, most recently finishing second at the NCAA South Region Championships. She ran the fastest 6k time by any Florida women's runner at the SEC Championships, winning the race by almost five seconds.

https://floridagators.com/news/2018/11/16/gators-headed-to-ncaa-cross-country-championships.aspx

 

[instaGATOR]

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Florida women's tennis team announced Friday the signing of Sydney Berlin to a national letter of intent to attend Florida and compete with the Gators.

Berlin will enroll in January of 2019 and become a member of the current 2018-19 Gators' roster.

Berlin is a left-handed player who trained with former Gator great and seven-time All-American, Jessica Lehnhoff in Stockholm as part of Lehnhoff Tennis International. Berlin, a native of Malmo, Sweden, has amassed over 40 singles wins and 30 doubles victories on the International Tennis Federation circuit.

https://floridagators.com/news/2018/11/16/womens-tennis-welcomes-sydney-berlin.aspx

Gator Women's Tennis 2018-19 Signing Class
Sydney Berlin – 5-5, Left-handed (Malmo, Sweden)
Anastasia Kharitonova – 5-8, Left-handed - Moscow, Russia
(see previous post above on Natasia)