By Franz Beard
A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning:
HUGH HATHCOCK’S BIG GIFT JUST THE LATEST COUP FOR SCOTT STRICKLIN
The $12.6 million pledge by longtime Gator booster Hugh Hathcock to the University Athletic Association is the largest single donation in the history of the Florida athletic department. A portion of the gift will pay for long-needed upgrades to the basketball practice facility while the rest will go toward the UAA Facilities Master Plan. Currently, Gator Boosters has commitments of $148.8 million toward athletic director Scott Stricklin’s long range plan to upgrade facilities, which for years have lagged behind the rest of the Southeastern Conference.
Stricklin has never been given enough credit for what he’s doing to not just upgrade facilities, but pay for them. Jeremy Foley had a remarkable career as Florida’s athletic director, but facilities and fund raising were never his strong suits. Facilities ranked in the lower third of the SEC when Foley retired, in large part because he never embraced fund raising, which is an every day job that never ends. Stricklin has reversed that trend and slowly but surely the entire Florida athletic plant is being upgraded without a T. Boone Pickens type who gifted $165 million to Oklahoma State athletics. Florida does not have the kind of booster money they have readily available at Texas A&M or the big name billionaires who regularly donate big bucks to Arkansas, but Stricklin keeps plugging away and the results are impressive. Compared to Okie State, the Aggies or Arkansas it’s a nickel and dime approach, but it’s getting the job done and it will lead to bigger donations in the future.
Stricklin also doesn’t get enough credit for shrewdly renegotiating contracts. Dan Mullen was paid a flat $12 million when he was fired last year. When Stricklin renegotiated Mullen’s deal with a three-year extension it eliminated the provision to pay a substantial portion of his yearly salary for every remaining year on his contract. Millions were saved. The way Mike White’s contract was re-written, Georgia ended up paying UF $1.2 million when White elected to take the job in Athens.
NAPIER: HOW NIL FITS INTO HIS “HOLISTIC APPROACH” TO UF FOOTBALL
When it comes to NIL, Billy Napier sees it as a positive that will pay dividends for the University of Florida, but it’s only part of his approach to building and developing a roster. He sees NIL as a positive since 99 percent of all players in college football won’t play in the pros, but can indeed make some money off the game. Napier talked about how NIL fits in with his plans for Florida football after Saturday’s scrimmage:
“It’s about a holistic approach. It’s about leadership, development and character education. It’s about creating experiences for the player so that their perspective changes on life, their approach changes while they’re a student. We want to have a place where we’re using football and football’s not using them, if that makes sense, and I think NIL is another part of our organization and it’s one that we need to have a very specific plan. And there’s no question that it’s part of competition now, it’s part of the package, it’s part of the decision-making process. So, I don’t think it should be the sole reason that a young man chooses a school. I think there’s gotta be something about being on the team, the passion for the game and experiences and the people you meet along the way. So we’re fortunate that we have an incredible product to sell here. And I’ll say it again, I think NIL is going to be a strength for the University of Florida to go along with all these other things that I just talked about. We play in the SEC, we play in the most competitive conference in all of football and if you can do it here you can do it anywhere. So again, I think it’s going to be a strength for the University of Florida.”
UF BASEBALL: GATORS BLANKED BY FSU, 5-0
For all practical purposes, this game was over before the second out was recorded in the bottom of the first inning last night in Tallahassee. Back-to-back, one-out homers by Alex Toral and Brock Mathis off Florida starter Nick Pogue gave the Seminoles a 3-0 lead. It might as well have been 3,000-0 because the Gators couldn’t touch four Florida State pitchers, who allowed just two hits and struck out 14. FSU led 5-0 after one inning and that was all the Seminoles needed.
Florida managed just six baserunners the entire game and mounted one scoring threat. In the top of the fourth, Sterlin Thompson led off with a double to left center. BT Riopelle reached on a one-out walk and Josh Rivera loaded the bases when he walked with two outs, but the Gators couldn’t deliver a hit when they needed it the most.
The 17th-ranked Gators (21-12, 5-7 SEC) travel to Nashville this weekend to face Vanderbilt (23-9, 5-7 SEC).
SEC FOOTBALL/BASKETBALL
Alabama: Offensive lineman Tyler Steen, a 3-year starter at left tackle for Vanderbilt, is transferring to Alabama. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining and is expected to start somewhere on the Bama OL this season … Running back Camar Wheaton, a former 5-star recruit in 2021, is transferring to SMU.
Arkansas: Saturday’s spring game will be a scrimmage format with the No. 1 offense going against the No. 2 defense and the No. 2 offense against the No. 1 defense.
Auburn: Spring practice is over and done with, but there is no clearcut starter at QB. Asked if Oregon transfer Robbie Ashford could win the starting job from TJ Finley or Texas A&M transfer Zach Calzada, HBC Bryan Harsin said, “We haven’t named a starter as far as I know.”
Georgia: On the Saturday Down South Podcast, Paul Finebaum said he doesn’t think Georgia will repeat as national champion. “I think they’ll be very good. The Stetson Bennett conversation will carry us for a long time, but there’s just so many missing parts ... They’re really good. They’re a top five team but they’ve lost too much” … Former Clemson assistant Antonio Reynolds Dean has been named associate head coach by Mike White. An Atlanta native, Dean played collegiately at Rhode Island.
Kentucky: Jacob Toppin will enter the NBA Draft but won’t hire an agent, leaving open the possibility he could return for a final season at UK. Currently, Toppin is not listed on the first or second round of any mock draft so this is likely an exploration to discover what he needs to do to improve his draft stock next season.
LSU: Former 4-star recruit Eric Gaines, who averaged 9.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.1 steals per game mostly coming off the bench last year, is transferring to UAB … Mwani Wilkinson has withdrawn his name from the transfer portal and will remain at LSU, the first scholarship player to elect to stay for new basketball coach Matt McMahon.
Mississippi State: Former 4-star point guard Cam Carter, who averaged 2.2 points per game last year, is in the transfer portal … Explaining on the Saturday Down South Podcast why he’s not exactly enamored with 3rd-year football coach Mike Leach, Paul Finebaum said, “Mike Leach peaked on day one as the head coach at Mississippi State when he beat LSU. We all went crazy. What’s he done since?”
Missouri: Former Northern Iowa forward Noah Carter, who was a top transfer target for Florida coach Todd Golden, has committed to Missouri. He averaged 15 points and 4.1 rebounds per game for UNI last year.
Ole Miss: Jarkel Joiner, who led Ole Miss in scoring at 13.2 points per game despite missing 10 games with injury and illness, is in the transfer portal.
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Nico Iamaleava is a 6-6 rising senior quarterback from Long Beach, California who is committed to Tennessee. He is supposed to be the next great thing, which is why he has an NIL deal reportedly worth $8 million while still in high school. He draws rave reviews when he throws a football with what is described as laser-beam accuracy. Already Tennessee fans are salivating over the possibilities that Iamaleava will lead the Vols to their first national championship since Tee Martin did it with the 1998 team that went 13-0. Why, he’s so good, they’re thinking that he could do something Peyton Manning never did, which is win the Heisman Trophy.
Weren’t they thinking something similar at Ohio State last year when Quinn Ewers skipped his senior season at a Texas high school so he could sign a humongous NIL deal worth millions while leading the Buckeyes to the playoffs and future national championships? Big oops there. Ewers arrived in Columbus, bleach blonde mullet and all, and found himself buried on the depth chart. He played something like four snaps in a game that the Buckeyes had already won by 40-zillion or so points. It turns out the Buckeye locker room was less than impressed. Ewers was lonelier than a Maytag repairman so he transferred to Texas where he’s now in a steel cage death match for the starting job with Hudson Card, who was Casey Thompson’s backup last year.
Ewers may or may not pan out as the next great thing, same for Iamaleava. Investing millions in high school quarterbacks before they’ve ever tried to read a college defense or complete a pass against a cleverly disguised zone doesn’t seem like the brightest thing in the world to do, but as my grandmother always told me, some people have more money than they have brains. Maybe all Ewers needs is a change of scenery to lead the Longhorns to their first national championship since Vince Young did it back in 2005. Maybe. It’s entirely possible he will be pretty good but fall short of greatness a la Brock Berlin or – perish the thought – be the biggest bust since Bobby Sablehaus.
At least Ewers has a pretty good idea how much better the competition is at the collegiate level. Iamaleava doesn’t have a clue what that will be. Maybe he will indeed be the next great thing, but he’ll have to prove it in the Southeastern Conference, where, last time I checked, they still play football at LSU, Alabama and Georgia which have won the last three national championships. Let’s see. LSU won with Joe Burrow, who spent his first two years at Ohio State and didn’t really blossom until year four, long after the high school luster had worn off. Alabama won in 2020 with Mac Jones, who sat three years before he got his chance and, whose best offer prior to Alabama was Kentucky back when UK wasn’t very good. Georgia won last year with Stetson Bennett, a former walk-on who transferred to juco and then got a scholarship offer only because someone decommitted in 2020. He was supposed to sit behind Jamie Newman in 2020 and JT Daniels in 2021. None of those guys arrived at the school where they won the national championship with anything close to the expectations of Iamaleava or Ewers.
Next great things have this habit of being anything but and yet now that we’re in the age of NIL, next great things can get $8 million deals when they’re still in high school. I don’t begrudge kids the opportunity to make some money off of name, image and likeness but millions for kids who haven’t made the big step from high school at the toughest position in the game seems a teensy bit much, don’t you think?
If Ewers becomes a big star at Texas and Iamaleava sets the world on fire at Tennessee, it will mean more rolls of the NIL dice in the future. That’s good for kids on their way up if Ewers and Iamaleava succeed, but if they bust, it might make some people with more money than brains hesitate before a ginormous roll of the dice.
A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning:
HUGH HATHCOCK’S BIG GIFT JUST THE LATEST COUP FOR SCOTT STRICKLIN
The $12.6 million pledge by longtime Gator booster Hugh Hathcock to the University Athletic Association is the largest single donation in the history of the Florida athletic department. A portion of the gift will pay for long-needed upgrades to the basketball practice facility while the rest will go toward the UAA Facilities Master Plan. Currently, Gator Boosters has commitments of $148.8 million toward athletic director Scott Stricklin’s long range plan to upgrade facilities, which for years have lagged behind the rest of the Southeastern Conference.
Stricklin has never been given enough credit for what he’s doing to not just upgrade facilities, but pay for them. Jeremy Foley had a remarkable career as Florida’s athletic director, but facilities and fund raising were never his strong suits. Facilities ranked in the lower third of the SEC when Foley retired, in large part because he never embraced fund raising, which is an every day job that never ends. Stricklin has reversed that trend and slowly but surely the entire Florida athletic plant is being upgraded without a T. Boone Pickens type who gifted $165 million to Oklahoma State athletics. Florida does not have the kind of booster money they have readily available at Texas A&M or the big name billionaires who regularly donate big bucks to Arkansas, but Stricklin keeps plugging away and the results are impressive. Compared to Okie State, the Aggies or Arkansas it’s a nickel and dime approach, but it’s getting the job done and it will lead to bigger donations in the future.
Stricklin also doesn’t get enough credit for shrewdly renegotiating contracts. Dan Mullen was paid a flat $12 million when he was fired last year. When Stricklin renegotiated Mullen’s deal with a three-year extension it eliminated the provision to pay a substantial portion of his yearly salary for every remaining year on his contract. Millions were saved. The way Mike White’s contract was re-written, Georgia ended up paying UF $1.2 million when White elected to take the job in Athens.
NAPIER: HOW NIL FITS INTO HIS “HOLISTIC APPROACH” TO UF FOOTBALL
When it comes to NIL, Billy Napier sees it as a positive that will pay dividends for the University of Florida, but it’s only part of his approach to building and developing a roster. He sees NIL as a positive since 99 percent of all players in college football won’t play in the pros, but can indeed make some money off the game. Napier talked about how NIL fits in with his plans for Florida football after Saturday’s scrimmage:
“It’s about a holistic approach. It’s about leadership, development and character education. It’s about creating experiences for the player so that their perspective changes on life, their approach changes while they’re a student. We want to have a place where we’re using football and football’s not using them, if that makes sense, and I think NIL is another part of our organization and it’s one that we need to have a very specific plan. And there’s no question that it’s part of competition now, it’s part of the package, it’s part of the decision-making process. So, I don’t think it should be the sole reason that a young man chooses a school. I think there’s gotta be something about being on the team, the passion for the game and experiences and the people you meet along the way. So we’re fortunate that we have an incredible product to sell here. And I’ll say it again, I think NIL is going to be a strength for the University of Florida to go along with all these other things that I just talked about. We play in the SEC, we play in the most competitive conference in all of football and if you can do it here you can do it anywhere. So again, I think it’s going to be a strength for the University of Florida.”
UF BASEBALL: GATORS BLANKED BY FSU, 5-0
For all practical purposes, this game was over before the second out was recorded in the bottom of the first inning last night in Tallahassee. Back-to-back, one-out homers by Alex Toral and Brock Mathis off Florida starter Nick Pogue gave the Seminoles a 3-0 lead. It might as well have been 3,000-0 because the Gators couldn’t touch four Florida State pitchers, who allowed just two hits and struck out 14. FSU led 5-0 after one inning and that was all the Seminoles needed.
Florida managed just six baserunners the entire game and mounted one scoring threat. In the top of the fourth, Sterlin Thompson led off with a double to left center. BT Riopelle reached on a one-out walk and Josh Rivera loaded the bases when he walked with two outs, but the Gators couldn’t deliver a hit when they needed it the most.
The 17th-ranked Gators (21-12, 5-7 SEC) travel to Nashville this weekend to face Vanderbilt (23-9, 5-7 SEC).
SEC FOOTBALL/BASKETBALL
Alabama: Offensive lineman Tyler Steen, a 3-year starter at left tackle for Vanderbilt, is transferring to Alabama. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining and is expected to start somewhere on the Bama OL this season … Running back Camar Wheaton, a former 5-star recruit in 2021, is transferring to SMU.
Arkansas: Saturday’s spring game will be a scrimmage format with the No. 1 offense going against the No. 2 defense and the No. 2 offense against the No. 1 defense.
Auburn: Spring practice is over and done with, but there is no clearcut starter at QB. Asked if Oregon transfer Robbie Ashford could win the starting job from TJ Finley or Texas A&M transfer Zach Calzada, HBC Bryan Harsin said, “We haven’t named a starter as far as I know.”
Georgia: On the Saturday Down South Podcast, Paul Finebaum said he doesn’t think Georgia will repeat as national champion. “I think they’ll be very good. The Stetson Bennett conversation will carry us for a long time, but there’s just so many missing parts ... They’re really good. They’re a top five team but they’ve lost too much” … Former Clemson assistant Antonio Reynolds Dean has been named associate head coach by Mike White. An Atlanta native, Dean played collegiately at Rhode Island.
Kentucky: Jacob Toppin will enter the NBA Draft but won’t hire an agent, leaving open the possibility he could return for a final season at UK. Currently, Toppin is not listed on the first or second round of any mock draft so this is likely an exploration to discover what he needs to do to improve his draft stock next season.
LSU: Former 4-star recruit Eric Gaines, who averaged 9.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.1 steals per game mostly coming off the bench last year, is transferring to UAB … Mwani Wilkinson has withdrawn his name from the transfer portal and will remain at LSU, the first scholarship player to elect to stay for new basketball coach Matt McMahon.
Mississippi State: Former 4-star point guard Cam Carter, who averaged 2.2 points per game last year, is in the transfer portal … Explaining on the Saturday Down South Podcast why he’s not exactly enamored with 3rd-year football coach Mike Leach, Paul Finebaum said, “Mike Leach peaked on day one as the head coach at Mississippi State when he beat LSU. We all went crazy. What’s he done since?”
Missouri: Former Northern Iowa forward Noah Carter, who was a top transfer target for Florida coach Todd Golden, has committed to Missouri. He averaged 15 points and 4.1 rebounds per game for UNI last year.
Ole Miss: Jarkel Joiner, who led Ole Miss in scoring at 13.2 points per game despite missing 10 games with injury and illness, is in the transfer portal.
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Nico Iamaleava is a 6-6 rising senior quarterback from Long Beach, California who is committed to Tennessee. He is supposed to be the next great thing, which is why he has an NIL deal reportedly worth $8 million while still in high school. He draws rave reviews when he throws a football with what is described as laser-beam accuracy. Already Tennessee fans are salivating over the possibilities that Iamaleava will lead the Vols to their first national championship since Tee Martin did it with the 1998 team that went 13-0. Why, he’s so good, they’re thinking that he could do something Peyton Manning never did, which is win the Heisman Trophy.
Weren’t they thinking something similar at Ohio State last year when Quinn Ewers skipped his senior season at a Texas high school so he could sign a humongous NIL deal worth millions while leading the Buckeyes to the playoffs and future national championships? Big oops there. Ewers arrived in Columbus, bleach blonde mullet and all, and found himself buried on the depth chart. He played something like four snaps in a game that the Buckeyes had already won by 40-zillion or so points. It turns out the Buckeye locker room was less than impressed. Ewers was lonelier than a Maytag repairman so he transferred to Texas where he’s now in a steel cage death match for the starting job with Hudson Card, who was Casey Thompson’s backup last year.
Ewers may or may not pan out as the next great thing, same for Iamaleava. Investing millions in high school quarterbacks before they’ve ever tried to read a college defense or complete a pass against a cleverly disguised zone doesn’t seem like the brightest thing in the world to do, but as my grandmother always told me, some people have more money than they have brains. Maybe all Ewers needs is a change of scenery to lead the Longhorns to their first national championship since Vince Young did it back in 2005. Maybe. It’s entirely possible he will be pretty good but fall short of greatness a la Brock Berlin or – perish the thought – be the biggest bust since Bobby Sablehaus.
At least Ewers has a pretty good idea how much better the competition is at the collegiate level. Iamaleava doesn’t have a clue what that will be. Maybe he will indeed be the next great thing, but he’ll have to prove it in the Southeastern Conference, where, last time I checked, they still play football at LSU, Alabama and Georgia which have won the last three national championships. Let’s see. LSU won with Joe Burrow, who spent his first two years at Ohio State and didn’t really blossom until year four, long after the high school luster had worn off. Alabama won in 2020 with Mac Jones, who sat three years before he got his chance and, whose best offer prior to Alabama was Kentucky back when UK wasn’t very good. Georgia won last year with Stetson Bennett, a former walk-on who transferred to juco and then got a scholarship offer only because someone decommitted in 2020. He was supposed to sit behind Jamie Newman in 2020 and JT Daniels in 2021. None of those guys arrived at the school where they won the national championship with anything close to the expectations of Iamaleava or Ewers.
Next great things have this habit of being anything but and yet now that we’re in the age of NIL, next great things can get $8 million deals when they’re still in high school. I don’t begrudge kids the opportunity to make some money off of name, image and likeness but millions for kids who haven’t made the big step from high school at the toughest position in the game seems a teensy bit much, don’t you think?
If Ewers becomes a big star at Texas and Iamaleava sets the world on fire at Tennessee, it will mean more rolls of the NIL dice in the future. That’s good for kids on their way up if Ewers and Iamaleava succeed, but if they bust, it might make some people with more money than brains hesitate before a ginormous roll of the dice.
