http://gatorcountry.com/football|football_recruiting|basketball|basketball_recruiting|baseball|other_sports|cappys_corner|kampus_konnect|snapshots|spivey_senses|the_pH_level|queen_b_blog/ GatorCountry.com latest headlines feed English ray@gatorcountry.com Copyright 2013 2013-05-22T17:40:00-05:00 http://www.gatorcountry.com/basketball/article/frazier_joins_team_for_2013_u19_fiba/17236 http://www.gatorcountry.com/basketball/article/frazier_joins_team_for_2013_u19_fiba/17236#When:17:40:00Z GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Rising sophomore Michael Frazier II (Tampa, Fla.) has accepted an invitation to USA Basketball’s training camp for the 2013 U19 FIBA World Championships. The USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team Committee issued the player invitations, and the team will be coached by UF head coach Billy Donovan.

Frazier is one of 24 players scheduled to compete for 12 roster spots during the June 14-19 training camp at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) in Colorado Springs, Colo. Finalists for the roster spots will be announced on June 16, with the official 12-man roster to be set in the following days. The tournament will be held June 27 through July 7 in Prague, Czech Republic.]]> 2013-05-22T17:40:00-05:00 http://www.gatorcountry.com/football_recruiting/article/2015_dl_picks_up_florida_offer/17235 http://www.gatorcountry.com/football_recruiting/article/2015_dl_picks_up_florida_offer/17235#When:17:00:00Z Florida has been out evaluating and handing out offers to prospects in every class, including the Class of 2015.

Last week, the Gators handed out an offer to 2015 Albany (Ga.) Westover School defensive tackle Trenton Thompson.

“Coach Brad Lawing from Florida offered me last Friday,” Thompson said. “He said I know you got offers from other schools but I want you to know that you have an offer from Florida. He really wanted me to come down there for a visit soon.” ]]> 2013-05-22T17:00:00-05:00 http://www.gatorcountry.com/football_recruiting/article/muschamp_talks_to_dixon/17234 http://www.gatorcountry.com/football_recruiting/article/muschamp_talks_to_dixon/17234#When:16:04:00Z With the recent parting of way with Ryeshene Bronson, the Gators coaching staff now has the task of recruiting other receivers for the Class of 2014.

One prospect that the Florida staff has visited during the evaluation period is Palm Beach Gardens (Fla.) Dwyer receiver Johnnie Dixon.

“Coach (Joker) Phillips came by the schools to see me last week sometime,” Dixon said. “It was good to see him here visiting me and he seemed like a real calm guy. I talked to him on the phone later and I liked him a lot, he is a real nice guy and a cool calm person even though this was my first time meeting him. He’s a good coach with a lot of experience.”]]> 2013-05-22T16:04:00-05:00 http://www.gatorcountry.com/football/article/10_freaks_of_florida_football/17231 http://www.gatorcountry.com/football/article/10_freaks_of_florida_football/17231#When:14:15:00Z The college football offseason seemingly never ends. It turns nice, respectable members of society into ravenous fans, thirsty for any kind of information that may seep out of their favorite team’s locker room. College football fans await the opening kickoff with a tapping foot and the patience of a four year old.

With just 99 days until the official kickoff of the college football season (100 days for the Gators), a sign that I know college football is coming back is Bruce Feldman’s annual list of the “20 Freaks of College Football.” Feldman has been putting out this list for over a decade with the criteria of a player who physically impresses his coaches or teammates in the weight room or with “other ‘wow’ aspects of athleticism.” Reading over Feldman’s list – a list that didn’t include any Gators – got me wondering about who are the biggest “freaks” in Florida’s locker room. Before we offend anyone, the term “freak” is being used as a complimentary term, describing a player that is capable of doing insane things on the football field that make you rewind a game in the middle of a series.

For reference, former players on Feldman’s list include Adrian Peterson and Calvin Johnson, two guys who make you wonder if they’re actual human begins or if they are aliens from a different planet.]]> 2013-05-22T14:15:00-05:00 http://www.gatorcountry.com/other_sports/article/florida_tennis_denied_three_peat/17233 http://www.gatorcountry.com/other_sports/article/florida_tennis_denied_three_peat/17233#When:04:51:00Z The No. 1 Florida Gators Women’s Tennis team lost a heartbreaking matchup to No. 12 Stanford 4-3 on Monday night in Urbana, Illinois. The two-time defending national champion Gators lost their chance to three-peat with their first postseason defeat since losing to Stanford in the NCAA Finals in 2010.

The story that isn’t told by looking at the final 4-3 decision is the fight of this team. The Gators began the semifinals down 3-0 against the Cardinals, losing the doubles point and two singles matches in two straight sets. ITA National Senior Player of the Year Lauren Embree did not notch a victory in the semifinals in doubles or singles, a performance that does not reflect the senior’s successful career – she clinched both national championships for Florida in back-to-back years. ]]> 2013-05-22T04:51:00-05:00 http://www.gatorcountry.com/baseball/article/florida_out_of_sec_tournament/17232 http://www.gatorcountry.com/baseball/article/florida_out_of_sec_tournament/17232#When:04:37:00Z The month of May couldn’t have gone any worse for Kevin O’Sullivan and the Florida baseball team. The Gators kicked the month off by getting swept at LSU and then lost five of their remaining nine games the rest of the way to compile a 4-8 record for the month.

It was a free fall that all could have been forgotten had the Gators been able to put up a good showing in Hoover, Alabama in the SEC Championship.

After finishing the regular season with a 29-27 (14-16 SEC) record, the Gators were given the eighth seed in the tournament and played in a single elimination game against the ninth seeded Aggies of Texas A&M.]]> 2013-05-22T04:37:00-05:00 http://www.gatorcountry.com/football_recruiting/article/floridas_swag_stands_out_to_peete/17230 http://www.gatorcountry.com/football_recruiting/article/floridas_swag_stands_out_to_peete/17230#When:20:37:00Z Florida offered one of the top receivers in 2015 in Shawn Burgess and last Friday the Gators handed out another 2015 offer to a receiver.

This time it was too Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas receiver Devante Peete who now has four big time offers.]]> 2013-05-21T20:37:00-05:00 http://www.gatorcountry.com/football_recruiting/article/florida_offers_2015_receiver/17229 http://www.gatorcountry.com/football_recruiting/article/florida_offers_2015_receiver/17229#When:20:31:00Z The state of Florida is usually loaded with playmakers and that is evident in the Class of 2015.

Last week the Gators handed out an offer to 2015 Coconut Creek (Fla.) Monarch receiver Shawn Burgess.]]> 2013-05-21T20:31:00-05:00 http://www.gatorcountry.com/football/article/gators_sweep_all_sports_awards/17228 http://www.gatorcountry.com/football/article/gators_sweep_all_sports_awards/17228#When:20:15:00Z With another athletic season just about in the books, the University of Florida recorded one of the best athletic years in recent memory and was awarded with the Halifax Media Group’s Southeastern Conference All-Sports title. This is the 23rd time that Florida has won the distinction.

Florida won a league-record eight titles (men’s basketball, women’s cross country, gymnastics, soccer, softball, men’s swimming and diving and women’s tennis and volleyball) in the 2012-13 school year on their way to sweep the Halifax Media Group’s award, winning the men’s, women’s and overall honors. This is the 13th time that Florida has won all three awards, a record unmatched by any other conference school.]]> 2013-05-21T20:15:00-05:00 http://www.gatorcountry.com/football/article/know_your_foe_defensive_players/17227 http://www.gatorcountry.com/football/article/know_your_foe_defensive_players/17227#When:17:31:00Z Continuing Gator Country’s “Know Your Foe” series, today we take a look at the best defensive players that the Gators will face in 2013.

Playing in the SEC means that on a weekly basis the Gators will face some of the most talented players, many of them on the defensive side of the ball, in the country. Strong, fast, hit-you-in-the-mouth style defenses are what built the SEC into the most dominant conference in college football and playing those types of teams means that Florida will face monsters dressed up in football uniforms all season long.

While Will Muschamp has built that type of defense at Florida, the Gators’ offense has struggled the past three seasons. Last year, Florida finished with the SEC’s worst passing offense (146.3 ypg.), the No. 12 total offense (334 ypg.) and the No. 10 scoring offense (26.5 ppg.).

Gator Nation became accustomed to a certain style of offense when Steve Spurrier built the program in the nineties to what it has become today. While you won’t see a quarterback throw for 300 yards in a half, something that Spurrier would have loved to see during his time at Florida, the Gators’ offense still needs to find ways to be productive on offense against some of the country’s best defensive teams.
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