Im telling yall there some crazy stuff going around about offers being made to players and tampering.
I don't doubt it. I heard back at the beginning of may about an offer being made. Im still learning though, so I don't know if that's against the rules? How does it work? The offer is made and the deal is done, and then the player enters the portal and is signed straight away? Sorry for questions, I really should Google it.
I’m sure there is but that can’t explain Bellaire and Shaw. Neither should have reclassified in the first place. While I didn’t think either were going to be big impact players, I hate to see them leave after the sacrifice they made to come in early.
Plenty of good catchers in the portal. No one is near Jocy but cetainly better than what we had behind her. I trust Tim to get a very good replacement.
This Mia Williams thing is a bad deal. Both her parents graduated from and played varsity sports for Florida and she up and leaves. At this point in time, it makes no difference the reason she left ot whose fault it was. It is a bad look for Mia, her parents, UF, and CTW. The whole thing stinks.
Pops barely made it half a season here before getting kicked out. It is what it is. If they don’t want to be here, gator bait. It’s a part of the game now and there’s not much you can do about it. Hard to keep a kid here that’s being offered guarantees that our coach may not be willing to give right now.
So portal to retirement? There isn’t anywhere to go at this level to get away from it. It’s getting entrenched in the lower levels of hs and travel ball now too. Teeball probably isn’t too corrupted yet. I did attend a way too serious pitching machine league game a few weeks ago though. There may not be any escape other than walking away,
Tim Walton is, to me, the best softball coach out there next to Patty Gasso. He does not tolerate dissension on the team and will do what is best for the program. I don't think Bellaire nor Shaw were ever going to be a significant contributor to the softball team. Pretty much the same opinion about Hovermale. Undecided about Layla Lamar. Surprised about losing a lifelong, legacy Gator like Mia Williams, but she has to do what is best for her. Her offensive improvement was excellent, but she remained a defensive liability. But best wishes to all of those leaving except if and when they play against Florida. We've survived quality losses in the past and will be fine in 2026 and beyond. Go Gators!
I would have been looking for some players to challenge all of them for their jobs next year. How many of them do you think walked out of their exit interviews thinking they had a starting role locked up next season? We always hate to lose players, but if you aren’t a absolute superstar, this program is going to try to recruit over you. That’s a tough pill to swallow. Add in family situations and nil deals and you’ve got something for everyone on the roster to give serious consideration to. As fans, we just have to move on from the ones who quit on us and embrace the ones who join us in their place.
I would just add that time will let us know who it reflects most poorly on. Most will likely forget about it, though. Go GATORS! ,WESGATORS
Yahoo Sports, Saturday Down South, and Sports Illustrated have all published articles about Williams. One made her look like a super star and one said Gators were probably going to give her a generous offer to stay. Not good.
That assumes any of them have a clue what they are talking about. There clearly were internal problems on this team. Mia's mom then on purpose blows the whole thing up. And they conclude we were going to pay her monstrous money? Which makes more sense?
So many writers these days have become aggregators themselves with very little meaningful information to add (if any). Have a source that most people may not be aware of, have a professional opinion, give us something other than just regurgitating information that is already out there. Go GATORS! ,WESGATORS
