Thanks for saying things my fandom needed to hear today! I'm ready to see what happens next year. Go Gators!!
I stopped reading here. If you want to be taken seriously, support your argument with facts, not hyperbole.
Thank you Davis, besides I'm 63-3/4 not 80! Any single Gator gals out there come and check me out, I'm still viable! Lol Seriously, I can't slam wci to hard because it's been a slow, painful drop since the heyday in both sports. Sadly I suspect things could get worse before they get better. Napier gets a pass next year, IMO, should returns be modest again, but let's face it, he better put out a competitive product in 24 or his seat will be seriously hot. Not as sure about basketball but it's probably about the same. Personally speaking I agree with Tampa, UF hired young but classy men to take the reins. I'm enthusiastically in, but will ramp up my concerns, especially in year 3, for both. Meanwhile I will be focused on how recruiting goes. Go Gators!
I agree. Folks would engage more if they also didn't have to endure a wall of negativity. You got me by 2-years. I'm only almost 62.
I don't mind the negativity, much more entertaining then viewing with gator goggles on, since the program is in a difficult spot. Only time will tell, if the program rebounds and returns as a top 20 basketball program.
Some of you guys are unrealistic, and it’s making you look ridiculous. A lot of schools try very hard to win… schools that used to win championships before can’t win now. Nebraska, Notre Dame, Indiana, Michigan, etc… Georgia had a 40-50 year drought until recently. UNC went from the finals last year to missing the Tournament this year. Stop treating sports like it’s an exam you just need to study for and ace. Are the Bulls winning chips post Jordan? How are the Spurs now? Cowboys? Lakers? Stop the nonsense. We aren’t great right now, but we are trying. Apparently making the tournament most years wasn’t good enough for you, so you wanted Mike White gone. Now, we need to support Coach Golden. Stop the whining.
We were not a top 5 Public University 80 years ago and now we are. This fan base’s willingness to accept mediocrity based upon some generational curse that this is what we were 80 years ago is nonsensical!
How about shutting it down and waiting to see how TG does in the portal, in high school recruiting and how the team plays next season? You’ve crossed the line from being a concerned fan to being obnoxious.
If there was a dictionary example (not definition) of “non sequiter, this would definitely be a candidate
First of all, it is "non sequitur". Second, claiming we should be happy going .500 in the SEC against programs that have NEVER gone to the Final Four when we have over the last 30 years at least 4 times and won the championship twice because historically we have been a .500 team in the conference is convoluted logic. At some point, you have to STOP making excuses and START pointing fingers.
HS recruiting? Are you kidding me! High School recruiting is done for this upcoming year. Or do you live on another planet? We have a 3-star and I believe a recently classified 4-star from Australia or somewhere like that who has never played against American talent, I bet. We are already behind in HS recruiting for 24-25. There are some programs that are actively recruiting players for 26-27. And this utter pathological dependence on transients coming in and turning a program around at best for one year if they have one year of eligibility (like this kid from Bryant) has proven to be resoundingly unproductive and even more destabilizing for our program. It is not obnoxious to comment on the fact that a program that has no problem bringing in 4-5 transfers every year is going to fall further and further behind in the HS recruiting stakes. No one coming out of HS of any distinction is going to want to play with players who are disgruntled with where they played before (and obviously did not contribute to major success of that program), who are going feel that they are owed a special preference as was the case this year and last year because they "rescued" the program from missing the NIT tournament, and who though they are upperclassmen, know as much about the University of Florida and Gainesville as the freshman coming in (how's that for a great mentoring program?).
We're actually in good spot for a top 25 player for the 24 class. He may reclassify to the 23 class, but he's a big time PG.
I didn't dig deep into prior classes -- but there isn't a top 25 player in the state of florida attending - UF, FSU, or Miami -- time to lock down the state.
You got the spelling, but may have failed to read the definition. (Hint: You followed up with yet another non sequitur).
Sadly, our best basketball talent have been leaving the state for years. The lack of interest by the schools & their focus on football combined, created this environment. When I started at UF, there was a small but faithful fan base in the Old Alligator Alley, that transitioned to the O’Dome. Fan support reflected the University’s support. it was/still is easy for the Big 10 & ACC to come down and raid the State. They historically have a better support system built around their programs. I’m not talking just basketball schools, but OSU, Mizzou, Mich and Mich State are a few examples.
So you find it a logical progression that a program that had inserted itself at the top of the college basketball mountain, now cannot even compete with programs that have not even come close to achieving what we have achieved over the past 30 years? Once again, even a North Carolina or a Duke can have an off-season where they make no serious run at an NC, but you will NEVER see the program at Chapel Hill go sour the way this program has. We have gone from one of the top 2 programs in the SEC to the bottom tier in 10 years. I think you need to look up the phrase. Better yet. Take a Latin course. I am a member of Eta Sigma Phi. Are you?
We are always in the running until we lose the race. Let's stop being in the running and start being first to the finish line when it comes to top recruits in basketball. Napier is a closer. There is absolutely no question about that. This was his first real season at recruiting and he landed some AMAZING talent. This is Golden's first real year at recruiting, and I don't see anything of any magnitude coming to Gainesville despite our illustrious history (championship gym floor, banners, NBA fraternity alumni, academic reputation, etc.). To only be attracting 3-star talent with all of the slots available or which should have been anticipated to be available raises eyebrows. This Linus-like reliance and dependence on the transfer portal communicates a LOUD message to the rest of college basketball and that is that fresh talent does not want to play for the program or worse, the program isn't interested in fresh young talent. The fact that Jitoboh, Reeves, Lane, and perhaps Aberdeen - all freshman commits to the university, are all transferring out (see the trend from previous years also) says loud and clear, that this is not the school to go to as a freshman. People are negatively recruiting players from us by simply saying that UF is a weigh station for transients. They come in, bump the freshman and sophomore loyalists out of playing time, and then perform no better than the freshman or sophomores would have had they been given a chance. When players like Appleby and Felder start transferring it becomes seriously problematic. When the transfers start transferring, HS parents of athletes and the athletes themselves start asking questions like what the f is going on in that program? Imagine if Kugel had started from day 1 with Reeves and Fudge (who was at least recruited by Florida and showed some interest in the program). Once you bring in transfers, there is an implicit message that they are going to get significant playing time. It is the only way you can justify the acquisition as opposed to traditional recruiting or reliance on the players that are already on the team.
Every team has transfers out, so not sure how kids transferring out from UF is somehow different from the 3-4 kids that will leave each SEC school this off-season. There were 50 transfers into the SEC this past season. Does that mean that no SEC school is not the school to go to as a freshman. Johnny Junzeng transferred from UK after 1 year. Is UK not the school for freshmen because of that? Arkansas had 4 players transfer out after last year, should freshmen not go there? There was a player recently who transferred from both Auburn and then Tennessee, are those schools not places to go as freshmen? And what does it say about Tennessee that they had a transfer from Auburn, decide to transfer out? Villanova had a 5* PG transfer out under Jay Wright. Was there a problem with that program? This argument is really silly considering the turnover from SEC rosters each year. And Jitoboh graduates from UF soon, how is that a bad reflection on UF?
