In one of the most surprising and controversial moves of the NFL draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars traded most of their picks to the Ravens to grab Gator defensive end Derrick Harvey 8th overall. The move was surprising, not only because Harvey was projected to Carolina at 13th, but also because Jacksonville staked a heavy portion of their future on the star prospect.

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THE ASSOSIATED PRESS -

Ever wish you could relive the glory days of college? Today, one lucky, overpaid man will get the chance to do just that.

In an unprecedented move, the NCAA has granted permission for Denver Nuggets center Marcus Camby to suit up for his alma mater, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, for the NIT semifinal game against the Florida Gators.

“Billy Donovan needs to learn a lesson about humility.” remarked head coach Travis Ford. “UF is weak around the low post, and bringing Marcus back was a prudent decision.”

“We don’t want to witness the making of another UCLA-type dynasty.”

The move gives UMass a feared inside prescence to counter Florida center Marreese Speights. Camby provides the perfect complement to swingman Gary Forbes, who leads the team with 19.5 points per game. Needless to say, most bookies have UMass winning in a blowout.

Upon further comment, Donovan was so irate that we had to edit out considerable portions of the transcript for vulgarity.

“Travis Ford is a ****ing b******! Everyone ****ing knows you can’t do this **** in college ball! This is ****ing bull****! Who do those guys think they ****ing are?? He’s lost his ****ing eligibility, a******s!”

The NBA’s season leader in shot blocks, Camby was drafted second overall in 1996. He has played for the Toronto Raptors, the New York Knicks (an added bonus), and the Denver Nuggets in 12 seasons in the NBA.

But Billy is not going down without a fight. The latest rumors have former Gator and current Knick David Lee spotted at Donovan’s most recent practice. Caught in its own web of hypocrisy, the NCAA will likely vote to include Lee in the Gator lineup for the sake of PR.

Either way, college sports may never be the same.

Vincent Gagliano contributed to this report

From SI.com:

Florida’s Caldwell scored on a 2-yard end around off a handoff from Tennessee’s Erik Ainge on the final play of the Senior Bowl to cap a 14-play, 86-yard final drive and lift the South to a 17-16 win over the North on Saturday.

Caldwell plunged into the end zone, getting hit by Terrence Wheatley at the goal line, and promptly celebrated the fourth-down score with a Gator chomp. Georgia’s Brandon Coutu then made the extra point.

Gator chomp shown at right. Good luck, Bubba. And we’ll miss you.

Endless promise. A huge, infectious smile. A young man brought up, by all accounts, to be the polite, respectful kid you were proud to know.

A total team player in high school. A lock-down cornerback who had “Future in the NFL” stenciled on his helmet.

We’ve lost him; Avery Atkins is no longer with us. Somehow, it was all short-circuited by a seemingly endless train of bad decisions followed by a steady descent into the dark world of drug abuse.

I wrote just last week about the Sad Saga of Avery Atkins not knowing how sad the ending would truly be. Losing a future in football and possibly the NFL is a huge disappointment, but it doesn’t even register on the scale compared to losing a family. And that is what Avery Atkins lost — himself, his family, his future days with his son, named Avery Atkins Jr. The exact cause and reason for death is not yet known, but it seems that whether Avery intended to end it all on purpose, or by accidental overdose, the cause was still the same. Avery’s bad decisions, and his inability to cope with their consequences, led to his death.

I never knew Avery Atkins. I followed his story from the time he was recruited, which seems like yesterday. I watched him play in the ‘05 spring game, and watched him step in as a freshman for an injured Vernell Brown and make big plays against Florida State later that season. I watched him whoop and holler and beat his chest and hug his teammates as the Gator offense strapped on their helmets and ran back on the field. It might have been one of Avery’s best moments; certainly one of his best as a football player, although hopefully the moment he first met his son was his best as a man.

I’m angry at Avery Atkins. Angry that he could squander so much. Angry that he didn’t have the strength to get his life on track, to take care of his family, to take care of himself. I’m angry that a young man with so much potential — not just in football, but in life — fell down, couldn’t get back up, and for all I know, didn’t even try — despite the help of so many around him, including Urban Meyer and the coaching staff, even after Atkins’ days as a Gator football player were done. I’m angry that a young man who had a chance to graduate with a University of Florida diploma threw that amazing opportunity away. I’m angry that a little boy will grow up never knowing his father and will likely watch that FSU game fifteen or twenty years from now, watch his father leap up and make an amazing play which brought 90,000 people to their feet, practically feeling the cackling energy flowing through his young and athletic body like an electric current, full of life, full of hope, full of promise, and wonder how he could be found dead in a garage less than two years later.

I’m angry. But Avery Atkins was a kid. Kids do stupid things.

And sometimes kids aren’t strong enough to get back up.

Kids are supposed to get a few chances to get on track, to get things sorted out, to re-prioritize, to focus. To grow into adults. To become parents. To live their lives.

Avery ran out of chances. That’s no one’s fault but his own. But he was just a kid. Don’t lose sight of that fact.

I didn’t know Avery Atkins. But I’ll remember that improbable leap, defying gravity as he soared skyward to pick off an errant pass, and remember how happy a young future father-to-be was, staring into the yawning gape of a brilliant future, on a beautiful fall day in Gainesville, Florida, in 2005. And I hope that is how you’ll remember him too.

I can’t wait to see what Kerwin Bell does in the college game at Jacksonville University. All the successful coaches made something out of nothing, and we will see if Kerwin Bell and his staff can create some magic. Here is a portion of the interview :

Q: At Ocala Trinity Catholic you were known for a wide-open, high-scoring offense. Are you going to implement that offense at JU?

We’re going to be real aggressive [offensively]. I think some coaches are inclined to be conservative by nature. Being a former quarterback I can take criticism. I know what it’s like to be booed. I think criticism bothers a lot of coaches and they get into a shell, get defensive and they think they can’t do something they’re going to be criticized for, but I’ve been criticized so many times it doesn’t bother me. I want my players to understand that I want them to be in attack mode. Every play we’re going to put them in a position to make a great play. We want them to be aggressive in their nature, their thoughts, everything. I’m always going to be trying to score points. I believe if we coach [the players] good enough I’ll have no fear calling a pass play from the 5-yard line because I know we’ve coached those kids to where we’re going to execute that play and something positive is going to happen.

Q: You coached under Steve Spurrier for one season as a graduate assistant. How influential was Spurrier on your coaching and your offensive system?

My philosophy really started to develop under Steve Spurrier. He didn’t coach me, but I got a chance to coach under him and watch what he did. He really got me excited about coaching, about trying to develop perfection on the field. That what excites me, coaching players to perfection. Everybody thinks it’s [Spurrier’s] plays, but everybody runs his plays, it’s the way he implements it. It’s the timing, the rhythm. Developing that with players so the offense runs with great execution. We strive for perfection.

As we bask in the glory of the best basketball team in the land, we might forget some of the depths we have experienced on the way to the mountaintop.  It was just 3 years ago that Florida was far from the cohesive unit of unselfish and team oriented players.

Gators undone by Manhattan, and couldn’t have cared less March 18, 2004
By Gregg Doyel
SportsLine.com

RALEIGH, N.C. — Christian Drejer had the right idea. Florida basketball wasn’t worth the sacrifice.
Drejer could have turned down $1 million to stay with the Gators, but for what? To go down with this ship? No, Drejer knew what he was doing when he bailed out in February to turn pro in Spain.

Fifth-seeded Florida lost Thursday to No. 12 Manhattan, but Florida didn’t seem to care. Florida was too busy being Florida — they’re the Gators, man — which means being cool and aloof and above mundane things like defense and rebounding.
“It’s funny,” Florida guard Anthony Roberson said. “It’s an NCAA (Tournament) game, and a lot of people don’t have energy for the game. I don’t know where the energy was.”

Don’t look in the mirror. It wasn’t there. Roberson got his points, as he often does, but he got most of them toward the end of the game when the outcome was no longer in question — as he often does.
In the first half, when Florida needed their only All-SEC player to lead them, Roberson led them into disarray. He repeatedly frustrated Florida coach Billy Donovan by not running a play or not lining up correctly or not playing defense or going one-on-five and launching a 23-foot air ball.
Early in the second half, sophomore center Adrian Moss yelled for Roberson to “get your head straight and play!”

This is what happens when you recruit an all-star roster of AAU legends with only one ball to share. Guys like James White, Orien Greene and Mario Boggan transfer, Drejer quits in midseason, and Roberson jacks up 23-foot air balls. Roberson finished with one assist and five turnovers, the last coming when he drove and passed out toward David Lee and Matt Walsh, neither of whom were expecting Roberson to do anything but shoot.
Roberson is the face of Florida basketball, which is fine if you’re into skills but lousy if you’re into results. If he cared more, Roberson would be Allen Iverson. He has Iverson’s body and prodigious offensive talents, and he even has the tattoos and insouciance. But he doesn’t have Iverson’s heart.

Other than Moss, does anyone at Florida (20-11) have a heart? Now that the season is over, an autopsy can be done, but first someone has to care enough to call for one.
“I don’t know how we could be in the NCAA Tournament,” said Walsh, “and not compete at the highest level.”
Florida was bigger and thicker than Manhattan yet was outrebounded 36-26. Florida had more skill than Manhattan, yet had 14 turnovers and just four assists.

How strange it is to remember when a Gator team did not excel in passing the ball and getting assists.  When bringing Roberson to Florida, many noted Peep’s penchant for being a selfish player who’s biggest goals were personal goals rather than team oriented.  This was a shooter who never saw a shot he didn’t like, a kid with all the talent but none of the heart.  How important is a quality point guard to a team?  Just ask Noah, Humphrey, Horford and Brewer.

Scanning the stat sheet, Manhattan coach Bobby Gonzalez avoided a question about the Gators’ performance (probably afraid it was contagious).
“I can’t comment on Florida’s play,” Gonzalez said. “But I can say that we played harder and competed tougher.”
With two minutes left and the Gators trailing by 15, Donovan’s will seemed to be broken by freshman center Chris Richard. Three times Donovan called for him to check into the game before Richard arose and slouched toward the scorer’s table. When Richard walked past, Donovan told him to tuck in his shirt. Richard’s hands moved as if they were attached to cinder blocks. Donovan told him to sit back down.

Richard returned to one end of the bench, and Donovan stayed at the other. He never got up again. He never told his players to foul. With less than a minute left, Manhattan’s players began to understand — Florida had given up.
“It was like they didn’t feel we’d play with as much intensity, fire and passion as we did,” said Manhattan guard Kenny Minor.
Fifteen minutes after the game ended, Roberson was lying face down in the Florida locker room. Teammates stayed away from him, as they seem to do on the court, too. Florida players say this is a close team, but you have to take their word for it. This is a group of young men who don’t look as if they enjoy each other’s company.

“We’re close,” Richard said. “But when we get down, a few players try to make all the plays.”
Roberson fouled out with 32 seconds left and the Gators trailing by 15. He peeled off his jersey, used it to wipe his nose, then threw it over his shoulder, toward a garbage can behind the bench. The shirt rimmed out.
Thirty-two seconds later, the game ended, and Roberson headed for the Florida locker room. An assistant coach grabbed him by the back of his jersey and spun him around, into the postgame handshake line, where Roberson encountered the only team that played as if Thursday mattered.

This was as low as it got for the Gators.  Sure the double overtime loss to Creighton on a last second shot in the 2002 tournament was a heartbreaker.  That team had Udonis Haslem, Matt Bonner, Brett Nelson, Justin Hamilton, David Lee, James White and Orien Greene and certainly underachieved in the post-season.  That was a game marred with turnovers and mistakes (like Orien Greene being called for a 5 second violation with 29 seconds left in the game).  Brett Nelson had a horrible game going 4 of 19 less than a week after teammate Ladarius Halton broke his cheek during a fight in practice.
There have been plenty of tournament heartbreaks to go with joy but never the embarrassment of the 2004 team.  The next year the Gators played more as a team - David Lee’s team.  As a senior, Lee almost single-handedly carried the team on his back for most of that year including Florida’s first SEC Tournament Championship.  Chris Richard and Lee Humphrey were on that 2004 team and experienced the low of the Florida program.  Perhaps not the lowest in accomplishments but in the concept of what a team should be.
Coach Donovan also seemed to adjust his strategy.  After consecutive years of great rated recruiting classes with the likes of Kwame Brown, James White, David Lee, Matt Walsh, Anthony Roberson, Christian Drejer and Mario Boggan, Billy seemed to put more emphasis on the psychological makeup and work ethic of his players.  Recruiting will always be more art than science and sometimes you just need to get lucky.  But I think Billy learned a lot about prima-donnas and how difficult it is to build a team around me-first personalities during that period.  To truly have a championship caliber team the “whole” must be greater than the sum of its individual parts.

Can Billy Donovan identify talent or what?  Former Gator Mario Boggan, who left Florida after his freshman year and bounced around a number of collegiate institutions, has landed successfully at Oklahoma State.  At OSU Boggan has finally reached the potential Billy saw in him.  Last night Boggan scored 37 points and had 20 rebounds in a 105-103 triple overtime thriller against Texas.  Mario is also a top candidate for Big 12 player of the year.
 
When Billy Donovan signed Boggan many clamored that the kid was a natural scorer and had an innate feel around the basket.  Many others espoused that the kid was too heavy and didn’t have the work ethic to make it at UF.  Donovan saw a kid in the mold of Udonis Haslem who came out of high school on the heavy side but worked hard and eventually made himself into an honorable mention All American with a sculpted and muscular physique.  Like Haslem, Boggan eventually realized that to become the kind of player he was capable of he needed to work hard and change himself both physically and mentally.  Unfortunately, while Haslem bought into this as soon as he landed on campus at Gainesville, for Mario it took a little longer. (more…)