Tag: bio

All-Time Gators Men’s Basketball Bio: Scottie Wilbekin 2010-14

Wilbekin was a part of four-straight Elite 8 teams and went from being a defense-first role player to the premier player in the conference.

Scottie Wilbekin wasn’t supposed to be a dominant college basketball player. He wasn’t supposed to be an important cog in one of the most prolific four years of Florida basketball history. Just a two-star local prospect from The Rock School, he wasn’t highly sought after and wasn’t expected to make major contributions to the Gators.

But he steadily improved every year, and by the time his days in Gainesville were done, he was one of the most valuable players in the entire country and was a key component in leading UF to its first Final Four appearance since 2007.

Wilbekin started his career at Florida heading into the 2010-11 season. Early on, he struggled with his offensive game but shined as a passer and defender. His freshman season, he played in 37 games (starting one) and averaged 2.4 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists. His 61-28 assist-to-turnover ratio was the best on the team, and he nabbed 36 steals as the Gators made it to the first of four-straight Elite Eights during Wilbekin’s career, which they lost to Butler.

His sophomore season, his role was once again largely that of a backup. He played in all 37 games, again making just one start. Despite a decrease in minutes, he slightly improved his points average from 2.4 to 2.6. He began to develop his outside shot, leading the team in three-point percentage at 45.7 percent. Florida returned to the Elite Eight in 2011-12, but lost again at the hands of eventual-champion Louisville.

His junior year was when he really took off, though. He became a starter, starting 29 of 35 games that he appeared in. His points average increased markedly to 9.1 and dished 174 assists, the fifth-best single-season mark in program history. He was named to the SEC All-Defensive team with 53 steals and was an All-SEC honorable mention. He also had the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the league. Still, UF couldn’t get past the Elite Eight for the third-straight season, this time falling to Michigan.

As a senior in 2013-14, Wilbekin was part of a quartet of seniors — along with Casey Prather, Will Yeguete and Patric Young — that led the Gators past the Elite Eight hump and on to the Final Four. Wilbekin had career-highs in points (13.1 per game) and steals (56 on the season). For his efforts, he was named the SEC Player of the Year, as well as cracking All-American, All-SEC and SEC All-Defensive lists. When the Gators won the SEC Tournament with just two losses on the entire season, Wilbekin was named its MVP.

UF returned to the Elite Eight, but this time got past it, beating No. 11 seed Dayton. In the Final Four matchup against Connecticut, Wilbekin was limited by injuries, and with its leader not at 100 percent, Florida struggled accordingly, eventually suffering a 63-53 loss to the Huskies, who went on to beat Kentucky in the National Championship.

Despite his prolific college career, Wilbekin went undrafted in the 2014 NBA Draft, signing with the Cairns Taipans of the NBL in Australia after short stints on the summer league rosters for Memphis and Philadelphia. Wilbekin was one of the best players in the league that season, leading the Taipans to a runner-up finish and being named the club’s MVP.

After that season, he joined the Greek team AEK. In just nine games with the team, he averaged eight points, 2.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists. He first played with the Orlando Magic during the summer in 2015, and though he resigned with the Taipans, he opted out of that deal after another summer stint with the Philadelphia 76ers, getting signed to the team’s active roster on a four-year deal. However, he was cut after playing in five preseason games.

He signed with Turkish team Darüşşafaka of the EuroLeague, where he played three seasons, leading it to the playoffs in 2016-17. He also played for the Turkish National Team in 2018 after receiving a Turkish passport. During the EuroCup regular season in 2017-18, Wilbekin was named the league MVP. After Darüşşafaka won the championship, he was also named the EuroCup Finals MVP.

After that season, he signed a two-year deal with Israeli Euro League team Maccabi Tel Aviv, where he has played ever since. Now a veteran, he has become one of the most dominant players in the Euro League. This past January, he signed a three-year extension with Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Wilbekin was a part of four-straight Elite Eight teams and went from being a defense-first role player as a freshman to the premier player in the conference as a senior. Though he never made it in the NBA, that alone is more than enough to make Wilbekin one of the top players from the late-Billy Donovan era.

2019 Florida Gators Football Profile Card: Lloyd Summerall III

This is a Player Profile Card for freshman linebacker Lloyd Summerall III of the Florida Gators football team.

Name: Lloyd Summerall III

Number: 99

Position: Linebacker

Class: Freshman

Height: 6’5″

Weight: 214 lbs

Hometown: Lakeland, Fla.

High School: Lakeland High School

Twitter: @HimsoHam

2019 statistics:

Tackles
Gm Solo Ast Tot Loss Sk
3 1 1 2 0.5 0

Overview:

Summerall III started his high school career at Auburndale High School but transferred to Lakeland High School for his senior year, leading it to a Class 7A state title.

He was a four star recruit in the 2019 recruiting class after finishing his high school career with 117 tackles and 14.5 sacks. He committed to coach Dan Mullen and the Gators over offers from Alabama, Florida State, Georgia, LSU and more.

Summerall III played in three games his first year on campus, blowouts against UT Martin and Vanderbilt, as well as the Orange Bowl victory over Virginia. He made just two tackles (one solo) and redshirted the season. He should see more action as an edge rusher his redshirt freshman season in 2020.

Video:

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2020 Gators Football Recruiting Profile: Antwaun Powell

This is a prospect player profile for defensive end Antwaun Powell of the Florida Gators football recruiting class of 2020.

Name: Antwaun Powell

Position: Defensive End

Height: 6’3″

Weight: 234 lbs

Hometown: Portsmouth, Va.

High School: Indian River High School

Twitter: @TwaunPowell

247Sports Composite: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rivals.com: ⭐⭐⭐

Overview:

The Florida Gators reached into Old Dominion for Powell, securing the four-star’s commitment on June 26, 2019.

Playing his high school football for the Indian River Braves in Chesapeake, Powell was rated as the No. 10 weak-side defensive end in the class and a top-three player in the state, per the 247Sports Composite.

Standing 6-foot-3 and weighing 234 pounds, he displayed excellent burst off the line of scrimmage during his prep days and has room to add size to his current frame.

One thing worth keeping an eye on with Powell, however, is the two surgeries he has had on the same shoulder, the first in the fall of 2018 and the second last November. Playing a position as physical as defensive end, Gator fans should hope these problems do not continue at the collegiate level.

Injury concerns aside, he was one of the most sought-after pass-rushers in the class, choosing Florida over the Duke Blue Devils, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, North Carolina Tar Heels, Oklahoma Sooners, and Virginia Tech Hokies, who are located roughly five years northwest of Chesapeake in Blacksburg.

Signing his National Letter of Intent (LOI) during December’s Early Signing Period, Powell enrolled early in January, allowing himself to become familiar with his coaches, teammates, and life as a Southeastern Conference (SEC) student-athlete before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic threw a wrench in things.

He is one of two listed defensive ends in the class for the Gators, joining Princely Umanmielen, a fellow four-star from Manor, Texas. Fort Lauderdale’s Derek Wingo is officially listed as an outside linebacker, but projects to play the hybrid BUCK position for defensive coordinator Todd Grantham in Gainesville.

Powell is the seventh-highest rated of Florida’s 21 enrollees in the 2020 cycle and the fifth-highest on the defensive side of the football.

Due to his frame and quickness, he profiles as a multi-year starter for Grantham and defensive line coach David Turner.

Video:

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All-Time Gators Men’s Basketball Bio: Andy Owens (1967-70)

Andy Owens was an All-SEC selection in 1968 and 1970, an Academic All-American in 1970, and also received an NCAA post-graduate scholarship.

Andy Owens (1967-70) – Forward

Continuing in the tradition of other Gators greats from the late 60s and early 70s, Andy Owens had a brilliant collegiate career in Gainesville but found another profession other than basketball after leaving Florida’s campus.

Owens was born in Atlanta but moved to Tampa as a child, where he standout player for the Hillsborough Terriers high school basketball team. He scored 1,806 points and averaged 23.5 points per game over 77 career prep games and was named as a high school All-American along with Lew Alcindor and Pete Maravich after his senior season.

Making the short trip up Interstate 75, Owens accepted an athletic scholarship to the University of Florida after turning down offers from Kentucky and North Carolina. Alongside Gators legend Neal Walk, he helped lead UF to its first postseason tournament appearance: the 1969 National Invitational Tournament.

Over the course of three seasons in Gainesville, Owens averaged 19 points — including 27 points his senior year, a still-standing single-season record at Florida — along with 8.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 47.7 percent from the floor and 81 percent from the free-throw line. He scored more than 30 points 11 times and was an All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection in 1968 and 1970, an Academic All-American in 1970, and received an NCAA post-graduate scholarship.

Owens was taken in both the NBA and ABA Drafts in 1970, going to the Seattle Supersonics in the 11th round and the New Orleans Buccaneers picked him in the 12th round, respectively. Much like Richard Glasper did after him, Owens opted to take a professional career route off the parquet after his collegiate playing days ended and attended law school in Gainesville.

After finishing school, Owens began his career as a lawyer in Punta Gorda, Fla. and was later appointed as a judge on the Twelfth Judicial Circuit. He had a decorated career on the bench before resigning from the court in 2017.

Owens was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a “Gator Great” in 1978 and was honored as an “SEC Basketball Legend” in 2001.

All-Time Gators Men’s Basketball Bio: Al Horford (2004-07)

Al Horford was a crucial contributor on the greatest Gators men’s basketball team which won back-to-back national titles from 2005-07.

Al Horford (2004-07) – Power Forward/Center

Al Horford was a crucial contributor on the greatest Gators men’s basketball team — and arguably one of the greatest NCAA teams, period — which won back-to-back national titles under head coach Billy Donovan from 2005-07.

Born in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, Horford was the son of professional basketball player Tito Horford, who played three years in the NBA and several more overseas. His family moved to Lansing, Michigan, in 2000 where he played basketball for Grand Ledge High School, setting seven school records — including most career points (1,239) — while averaging 21 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks per game his senior year en route to a Class A Player of the Year honor.

Horford, who was considered a four-star recruit and was listed as the No. 7 power forward and the No. 36 player in the nation coming out of high school, came to Florida and joined a program that was already on a meteoric ascent. His freshman season, he teamed up with David Lee to form a formidable front-court that won the 2005 Southeastern Conference Tournament championship; that team, however, lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The next two seasons represented the pinnacle of the program’s history, as Horford and company won both the SEC and national championships in 2005-06, only to return as a full team — despite high prospects for several players in the NBA Draft — to win a second-consecutive championship trophy. Horford averaged double-digit points per game during that stretch, including almost posting a double-double average his junior season with 13.2 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.

Three days after winning the second title, Horford and the rest of the Gators’ starting five declared for the NBA Draft. The talented power forward was selected the highest of his peers, taken at No. 3 — the second-highest draft position in program history, tied with Bradley Beal —by the Atlanta Hawks.

He began his professional career in Atlanta strong, receiving a unanimous selection to the NBA All-Rookie First Team — the only player with that distinction for the 2007-08 season — while finishing runner-up for the Rookie of the Year honor. His superlative play earned him back-to-back All-Star Team selections the next two seasons, and in turn was rewarded with a five-year, $60 million contract extension sandwiched in between his two All-Star appearances.

After an injury-shortened season the following year, Horford put up his best numbers in 2012-13 averaging a career-high 17.4 points, a career-high 10.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.1 blocks and 1.1 steals in 37.2 minutes across 74 games. He also recorded 43 double-doubles, including 20 20-point/10-rebound games, and even added one in points and assists to mix things up. The promising power forward earned his first Eastern Conference Player of the Week honor in November of 2012.

Horford oscillated between injury and all-star form the following seasons — playing a career-high 82 regular-season games in 2015-16 — before signing a max contract with the Boston Celtics as an unrestricted free agent in 2016. He had a moderately successful run in Boston over a three year period, reaching the Eastern Conference Finals twice but failing to advance any further.

After declining a player option in his contract with the Celtics, Horford moved on to the Philadelphia 76ers — where he currently plays — signing a four-year $97 million contract along with $12 million in bonuses as an unrestricted free agent. The abbreviated 2019-20 season was a disappointing one for the former Gators big man, putting up near career-lows across the stat sheet.

However, after this past season was canceled due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, the philanthropic power forward donated $500,000 towards relief efforts both back home and at all of his stops in the States.

So far over the course of his professional career, Horford has averaged 14 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.2 blocks per game in 13 seasons with three different teams along with five All-Star Game appearances. While Horford is not quite on an NBA Hall of Fame trajectory, he has still been a formidable force during his years in the league.

At this point, Horford is entering the twilight of his career and by the time all is said and done, the big man from the Dominican Republic will have a legitimate claim to a spot in the Pantheon of Gators greats.

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All-Time Gators Men’s Basketball Bio: Brett Nelson (1999-03)

Brett Nelson was a key member of the turn-of-the-millennium squad that reached the 2000 NCAA Tournament Finals while collecting 100 wins.

Brett Nelson (1999-03) – Guard

Brett Nelson was a key member of Billy Donovan’s turn-of-the-millennium squad that reached the 2000 NCAA Tournament Finals while collecting 100 wins during his four years in school.

Hailing from St. Albans, West Virginia, Nelson was a 1999 McDonald’s All-American standout and the state’s player of the year his senior season. His efforts earned him a spot on Donovan’s team, which had reached the Sweet 16 the season before he arrived and almost won it all his freshman year.

Nelson’s most productive years at Florida came during his sophomore and junior seasons when he averaged 15.3 and 14.6 points per game while dishing out 4.3 and 3.3 assists per game, respectively. He also sported three-point percentages of 43.4, 45.3 and 39.5 in his first three seasons, respectively, with a career-high eight attempts per game his junior year, proving Nelson a significant threat from beyond the arc. Despite entering his senior season a Preseason Naismith Award Semifinalist, his final year saw a dramatic drop-off in games started and minutes played along with overall production.

Going undrafted in 2003, Nelson briefly played professional ball in Sweden but quickly decided that sports management and coaching was his career path. He took a job as director of basketball operations at Colorado State and then at VCU for a season each from 2005 to 2007 before embarking on his coaching career. Nelson is currently the head coach at Holy Cross — his first head coach gig — where in his first season on the bench his Crusaders went 3-29.

All-Time Gators Men’s Basketball Bio: Richard Glasper (1976-78)

Richard Glasper was a great guard on a very mediocre Florida squad in the mid-to-late 70s known for his elite vertical leap and quick hands.

Richard Glasper (1976-78) – Guard

Richard Glasper was a great guard on a very mediocre Florida squad in the mid-to-late 70s known for his elite vertical leap and quick hands.

Perhaps one of the greatest JUCO transfers in program history, he played in Gainesville for two seasons averaging double digits in points both years while setting a still-standing school career record for steals per game (1.83). He earned All-SEC honors in 1978 when he led the team in both steals and assists and his career average of 4.26 assists a game still stands as second-best in school history.

During the 1976-77 season, Glasper averaged 11.9 points per game making 53.5 percent of his shots, along with 2.1 rebounds; the following year, he averaged 13 points on 48.5 percent shooting from the field, along with 3.1 rebounds.

Despite Glasper’s innate athletic ability, his 6-foot frame limited his prospects in the professional ranks and he went undrafted after leaving school, never playing in the NBA.

2021 Gators Football Recruiting Profile: Jordan Young

This is a prospect player profile for cornerback Jordan Young of the Florida Gators football recruiting class of 2021.

Name: Jordan Young

Position: Cornerback

Height: 6’1″

Weight: 185 lbs

Hometown: Tampa, Fla.

High School: Gaither High School

Twitter: @jordan_young2

247Sports Composite: ⭐⭐⭐

Rivals.com: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Overview:

Joining Winter Park three-star safety Dakota Mitchell and IMG Academy four-star Kamar Wilcoxson, Young became the third defensive back to commit to the Florida Gators in a four-day span when he pledged on June 21.

Spending his first three years at Jesuit High School in Tampa, where he was teammates with 2020 Florida tight end enrollee Jonathan Odom, Young will make the roughly nine-mile north move to Gaither High School for his senior season this fall.

Standing 6-foot-1 and weighing 185 pounds, he has the ideal frame cornerbacks coach Torrian Gray and linebackers coach Christian Robinson look for on the recruiting trail. Initially receiving his offer from the Gators’ staff on June 7, 2019, the same day he attended a camp in Gainesville, Young returned to campus on February 1 for the program’s Junior Day.

While his three-star rating does not necessarily jump off the page, Young’s reported offer list is 26 schools deep and features the Alabama Crimson Tide, Arkansas Razorbacks, Florida State Seminoles, and Georgia Bulldogs.

The No. 29 cornerback in the cycle and sixty-third best player in the state, per the 247Sports Composite, he is Florida’s third commit at the position in the class, accompanying Baltimore, Maryland four-star Clinton Burton, Jr., and Wilcoxson.

Overall, Young is the thirteenth-highest rated of the program’s 20 commits in the upcoming group, slotting in behind Jacksonville tight end Nick Elksnis and ahead of Orlando offensive tackle Javonte Gardner.

Video:

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All-Time Gators Men’s Basketball Bio: Chandler Parsons (2007-2011)

A four-star recruit, Parsons committed to back-to-back defending national champion Florida, giving his all in his 4 years in Gainesville.

Chandler Parsons (2007-2011) – Small Forward

Chandler Parsons was one of the best players from the late Billy Donovan era, leading the Gators to an Elite Eight his senior year for the first time since the back-to-back national championship seasons. He leveraged that college success into an NBA career that lasted nine years before being jeopardized earlier this year by injuries he sustained in a car accident.

Parsons was born in Casselberry, Florida, before moving to Winter Park, where he attended Lake Howell High School with future Gators teammate Nick Calathes. The pair led Lake Howell to three-straight Florida 5A final fours, winning the championship their senior year in 2007. That season, Parsons was a first team all-state selection and was the MVP of the state championship game with a 30-point, 10-rebound double-double.

A four-star recruit, Parsons committed to back-to-back defending national champion Florida and coach Billy Donovan. His first season in 2007-08, he wasn’t a starter but averaged 20.7 minutes in 36 games with 8.1 points and four rebounds as UF missed the NCAA Tournament.

The Gators missed the tournament again his sophomore year, though he was more productive, starting 28 of 36 games with 9.2 points and 5.7 rebounds a game. Though he only started 18 games his junior season, he still managed a career-best in points with 12.4 a game as well as 6.9 rebounds. That season, he hit a 75-foot buzzer-beater shot on the road to stun North Carolina State on its home floor, and Florida made the NCAA Tournament as a No. 10 seed, losing in the first round to BYU.

But Parsons saved his all-around best season for his senior year. He started 35 of 36 games that season, averaging 11.3 points and career-highs in assists and rebounds with 3.8 and 7.8, respectively. He hit another buzzer-beater shot, this time a three to beat South Carolina, and he was named the 2011 SEC Player of the Year, the first UF player ever to receive that honor.

Florida made the NCAA Tournament again that year, winning games in the first three rounds against UC Santa Barbara, UCLA and BYU before stumbling against Butler in the Elite Eight.

Despite his collegiate success, Parsons fell to the second round of the 2011 NBA Draft and was selected by the Rockets with the 38th pick. During the 2011 NBA lockout, he played for French team Cholet Basket before debuting with Houston, with which he started 57 of 63 games as a rookie and was named to the All-Rookie Second Team.

He started every game he played in for the next two seasons with the Rockets, averaging double-figure scoring in both (15.5 in 2012-13 and 16.6 in 2013-14).

He became a restricted free agent in the summer of 2014, and when he received a three-year, $46 million offer from Dallas, the Rockets didn’t match. Parsons made his debut with the Mavericks that fall, starting every game he played in again. But injuries limited him to just 66 appearances, and despite averaging 15.7 points, he was sidelined again in the first round of the playoffs against his former team, this time causing him to miss the remainder of the season.

He averaged just 13.7 points and 4.7 rebounds in 2015-16, both the lowest since his rookie season, and once again struggled with injuries, as a torn meniscus in late March cost him the rest of the year.

Still one of the top free agents in the 2016 cycle, Memphis eventually signed him to a four-year, $94 million deal that offseason.

He didn’t live up to the Grizzlies’ expectations, however. He averaged career lows in points (6.2) and rebounds (2.5). He started all 34 games he played in, but once again he saw his season cut short due to injuries.

Injury became a recurring theme for Parsons in Memphis. He only played in 51 games over the next two seasons and started just 11. He was kept under a double-figure scoring average both seasons.

With his relationship with the Grizzlies stagnating and a pricey deal not working out, Parsons was traded to Atlanta on July 6, 2019. He appeared in five games with the Hawks, averaging 2.8 points, before he was hit by a drunk driver in his car on Jan. 15, 2020. According to his attorney, he suffered a traumatic brain injury, disc herniation and a torn labrum, and his injuries could be career-ending. While rehabilitating, he was waived by the Hawks on Feb. 5.

Parsons was one of the greatest players of the post-national title era of Gators basketball. A four-year contributor who hit multiple legendary game-winning shots, Parsons overachieved in the NBA based upon his draft position. Though the final few seasons of his NBA career saw stagnation and his career is currently in danger of ending under tragic circumstances, Parsons’ legacy as a Gator leaves him as one of the best to wear the orange and blue in recent memory.

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2019 Florida Gators Football Profile Card: Luke Ancrum

This is a Player Profile Card for redshirt senior defensive lineman Luke Ancrum of the Florida Gators football team.

Name: Luke Ancrum

Number: 98

Position: Defensive Lineman

Class: Redshirt Senior

Height: 6’5″

Weight: 263 lbs

Hometown: Sebring, Fla.

High School: Sebring High School

2019 statistics:

Tackles Def Int
Gm Solo Ast Tot Loss Sk Int Yds Avg TD PD
12 11 11 22 4 1.5 0 0 0 0 1

Overview:

Ancrum was a defensive end coming out of Sebring High School, though he was not highly regarded. A three-star recruit, Ancrum’s only Power Five offers other than Florida were Pittsburgh and Wisconsin. He chose to sign with the Gators in former coach Jim McElwain’s first recruiting class in 2015. He sat out his first season with the team in 2015 and redshirted before moving to defensive tackle as a redshirt freshman.

In 2016, he played in seven games, though he was limited to just three tackles. In 2017, he played in all 11 games but again wasn’t particularly productive, totaling four tackles and a pass breakup.

As a redshirt junior in 2018, he saw action in 11 games as a reserve defensive lineman and special teams contributor, totaling eight tackles. He also made his first career interception against Tennessee.

During his final season in 2019, he played in 11 games, notching a career-high 22 tackles. He started three games and had 1.5 sacks.

Video:

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