Category: Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE — Florida golfer Matthew Kress  arrived as an unsung teenager lacking the pedigree, résumé and confidence of many fellow Gators. Coach JC Deacon’s 2021 squad featured accomplished amateurs, blue-chip recruits and seasoned collegians brimming with potential. Behind the scenes, Kress quietly wondered whether he belonged. Day by day, he became indispensable to Florida’s surge of success, including 17 tournament victories with Kress in the lineup. If Deacon’s team extends its streak of six straight Gators Invitational titles this weekend, the fifth-year senior will lead the...

GAINESVILLE — Rusty Whitt is a strength coach, soldier and story teller, a trifecta of talents he’ll use to help head coach Jon Sumrall rebuild the Florida Gators. As if executing an Olympic lift, Whitt blends complex components into a concentrated, explosive message aimed to inspire discipline and accountability while pushing a talented group of players to strain every fiber of their being. Whitt and Sumrall face a heavy lift in Gainesville, where the Gators have managed just one winning season in five years. “Our job is to hone them and get them stronger and understand the professional...

GAINESVILLE — Overlooking the white-sand beaches on the Florida Panhandle, Jon Sumrall and Buster Faulkner first hatched their plan to resurrect the Gators. Two men who rose through the coaching ranks on opposite sides of the football had neighboring houses. Their families vacationed at the same time. Dreams of joining forces were discussed during these annual getaways off State Road 30A.  “My first couple of conversations with Buster about maybe being on my staff happened before I was the head coach at Florida,” Sumrall said. “It was like, ‘Hey, if one of these happens one day, what do you...

GAINESVILLE — Coach Todd Golden’s Gators have been unbeatable at home, but no Florida team for decades had any trouble against Auburn in the O’Connell Center. Until Saturday. The Tigers stunned the Gators 76-67 for Auburn’s first win in Gainesville since 1996 and Florida’s first loss at home after 16 straight wins. “Disappointing,” Golden said. “We had been playing really well. I don’t think we played great, but I want to credit Auburn. I thought they took the fight to us.” In a rematch from the 2025 Final Four, Auburn was an 11.5-point underdog to the reigning national champion Gators...

GAINESVILLE — Jon Sumrall’s winter workouts are underway, but something is missing as the Gators push to gain favor with their new coach and his staff. The iconic, ubiquitous logo that defines Florida football will not be given to those who fall short this offseason. “Gotta earn it. Gotta earn the logo,” Sumrall said Saturday. “We ain’t earned it yet. We haven’t earned a damn thing. All we’ve got is our name. Where are you gonna put your freaking name on every day? So to wear the Florida Gator logo, to wear the Gators across your helmet and to wear the Gator head, you got to earn that.”...

By MARK LONG GAINESVILLE — Rueben Chinyelu scored 15 points and tied his career high with 21 rebounds, becoming the first Florida player in two decades with four consecutive double-doubles, and the 16th-ranked Gators handled LSU 79-61 on Tuesday night for their fifth straight victory. Chinyelu matched David Lee’s double-double streak from 2005 as Florida (14-5, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) extended its home winning streak to 16. It was Chinyelu’s second 20-plus-board game of the season, making him the third player in school history to accomplish the feat. Urban Klavzar hit a career-high...

GAINESVILLE — Coach Todd Golden’s suddenly unranked Gators were desperate for a win. Avoiding a loss to former coach Mike White’s No. 18 Georgia Bulldogs was critical for a Florida team riding a 13-game winning streak at the O’Connell Center and 0-1 in SEC play. The Gators found their offensive flow and applied the defensive clamps against the high-scoring Bulldogs during a convincing and pivotal 92-77 win Tuesday night at the O’Connell Center. “Tonight was a game that we needed,” Golden said. Florida (10-5, 1-1 SEC) was coming off an SEC-opening loss at Missouri and with more losses than...

GAINESVILLE — DJ Lagway could go from Florida’s quarterback the past two seasons to the signal caller for archrival Florida State. Lagway’s search for a new school will reportedly land him in Tallahassee Sunday for a visit, and potentially set the stage for a showdown Nov. 28, 2026 in Doak Campbell Stadium. Lagway announced Dec. 15 he planned to enter the transfer portal when it opened Friday after a disappointing sophomore season with the 4-8 Gators, culminating with a 40-21 rout of the Seminoles Nov. 29 in the Swamp. Lagway threw three touchdowns against FSU, giving him just 16 in 2025...

GAINESVILLE — Alex Condon scored 17 points, Rueben Chinyelu notched his seventh double-double of the season and No. 22 Florida capped its nonconference schedule with a 94-72 victory against Dartmouth on Monday night. The defending national champion Gators (9-4) built a 32-point lead in the second half and cruised from there despite allowing the Big Green (5-7) to make 12 shots from 3-point range. Florida had five players score in double figures and closed 2025 with a fourth consecutive victory, the last one coming in the program’s first meeting with Dartmouth. The Gators open SEC play at...