GAINESVILLE, Fla. — I listened to former North Carolina football coach Mack Brown talk about the mess college football has become during his appearance on SiriusXM Tuesday morning. He’s right.

Later, I followed a live thread on X of reporters asking NCAA President Charlie Baker about the state of college athletics in the NIL era. It was a long thread and a lot of this and that.

Finally, back in the car, I heard former Gators men’s basketball assistant coach Matt McCall and host Bobby Carpenter on SiriusXM question Baker’s performance as the top man in college sports. If the NCAA President ever runs for higher office, don’t expect McCall to vote for him.

In other words, just another day tuning into college sports in 2025. The chatter is often more about lawsuits than layups.

Still, the games go on. So, while college athletics are in a transformative period with no clear path ahead, thankfully, we have the games, the players and the coaches to remind us why we care about all this stuff in the first place.

That said, these Gators are on mind in no particular order …

 

AIDAN KING

The UF baseball team opened the Southeastern Conference Tournament on Tuesday night with a dominant 11-3 win over South Carolina. It was an optimistic start to the postseason for a Gators team hopeful that a strong finish to the regular season will be good enough to host an NCAA regional. Florida enters Wednesday night’s game against Ole Miss 15-4 in its last 19 SEC games, a complete turnaround from the Gators’ 1-11 start in conference play. Keep an eye on freshman right-hander Aidan King with the postseason underway. To make another surprising run the way they did in 2024, the Gators will need surprise performances à la outfielder Ashton Wilson a season ago, but they’ll also need King to continue to pitch the way he has. King has put together one of the best seasons by a true freshman pitcher in head coach Kevin O’Sullivan‘s 18 seasons and was excellent in his final outing of the regular season Saturday against Alabama (6 1/3 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 SO) … “He’s shown time and time again that he’s beyond his years with his maturity,” O’Sullivan said. To see how King’s true freshman season compares to others, check out the chart below:
 

PITCHER	YEAR	W-L	ERA	IP	H	BB	SO
Hudson Randall	2010	8-4	3.24	97.1	102	21	69
Karsten Whitson	2011	8-1	2.40	97.1	84	28	92
Logan Shore	2014	7-4	2.16	95.2	86	20	68
Alex Faedo	2015	6-1	3.23	61.1	59	16	59
Jack Leftwich	2018	5-5	4.20	81.1	71	26	84
Hunter Barco	2020*	2-0	1.40	19.1	11	6	26
Aidan King	2025	6-2	2.76	65.1	54	21	72

*COVID-shortened season
 

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TAYLOR SHUMAKER
If you are a regular at Seashole Pressly Stadium to cheer on the UF softball team, she needs no introduction. But if you are one of those casual fans who don’t start to pay close attention to the UF softball team until the NCAA Tournament, you need to know UF freshman Taylor Shumaker. She has put together one of the best rookie seasons in school history and has become a fan favorite for the diehards. My colleague Chris Harry wrote about Shumaker following last weekend’s Gainesville Regional in her NCAA Tournament debut. The Gators host Georgia in the NCAA Super Regional for a berth in the Women’s College World Series this weekend. You can be certain Shumaker (.387, 21 HR, 83 RBI, 1.298 OPS) will be a favorite topic of conversation for ESPN announcers Tiffany Greene and Erin Miller. She is a special player.
 

Thee Freshest 👑

Taylor Shumaker has now hit the most home runs by a freshman in program history!#GoGators | @shumaker_taylor pic.twitter.com/S4dXRHwUSS

— Gators Softball (@GatorsSB) May 17, 2025

 

ADDISON KLONOWSKI
It’s starting to feel like there is a common theme in this notebook: Age is overrated. Did you see what redshirt freshman golfer Addison Klonowski did at the NCAA Championships in Carlsbad, Calif., last week? Klonowski, pegged the ‘Silent Assassin’ by her teammates and coaches, turned in the best performance by a UF freshman at the national championship tournament in 20 years. Klonowski shot a final-round 2-under 70 on Monday at the La Costa Spa & Resort’s North Course to finish tied for 24th overall out of 183 players. Klonowski’s performance moved her up 23 spots in the national player rankings to 71st overall, a huge season-ending boost for a player who had to take the long road to find her place on UF’s roster.
 

AK, Silent Assassin, what a first season. 🐊

Best finish by a freshman in 20 years at the National Championship 🤝#GoGators pic.twitter.com/AQNvRDC90L

— Gators Golf (@GatorsGolf) May 20, 2025

 

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GATOR BOYS STAY HOT
The UF men’s basketball team is in Washington on Wednesday for a tour of the Capitol and a visit to the White House to meet President Trump. I’m glad to see recent transfers Denzel Aberdeen (Kentucky) and Sam Alexis (Indiana) made the trip. Aberdeen stunned many after the Gators’ championship run when he transferred to SEC rival Kentucky. It’s a different era in college athletics, and like it or not, every player on the roster is year-to-year more than ever before. Sure, I would have preferred to see Aberdeen finish his career at Florida as a four-year player, but I understand his accepting a financial package too good to pass up from the Wildcats. He played a vital role in Florida’s championship season, and that is a fact that can’t be erased. As for Alexis, he moved on to chase a more prominent role with the Hoosiers after contributing off the bench last season. Main point: experiences such as a trip to the White House with your teammates and coaches after a championship are to be cherished.
 

right over left 🐊 pic.twitter.com/9Np04cr50F

— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) May 21, 2025

 

BILLY GONZALES
 

A couple of times recently, driving around campus, I passed Gators receiver coach Billy Gonzales out for his exercise walk. I have not spoken to Gonzales about his lifestyle changes over the past few years, but I need to. On the most recent sighting, Gonzales wore a hooded sweatshirt in 90-degree heat as he darted past the UF Law School. He looked great and has lost significant weight since he returned to Florida for a third time in 2023. Gonzales first joined the Gators as an assistant on Urban Meyer’s staff from 2005-09, returned to UF with Dan Mullen from 2018-21, and was hired by Billy Napier after the 2022 season to replace Keary Colbert, who left to join the Denver Broncos. Memo to self: Next time you see Billy G, ask what he did to slim down. I can use all the help I can get.