College basketball

No.2 but not gloating

By ANTONYA ENGLISH
Published January 10, 2006

GAINESVILLE - Duke. Florida.

No, it's not a typo. Fourteen games into the season, the men's basketball team remains undefeated and Monday moved into the No.2 spot behind the Blue Devils in the Associated Press Top 25. It's a distinction coach Billy Donovan is trying his best to downplay as his players navigate that delicate balance between enjoying the attention and not getting caught up in it.

"It's kind of a double-edged sword," Donovan said. "It's great for your program; it gives your program publicity every time it's mentioned who's ranked in the Top 5 and the University of Florida's name is mentioned. That's a great, great advertisement for our basketball program and for the school. ... But the thing I'll continue to remind our guys is we were the same basketball team that three months ago in some places was picked to finish fifth in the (SEC) East."

Florida has defeated only two ranked teams, Syracuse and Wake Forest, neither a Top 10 team. But the Gators are winning. And in the polls, that's what counts, that and those ahead of you losing.

Though Donovan points out the flaws in the system, the players believe their record is no fluke.

"We can play. Don't think we can't play," sophomore Corey Brewer said. "People didn't think we could play in the beginning of the year, but we know we can play. We kind of just proved that we can. ... It's all about us staying together as a team. Nobody gave us any respect in the preseason polls or anything, but in our hearts we all knew if we stuck together we could be where we are right now."

TOP GYMNASTS: Rhonda Faehn is another coach trying to downplay success. The gymnastics team is ranked No.1 by GymInfo for the first time since 1989.

"I would prefer they (gymnasts) ignore it, simply because it is so early in the season," Faehn said. "It's a great accomplishment and just a little pat on the back for all their hard work so far. But it's so early."

The Gators travel to Corvallis, Ore., for a quad meet with the primary purpose of participating where the national championship will be held.

EARLY ENTRIES: Four members of the 2006 football recruiting class enrolled in classes Monday: St. Augustine quarterback Tim Tebow , Georgia offensive lineman Maurice Hurt , North Carolina offensive lineman Carl Johnson and Fort Myers running back Chevon Walker . All will participate in spring drills.

Quarterback Chris Leak reiterated he will return for his senior season. Leak said he and his family were "very pleased" with the assessment he received from the NFL (although he wouldn't be specific) but said his goal is to improve his play and win titles at Florida.

BUILDING AGAIN: The women's tennis team is scheduled to participate in its final individual events of the season this weekend. The Gators have three athletes on the roster who didn't practice with the team in the fall because of injuries, which makes preparing for the spring season interesting. "This is probably the most question marks that we have at this time of the year since maybe my first year here five years ago," coach Roland Thornqvist said. "From a talent standpoint in singles, it could be one of the most talented teams out of my five years. We just don't know right now how healthy they are going to be or how fast they are going to get healthy."

LOSING LESSON: With her team's 11-game winning streak ended at Georgia, women's basketball coach Carolyn Peck said it learned a valuable lesson Sunday: You can't have an off night defensively in the SEC. "There are going to be nights when your shots don't fall, but there cannot be a night when you don't have the defensive intensity that you have when they are falling; that's got to come night in and night out," Peck said. "To come out and bring the intensity at the beginning of the game that we have in the end is going to be a learning process."

--Antonya English covers Florida athletics. She can be reached at 813 226-3389 or english@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 10, 2006, 08:07:29]