For the second time in a week, Florida has announced that one of its basketball players is transferring.  Freshman swingman DeVon Walker has been granted his release by Gator coach Billy Donovan.

“DeVon has a bright future, and we hope for the best for him wherever he chooses to go,” Donovan said via statement.  Whether UF will clear Walker to transfer somewhere in the SEC is the question.  Walker chose Florida over Alabama and Georgia — among others — when he signed as a top-150 national prospect in 2012.

Fellow Florida freshman guard Braxton Ogbueze announced last week that he too was transferring in the hopes of finding more playing time.

SEC East

1. Steve Spurrier on the crowd noise at LSU: “We won’t be able to audible like we did last week.”

2. Ron Morris on the Gamecocks: “Because of its defense, there is no game on USC’s schedule that cannot be won.”

3. Best team in the East -South Carolina or Florida?

4. Turning a weakness into a strength.  Florida on third-and-short first three games – 22 percent.  Last two games?  100 percent conversion.

5. Florida offensive coordinator Brent Pease: “Mass kicks a$%”

6. Will Muschamp on running successfully out of the I-formation: “It’s really, really hard against good people.”

7. Vanderbilt’s James Franklin knows what to expect from Florida: “Offensively, they are going to try and run it down your throat…”

8. Georgia’s offensive line finds a silver lining in their performance against South Carolina: “We kept fighting. We could have just laid down and gone three-and-out and just gotten off the field and that would have been the end of the game, but we kept driving.”

9. Tennessee quarterback Tyler Bray: “As a quarterback, you feel like you can make every throw at any time, regardless of if he’s triple-covered or not.”

10. The only Tennessee fan with a cowbell.

11. Nick Saban on Missouri’s offense: “This is probably one of the most challenging offenses philosophically in terms of no-huddle, lots of different formations, lots of motions, lots of adjustments for the defense to make.” The Tigers haven’t scored more than 20 points in three SEC games.

12. Hard to score points when you struggle even snapping the ball to your quarterback.

13. Three Kentucky players charged with marijuana possession enter not guilty pleas.

14. UK putting all their eggs in the Jalen Whitlow basket this weekend?

SEC West

15. Big plays can beat Tennessee, but can Mississippi State deliver them?  Dan Mullen: “It’s hard to consistently rely on the big play.”

16. The Ole Miss offense is best in the SEC at third-down conversions.

17. Quarterback Bo Wallace’s sister undergoes surgery after a car accident – suffers a broken neck.

18. Just hours after an interstate accident, Tyler Wilson was back at practice for the Arkansas Razorbacks.

19. Both Wilson and Paul Petrino like having the offensive coordinator up in the pressbox than down on the field.

20. With Auburn off to a 1-4 start, the inevitable questions are starting to be asked about Gene Chizik.

21. Chizik on Auburn’s starting quarterback: “We’ll make a decision later in the week.”

22. The struggling LSU offense is ninth in the conference overall – ranked 12th in passing offense. Quarterback Zach Mettenberger: “I can assure you that all of our mistakes are correctable.”

23. Scot Rabalais on the Tigers’ offense: “Still wandering in the wilderness.”

24. Matt Hayes: “Who exactly has Alabama beaten?”

25. When his father and coach Sal Sunseri left for Tennessee, why did son Vinnie stay at Alabama? “Coach Saban is the reason I stayed here,” Sunseri said. “He’s one of the best DB coaches out there and I just wanted to learn from the best.”

26. Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin expects quite a challenge from the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs – 5-0 and ranked at No. 23. “They’re probably ranked a little low.”

SEC/College News

27. Coaches on the hot seat in the SEC could spell opportunity for coaches in the Sun Belt. Here are some of the coaches they could be replacing.

28. Gary Pinkel, Nick Saban and the Don James influence. Saban: ” In fact, when I first started coaching, Don James was so well organized that I just assumed that any place that you went, that’s how everybody did it.”

29. Former Auburn running back Michael Dyer and his new life at Arkansas Baptist: “He can play football. We already know that. That will handle itself. But we want Michael to develop his character.

30. Is Cam Newton the next Vince Young?

31. Bowl projections from the Sporting News.

32. Terry Bowden on the 1993 Auburn team that was on probation  heading into the Georgia game with a 9-0 record. “I said, ‘If you win, we’ll get you a ring. We’re not allowed to say, ‘SEC Champs.’ It’s going to say, ‘Best in the SEC. On the Field.’”  Auburn won the game 42-28.

34. Spending on athletics at FBS schools rose at a greater rate than overall institutional expenses in 2010-2011

35. Mrs. Jay Barker – aka country singer and Missouri native Sara Evans - will sing the national anthem before the Alabama-Missouri game Saturday.

SEC Basketball

36. Georgia tight end Jay Rome could be on the basketball court for the Bulldogs by the time of their SEC opener.

37. Billy Donovan, the son of Florida coach Billy Donovan, has joined the Gators as a walk-on.

38. “Is it better to sit but wear a Kentucky uniform or play for another, perhaps lesser, program?”

When you sign the Gatorade National Player of the Year out of high school, you know there’s a chance he’ll only be in your program for a year.  And that’s exactly the case with Bradley Beal at Florida.

Beal averaged 14.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game as a freshman guard for the Gators last year.  He told the media today that he’s turning pro after that performance:


“It was the right time for me.  It was the toughest decision I made in my life…

There are pros and cons with both sides (staying or going).  I really couldn’t go wrong with this decision.”


Given the possibility of injury, Beal made the right decision… though it’s disappointing anytime a talent like his leaves the SEC.  Imagine seeing players like Beal or Kentucky’s John Wall or Anthony Davis in their second and third years of college ball (if the NBA adopted an entry rule like those of the NFL and MLB).

Billy Donovan understands Beal’s situation saying he has “all the intangibles to be a great, great pro.”  He also added, “Selfishly I’m going to miss the opportunity to coach him, but I don’t think there’s any question he’s going to go in the lottery.”

Which means there’s no question that he’s about to become an instant millionaire.  And that means there’s no question that Beal’s call was the right one.

1.  Florida needs a renewed focus on defense today against Alabama.

2.  The Gators also need a feel-good win heading into the NCAAs.  (This one’s Billy Donovan versus old aide Anthony Grant, by the way.)

3.  If Georgia had shot all year the way they did in two games against Mississippi State, they sure wouldn’t have finished 5-11 in league play.

4.  Former UGA tight end Orson Charles — who left school early for the NFL — followed up a disappointing Pro Day with a DUI early this morning.  (Charles said Monday that he turned pro in order to help his mother pay some of her bills.)

5.  If you’re in New Orleans today to see Kentucky take on LSU — in less than an hour — you’ll likely spot a billboard of Anthony Davis that the school has put up.

6.  Expect the Tigers to be physical with the Wildcats today.

7.  South Carolina’s “miserable season” ended with yesterday’s loss to Alabama.

8.  Just to reiterate, Carolina’s “forgettable season” ends with the loss.

9.  Tennessee will enter tonight’s game with visions of the NCAA tourney dancing in their heads.

10.  For Cuonzo Martin it’s all about the defense… as usual.

11.  Vanderbilt will try to go 3-0 versus Georgia when they play late tonight.

12.  Festus Ezeli says the SEC tourney is “a chance to right some of the wrongs we’ve made before.”

13.  Gary Pinkel says Missouri and Kansas should play in Kansas City every September.

UPDATE — Mike Slive says the league will discuss making changes to the way it doles out Thursday-Saturday basketball turnarounds.

Tonight when Florida faces Stetson, Gator coach Billy Donovan will be going for the 400th victory of his career.  The 46-year-old coach has been a head coach since 1994 and has served in Gainesville since 1996.  It’s hard to believe that Donovan has been in the SEC that long.

In 16 years at Florida he’s won two national titles, been to three Final Fours and cranked out eight NBA first-round draft picks. 

For comparison’s sake, Mike Krzyzewski is now the game’s all-time winningest coach with 907 wins at the age of 64.  If Donovan continues to coach into his 60s and continues to enjoy his current level of success, it’s likely he’ll finish his career ranked among the top four or five winningest college basketball coaches ever.

Good luck to Donovan tonight.

1.  Florida’s four-game losing streak has some in the Sunshine State diving for the record books.

2.  A number of factors have lead to the recent decline in Gator football fortunes.

3.  It will be Billy Donovan the father versus Billy Donovan the son when Florida hosts Catholic University in a hoops exhibition.

4.  Georgia linebacker Jarvis Jones is “a very relentless player.”

5.  As bad as UGA’s special teams have been this year, Mark Richt still doesn’t believe in using an assistant’s spot on a full-time special teams coach.

6.  Joker Phillips named true freshman Max Smith as his starter for Saturday (due in part to an ankle sprain for Morgan Newton).

7.  Randy Sanders says Smith has as strong an arm as any quarterback he’s ever coached.

8.  UK wasn’t perfect but the Cats did get an exhibition win over Transylvania last night.

9.  To get its offense rolling again, South Carolina needs to get Alshon Jeffery the ball.

10.  Darrin Horn says his latest team “has been incredibly fun” to coach because of their work ethic.

11.  Tennessee linebacker Herman Lathers might apply for a medical redshirt.

12.  Vol receiver Da’Rick Rogers wants to make up for a big drop last week against South Carolina.

13.  Cuonzo Martin will debut as UT’s new hoops coach in an exhibition game tonight.

14.  Vandy kicker Carey Spear won’t say what went wrong on his last second missed field goal against Arkansas, but he has said he and the coaches have figured it out.

15.  The Commodores might not have needed a last-second kick from Spear had their DBs simply hung on to a number of possible picks.

Redshirt freshman forward Cody Larson has been reinstated to Florida’s basketball team today.  “I wanted to get the legal process resolved before I commented on it,” Billy Donovan said.

Larson and teammate Erik Murphy were arrested in April for attempting to break into a car.  The charges against them were lessened over time and Murphy was eventually reinstated to the team. 

But the April arrest meant that Larson had violated the terms of a previous suspended drug-related sentence in his home state of South Dakota.  On Friday, a judge there gave him two years probation for that violation.

And now, he’s back on Florida’s squad.

Suspended Florida basketballer Erik Murphy has reached a plea deal over charges of misdemeanor criminal trespassing.  Murphy and teammate Cody Larson were originally arrested on felony burglary charges in April for allegedly trying to break into a car outside a St. Augustine, Florida bar.

The charges against both were lessened to the trespass charges.

Murphy’s deal will call for him to pay court costs ($440), perform 50 hours of community service and complete a substance abuse evaluation program.  He will also need to write a letter of apology to the car owner and he is not allowed to consume alcohol or other controlled substances for one year.

Larson has a court date scheduled for next Tuesday.  He has pled not guilty to the charges against him.  He is on probation for a misdemeanor drug arrest in his home state of South Dakota.

Both players remain suspended from Billy Donovan’s team for the time being.

During yesterday’s SEC basketball coaches teleconference the subject of John Calipari’s new mega-contract came up again and again.  And while the league’s other coaches said all the right things about Coach Cal, a couple of them had even better things to say about the school the employs him.

Ole Miss’ Andy Kennedy:


“… I think when you start setting the standard for the epitome for success for college basketball, you start with Kentucky.  No offense to Cal, but that started way before he got there.  Obviously, it’s the most storied program in the history of college basketball.  The most passionate fan base of any collegiate following that I’ve ever been a part of.  And he’s done a tremendous job of going in and selling that product.  He’s an excellent coach.”


Billy Donovan of Florida:


“Every program aspires to build that kind of tradition. … Kentucky’s always been Kentucky.  It’s been that way for 60 years.  … They are truly the measuring stick.”


I think the PR department at UK just got some free and easy quotes to use in this year’s hoops media guide.

It’s probably best not to get too stirred up over the things a coach says at a booster club meeting.  Until recently, most such comments were never available for mass consumption.  But with the internet… oh, boy.  And the messageboards have been lighting up over the weekend due to a comment Rick Pitino made before a Louisville fan club last week.

Introducing his son — who is back as an assistant with the Cardinals after spending two years on Billy Donovan’s staff at Florida — Pitino said:


“(Richard) went away for a couple of years to learn how to do things in a second-rate league, then get back to the big time.”


As we all know, Pitino would have never made that comment while coaching at Kentucky.  And he certainly wouldn’t take a shot — not a serious shot anyway — at the league or program of his old protege Billy Donovan.

Bottom line: Pitino was speaking to Big East fans and playing to the crowd.  Coaches do that all the time.