Bait & Bits: Casey Prather, Patric Young, Lacrosse, and Rules Changes

Jan 8, 2014; Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators forward Casey Prather (24) dribbles the ball against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the first half at Stephen C. O’Connell Center. Mandatory Credit: © Kim Klement – USA Today Sports

Welcome to Bait & Bits, a series on Hail Florida Hail that will feature one “bait” about an opposing school and some bits about the Gators. Have any links that you want on Bait & Bits? Tweet it at us @HailFloridaHail or @BrettKaplan13 or email it to us at BrettKaplanHFH@gmail.com

Bait

Florida vs. Jacksonville. The lacrosse team hosted the Jacksonville Dolphins last night at the Donald R. Dizney Stadium at the Florida Lacrosse Facility. The Gators are now a perfect 5-0, including 3-0 at home, versus the Dolphins in their four plus years of existence.

Bits

Casey Prather named to Naismith Midseason Top-30. Senior forward Casey Prather is having a career year for Florida. Earlier, he was named to the Wooden Award Midseason Top-25 and now he’s on the Naismith Trophy Midseason Top-30. The Naismith Trophy goes to the overall best player in college basketball and it’s pretty impressive to see Prather’s name on that list after being a role player his first three years. This season, Prather leads the Gators in points with 15.3 points per game while shooting 61.2% from the field, along with 5.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists. No Florida player has ever won the Naismith, however center Joakim Noah was on the Wooden All-American team in 2007.

Patric Young Full Extension. Patric Young had a pretty incredible offensive rebound in the final minutes of Florida’s win over Tennessee. He went all out, dove, and took the ball away from three Volunteers. Alligator Army has a great piece on why this is important and what we can take away from Big Pat’s effort. (h/t Alligator Army)

College Football Rules Changes and a “New” Recruiting Tool. The first proposed rule change wouldn’t really affect Florida all that much. The proposed rules change would let defensive players substitute within the first 10 seconds of the 40-second play clock, except within the final two minutes of each half. Offenses (such as Auburn and Oregon among others) who snap the ball before 29 seconds left in the play clock will be penalized 5-yards for delay of game. The other rule change has to do with the controversial targeting rule. The committee proposes removing the 15-yard personal foul penalty after a targeting call is overturned. I’m not sure if the first rule will pass, but the targeting revisement would be the right thing to do as the Gators and other teams were unfairly penalized after the replay clearly showed no targeting in certain instances. Finally, the NCAA has now recognized Snapchat as a recruiting tool. Schools will be able to start using the social media app that allows you to take a video or picture and have it erase within a certain period of time, all under 10 seconds. Starting August 1, expect Will Muschamp and Billy Donovan to Snapchat potential recruits.

Lacrosse Wins Home Opener. The eighth-ranked Florida (1-1) Lacrosse team hosted the Jacksonville Dolphins (0-2) and ran away with the win 21-5. All-American Shannon Gilroy netted a career-high tying seven goals to outscore the entire Dolphins team by herself. Devon Schneider scored a career-best four goals on her birthday and Sam Darcangelo put three in the back of the net to give her a career night. The Gators needed only four saves to win the game. Next up for Florida: Saturday against High Point at Donald R. Dizney Stadium at 1 pm.

Women’s Golf Places 14th. At the Northrup Grumman Regional in Palos Verdes, CA, Florida’s women’s golf team finished 57-over par, 43 shots off champion and top-ranked USC. Sarah Schober finished tied for third individually at 2-over par. The women’s golf team gets a couple of weeks off before heading to New Orleans to play in the Allstate Sugar Bowl hosted by Tulane University February 23-25.

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