Florida Gators Seniors Add to Accolades, Named All-Americans

Mar 29, 2014; Memphis, TN, USA; Florida Gators celebrate defeating the Dayton Flyers 62-52 in the final in the south regional of the 2014 NCAA Mens Basketball Championship tournament at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

This year’s senior class for the Florida Gators has been a historic one. They’ve set numerous records this season en route to becoming the winningest team in UF history. They’ve won 120 games over their four years and 36 games this season, most in Florida history. They also have a 30-game winning streak, a 32-game home winning streak including 18-in-a-row versus SEC foes, a perfect 21-0 record against conference opponents, and so much more. Now, they have been recognized as All-Americans. Scottie Wilbekin was named to the AP All-American Third Team, while Patric Young and Casey Prather were Honorable Mentions. In addition to the All-American nod, Prather was also one of 10 players to be named a Wooden All-American.

Wilbekin headlines the group with an outstanding senior season. He’s been arguably the best point guard in college basketball and his accolades are starting to catch up with him. In addition to being named an AP All-American, Wilbekin is a USA Today All-American (Honorable Mention), Sporting News All-American (Third Team), and NABC All-American (Third Team). He was also named the SEC Player of the Year, on the All-SEC First Team for both the AP and Coaches, and on the SEC All-Defensive Team. Wilbekin has dominated both tournaments the Gators have played in this year, winning SEC Tournament MVP and NCAA Tournament South Regional MOP honors. On the season, he’s averaging 13.4 points per game and a 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio while playing smothering defense.

Prather has improved greatly this season, more than doubling his scoring average to a team-leading 13.8 points per game while shooting 60.3%, good for top-10 in the nation. He’s also received some pretty great honors, including AP and Coaches All-SEC First Team and a USA Today All-American Honorable Mention. Prather is also a finalist for the Wooden Award and the USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy, both given out to the best college basketball player. The Wooden All-American Team consists of college basketball players who maintain a 2.0 GPA while contributing to their team’s success.

Patric Young had an outstanding season and his play affected how teams played in the paint. In addition to the AP All-American Honorable Mention, Young was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, as well as the Scholar Athlete of the Year for the conference. He was named to the AP and Coaches All-SEC Second Team as well as the All-SEC Tournament Team. He’s also shown book smarts with a CoSIDA Academic All-American (Third Team) nod and a being Lowe’s Senior CLASS finalist in addition to his SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year award that he’s won three straight seasons. Young is averaging 10.8 rebounds and 6.2 rebounds per game, while providing a presence in the middle for Florida on defense.

Missing on this list is Will Yeguete, who’s had a solid season. Yeguete’s stat sheet will never be filled up like the others in this year’s senior class, but he still contributes in little ways to help the Gators win. Yeguete was named to the SEC Community Service Team, something he absolutely deserves.

As the accolades keep adding up for this senior class, they still have the ultimate goal in sight. With two more wins, this team could be considered the greatest in UF history. It would certainly be in the argument with the 2006 and 2007 teams. Florida’s quest to cut down the nets continues Saturday at 6:09 pm when the can exact revenge for their earlier season loss to UConn.

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