Florida Gators Bait & Bits: Marquis Dendy’s Title, Maurkice Pouncey Paid, Championship or Bust?, Plus More

Welcome to Bait & Bits, a series on Hail Florida Hail that will feature one “bait” about an opposing school and some bits about the Florida 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

NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Opponents. Florida’s men’s outdoor track & field team looks to be in good position after two days of competition at the NCAA Championship. The Gators sit in second, 9.0 points behind host Oregon. The women’s team made a big jump yesterday from 16th to sixth as they trail Oregon as well, by 12.0 points. The men’s squad is looking for their third straight NCAA Outdoor Championship. If they don’t get the crown, then it will be the first time since 2009 that a track & field, indoor or outdoor, team did not win a national title.

Bits

Marquis Dendy Wins Long Jump Crown. Florida got their second individual national championship Thursday, and first on the men’s side, when Marquis Dendy lept a season-best 8.00m/26-3 to become the Gators first outdoor title holder in school history. The championship was UF’s 28th individual title all-time. (GatorZone)

Maurkice Pouncey Becomes Highest Paid Center. Maurkice Pouncey has been an All-Pro center. Now he’s getting paid like one. With a year left on his rookie contract, Pouncey signed a five year, $44 million extension that will pay him $8.8 million per year, the richest for a center in the NFL. He gets a signing bonus of $13 million and all this after tearing his ACL last season. Now his brother, Mike Pouncey, wants a similar deal with the Miami Dolphins. (Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk)

MusChampionship or Bust? It’s been an intersting three years for Florida head coach Will Muschamp, and this year could be the most difficult he’s faced. Our friends over at Saturday Blitz took a look at Muschamp and the Gators to analyze what kind of season UF will have and if it will save Muschamp’s job. (Al Burke, Saturday Blitz)

Patric Young Mock Drafted in First Round. Patric Young was a beast at the NBA Combine and it may have helped his draft stock. As a borderline first/second round draft pick, Young showed his strength and hops in Chicago. Now, our friends at Busting Brackets put together a mock draft and have Young going 28th overall to the LA Clippers. He’d be an intersting fit there, backing up Blake Griffin. (Jared Mintz, Busting Brackets)

Akron Racers Sign Stephanie Tofft. Third baseman Stephanie Tofft, fresh off the Women’s College World Series title, signed a deal with National Pro Fastpitch’s Akron Racers. Tofft finished her two-year Gators career hitting .344 with 18 home runs, 118 RBI, and 97 runs scored. (GatorZone)

Gators in the WNBA Update. Aneika Henry of the Atlanta Dream and DeLisha Milton-Jones of the New York Liberty are both competing successfully in the WNBA. Henry’s averaging 3.6 points and 3.1 rebounds in 11.3 minutes, while Milton-Jones is putting up 7.2 ppg and 3.4 rpg. Bridget Pettis is also an assistant with the Tulsa Shock and Carol Ross is the head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks. The Shock own a 2-5 record and Ross has led the Sparks to a 3-4 record. (GatorZone)

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