Even though 2025 wasn’t a great year for Florida Gators football, there were still plenty of success stories across all sports in Gainesville. Lacrosse made the Final Four, softball made the WCWS, women’s cross country was 5th at nationals, and men’s basketball won it all in April and won the third national title in program history.
Given it is Christmas and Santa spent the night deciding who was naughty and who was nice, these are the Gators we would have to imagine Santa thought were nice in 2025.
Walter Clayton Jr. - Men’s Basketball
The run men’s basketball had through the NCAA Tournament is one of those runs that probably couldn’t be repeated again if given 100 tries. But all Florida needed in 2025 was one try and at the center of it all was Walter Clayton Jr.
The All-American and Final Four MOP was there every step of the way to make the big shot when it seemed like Florida was down and out. He had so many iconic moments during the tournament alone that it is hard to pick just one, but his Steph Curry-like three to pull ahead in the final minute against Texas Tech in the Elite Eight is the one that stands out the most.
Jake Slaughter - Football
For the second year in a row, Jake Slaughter was named an All-American. At times, it looked like Slaughter had to do it all by himself along the offensive line, and he did everything he could to hold down the fort on an otherwise inept offense.
Slaughter will head to the NFL Draft and should be one of the first centers taken off the board.
Taylor Shumaker - Softball
Softball had another solid season and made it back to the Women’s College World Series in 2025. The offensive sparkplug for Florida was freshman stud Taylor Shumaker, who wound up being named the NFCA National Freshman of the Year and was also named a first-team All-American.
Shumaker had a .389 batting average with a .490 on-base percentage in 2025. She smacked 22 home runs and also had 86 RBIs.
Hilda Olemomoi - Cross Country
The women’s cross country team tied its best finish in program history this season when they came in 5th at the national meet in November. Leading the way was senior Hilda Olemomoi, who finished 3rd overall.
She ran the 6K (3.75 miles) course in 18:46 to lead the way for Florida
Aidan King - Baseball
It was an extremely up-and-down season for Florida Baseball, but the rock for the Gators throughout was freshman pitcher Aidan King. Despite not arriving with the accolades as some others, King immediately established himself in the rotation and went on to a 7-2 record with a 2.58 ERA.
King was named a Freshman All-American and is considered a top prospect for the 2027 MLB Draft.
Ian Gilligan - Men’s Golf
Men’s golf had another solid campaign for the Gators and made it to the national semifinals before falling to Virginia.
Leading the way for Florida in 2025 was Ian Gilligan, who was named a second-team All-American. He shot -8 twice on the season (54-holes) and was -2 at the NCAA Championship.
Theresa Bragg - Lacrosse
2025 was another banner year for Florida Lacrosse, which made it back to the Final Four for the third time in program history before falling to UNC.
Defender Theresa Bragg was named a first-team All-American and is credited with anchoring a stout defense in Gainesville. She started every game in 2025 and was credited with creating 29 turnovers in 23 games.
Leanne Wong and Selena Harris-Miranda - Gymnastics
It was unfortunate how Florida had a meltdown at nationals to cost themselves a shot at winning the national title, but it shouldn’t take away from the seasons that both Leanne Wong and Selena Harris-Miranda had for the Gators.
Both were named All-Americans for All Around, as well as a spattering of individual events.
Josh Liendo and Julian Smith - Men's Swimming
The men's swim and dive team continued their strong history and finished 4th at nationals in 2025. Leading the way for Florida were Josh Liendo and Julian Smith, who both took home All-American honors in six different events.
Liendo won three national titles (100-yard freestyle, 100-yard butterfly, and 400-yard medely relay) while Smith won the 100-yard backstroke and was also on the 400-yard medely relay.