Embedded With the Gators: Mike Rosario gets his reward
Tuesday, March 20, 2012 | Men's Basketball, Volleyball, Chris Harry
PHOENIX -- It's been an up-and-down first season with the Gators for junior guard Mike Rosario, but the sometimes rocky road has gotten him to the Sweet 16, which is exactly the experience he came to the Gators looking for.
“it means a lot to me,” Rosario said. “I dreamed of this. This is the reason I made the decision to come here.”
Rosario transferred from Rutgers, where he scored more than 1,000 points in two seasons, and in choosing Florida knew his days as a go-to guy were over. That was OK. In opting to leave the Scarlet Knights, Rosario wanted to join a program with a winning tradition, like the powerhouse St. Anthony's prep program in New Jersey he starred for, and with a chance to win a championship.
Though Rosario started out as a double-figure scorer off the UF bench, that was some early season fool's gold relative to the competition. Then came a run of injuries, a very tough homecoming game in an upset loss at Rutgers in December and an overall difficult time finding his niche with a guard-heavy rotation.
And while along the way Rosario has been the target of some frustrated fans -- especially on Twitter -- he deserves credit for staying the course, especially considering the role he left in Piscataway, N.J., compared to the one he had to adapt to with the Gators.
“He's been a trooper all the way,” Coach Billy Donovan said.
Plus, ask any of the extended Florida family -- support staff, coaches' wives, etc. -- and they will vouch for Rosario, the person. He's always friendly and polite; always a good teammate and one of the most vocal and animated players on the bench during games.
His tough up-bringing has been well-documented, sort of like his rough transition the last few months, but it all seemed pretty moot Sunday when he popped off the bench and scored 12 points (on 5-for-7 shooting, including 2-for-4 from 3-point range) in UF's 84-50 regional win over Norfolk State at Omaha.
Those were the most points Rosario had scored since a Nov. 25 win at Jacksonville, a run of 24 games.
“It's a great experience,” said Rosario, who's averaging 6.8 points on 42.5-percent shooting. “I've been waiting to step up this whole year for my team. I feel this is a crucial time for me to come off the bench and provide that energy or whatever i can ... I made some shots. I made the game look easy.”
Made it look fun. Rewarding, too.
