Andy Owens, one of the greatest players in UF basketball history, will be recognized during Saturday's game against Texas A&M.
From UF Court to People's Court and Back Again
Friday, February 10, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
Former Gators standout Andy Owens, now a circuit judge in Sarasota, will be honored during Saturday's game against Texas A&M.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Flip through the University of Florida basketball record book and Andy Owens' name pops up a bunch. A 6-foot-7 forward for the Gators from 1967-70, Owens still holds the mark for highest scoring average in a season at 27.0 points per game his senior year. In this day and age, such digits surely would top the Southeastern Conference. In some years, the entire country. But in 1970, Owens finished third in the SEC in scoring. Kentucky's Dan Issel was second at 33.8 per game.
Oh, and some guy known as "The Pistol" was first at 44.5.
Owens, in fact, recalls fondly an exchange with "Pistol" Pete Maravich in a UF-LSU game during their concurrent careers. The game was at the old Florida Gym (aka "Alligator Alley") and the Gators were comfortably ahead. Owens and Maravich were guarding each other when Maravich approached him.
"Look," Maravich told Owens. "I'm gonna let you score. I just want the ball back."
Owens, now 69, relived that story earlier this week.
"So I'd just give a head fake and Pete would jump up in the air and I'd go around him," Owens said with a laugh. "And then he'd get the ball back."
And score. Maravich got 50 that night, but the Gators prevailed 95-79.
Owens never got 50 in a game, but he remains one of just six players in UF history to reach 40, netting 41 on Feb. 21, 1970 against Mississippi State. Owens, who starred at Tampa Hillsborough High, went on to finish his career with 1,445 points, which still ranks 16th on the all-time scoring list. For context, that's one spot (and nine points) ahead of David Lee and just one place behind Dan Cross (by six points), two behind Chandler Parsons (by seven points).
He's a Gator Great and UF Athletic Hall-of-Famer, and this weekend Owens will be back on campus to take a bow before a sellout crowd Saturday when 17th-ranked UF takes on Texas A&M at Exactech Arena.
"I'm very excited, especially with the way we're playing," said Owens, who will be joined by a handful of family and friends for his special recognition. "Everybody should be excited about this basketball team."
In 1970, Owens bypassed a chance to play in the NBA to enter law school at UF. He graduated in 1972 and 10 years later was appointed by then-Gov. Bob Graham as a judge for Florida's 12th Judicial Circuit (which represents Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties). Owens has been there the last 34 years.
But he's followed his former team closely along the way.
"The times and the game have obviously changed, but I would never have envisioned the University of Florida having a basketball program like this," Owens said. "The Southeast is always going to be primarily about football and in basketball you can't really put any other [SEC team] in the same breath with Kentucky as far as tradition and year in and year out. But if this Florida team keeps playing like it's playing, and Kasey Hill keeps blowing by people … ."
Owens tailed off his point, but he'd already made it.
Happy homecoming, Your Honor.
The honor will be ours.
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