10 for 10: UF's Athletes of the Decade

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Before some readers even reach the second name tossed out in this story, there will be dissent.

Good.

That's what these types of lists are intended to do.

There are no definitive answers when it comes to discussions about which team was the best at this or which player was the greatest at that. Here at FloridaGators.com, our goal is to provide interesting, informative and, occasionally, provocative content. The former invariably comes into play when the content is based on subjectivity. In this instance, though, we can argue our case like anyone else.

Obviously, picking the order of the best University of Florida student-athletes of the 2010s was not easy, given the remarkable accomplishments these men and women put forth in Gator uniforms. Even harder was winnowing the number to 10, which we landed on for the sake of debate, but also for the years in a decade.

As in, "Here's 10 for the last 10."

[Memo to "Decadeists:" Yes, we're well aware that some historians, astrophysicists, numerologists and the like believe, since there was no Year Zero, that decades begin in the 1s, rather than the 0s. And, yes, we've seen the 1997 "Millennium" episode of "Seinfield" that brought the issue into the pop culture mainstream. We get the argument. Still. Our list, our rules, so our new decade begins Wednesday at midnight.]

The criteria was impact, both individually and team-wise, with plenty of consideration to just where the program would have been without their respective (and magnificent) contributions. Those contributions — and this is key — were limited to their time competing for UF, so post-Gator career achievements in the professional ranks or on the international stage were not part of the equation.

Maybe we'll do it again in 10 years. In the interim, for feedback's sake, our email addresses are easily found.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Decade!

1
BRIDGET SLOAN (Gymnastics)

Bridget Sloan - 150321 - SEC Championships

If Sloan, at age 16, had never tumbled again, her legacy in gymnastics would have been secured, thanks to her part on Team USA at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where she won a silver medal. A year later, Sloan went to the World Championships and won a gold medal in the all-around. In fall of 2012, the Indiana native brought her unique resume/credentials to Florida, which had never won a NCAA team gymnastics title. When Sloan left in 2016, the Gators had three NCAA championships (including a three-peat from 2013-15). Along the way, she captured 31 All-America honors, six NCAA event championships — including all-around crowns as both a freshman and senior — and had posted perfect 10s in all four events, including three times on the beam. She's one of only four two-time Honda Award winners (given annually to the best female in her respective sport) in UF history. As a senior, the Gators did not win the national title, but her final event netted a "10" from one of the NCAA Championship judges on the way to her third Super Six all-around title. Fitting exit.

2
CAELEB DRESSEL (Swimming)

To refresh on the aforementioned criteria: His seven gold medals at the 2017 World Championships and six (plus two silvers) at the '19 World Championships do not count; neither do his two golds at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Instead, we're basing Dressel, out of Green Cove Springs, Fla., and his placement on 28 All America honors, 10 NCAA championships, his three NCAA Swimmer of the Year accolades and, among other things, becoming the first human (as opposed to, say, a dolphin) to break 18 seconds in the 50-meter free and first to break 40 seconds in the 100 free. As a senior, Dressel won four events (50 free, 100 free, 100 fly, 200 freestyle relay) in four days at the 2018 NCAA meet, giving him nine individual titles for his career, the most ever amassed on the men's side in a Gator career (passing former UF superstar Ryan Lochte). Along the way, Dressel led the Gators to four consecutive Southeastern Conference team titles. Next summer, he may just be the biggest name at the 2020 Olympics in Japan.

3
GRANT HOLLOWAY (Track and Field)

If Dressel figures to be the orange and blue shining star in Tokyo, Holloway may give his fellow Gator a run for his money. Yet another extraordinary athlete from the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, Holloway has been the preeminent performer at the last three NCAA championship meets — both indoors and out. When he ripped off a time of 12.98 to break Renaldo Nehemiah's 40-year-old record in the 110-meter hurdles in June, Holloway captured his school-record eighth NCAA title. He was national champ in the indoors and outdoors high hurdles in all three of his UF seasons — Holloway announced he was turning pro this summer — and was voted the SEC's 2018-19 Male Athlete of the Year. Oh, and remember that part of the criteria with regard to value to his team? Holloway (for the 100th-some time, no relation to Florida coach Mike "Mouse" Holloway) led the Gators to five team titles (three national, two SEC), also scoring in the long jump and relay competitions. Two weeks ago, Holloway was named the 2019 winner of The Bowerman, collegiate track's version of the Heisman Trophy.

4
LAUREN HAEGER (Softball)

No need to bother rolling out Haeger's statistics (though we will). Quick, name another person — male or female — whose exploits in a bat-and-ball sport were repeatedly placed alongside those of Babe Ruth. As a junior, Haeger batted .317, with 20 home runs, 67 RBI and went 10-3 with a 1.79 ERA as a sidekick to ace Hannah Rogers in helping the Gators capture their first NCAA softball title in 2014. As a senior, Haeger hit .348, with 19 homers and 71 RBI to go with a stunning 32-2 record and 1.23 ERA in the circle. Along the way, Haeger joined Ruth as the only bat-and-ballers ever to hit at least 60 homers and win at least 60 games as a pitcher over a career. She took those numbers to 70/70 that '15 season in guiding the Gators to a second straight national championship. In the 2015 NCAA Tournament, Haeger hit .433 and was the winning pitcher in four of UF's five wins at the Women's College World Series, including the title-clincher against Michigan. In the weeks that followed, Haeger was named SEC Female Athlete of the Year and Honda Award winner.

5
KYTRA HUNTER (Gymnastics)

Hunter was a sophomore when Sloan arrived and helped put the program — the team — over the top. As a freshman in 2012, though, she merely earned the maximum five All-America honors, not to mention SEC individual titles in both the all-around and vault, and became the first gymnast in Gators history to win multiple championships at the same NCAA meet by claiming the all-around and vault. The totality of that rookie season earned Hunter her sport's Honda Award as a freshman. Amazing. The next three seasons, she was a superstar and multiple-time All American on Coach Rhonda Faehn's "three peat" NCAA champion teams, and in 2015 became the first Gator since 2000 to be named SEC Gymnast of the Year and topped it with a second piece of Honda hardware.

6
RHAMAT ALHASSAN (Volleyball)

Mary Wise has been coach at Florida since 1991. That's nearly three decades. Along the way, she's won 958 game, 24 SEC championships and been to eight Final Fours, including a run to the NCAA title game in 2017 that was fueled by Alhassan, a senior and possibly the best player in program history. Alhassan was a four-time All American, including a first-teamer in both 2015 and '17, and became just the second player in Division I history to tally at least 1,250 kills, 650 blocks and hit at a .420 percentage. She also was one of only two players nationally during the decade to finish a season with at least 1.70 blocks per set while hitting .355. That happened in '17, when Alhassan helped lead the Gators to the NCAA Tournament final for just the second time in program history, then capped her senior campaign with SEC Player of the Year honors as well as the Honda Award as the nation's best volleyball player.

7
LAUREN EMBREE (Tennis)

Her coach, Roland Thornqvist, called Embree "the greatest four-year player in the history of college tennis." While there's no way to quantify for certain such statement, her UF resume makes a pretty good case. A standout on the junior circuit from Marco Island, Fla., Embree turned down a prep-to-pro opportunity to play for the Gators. All she did was go 117-16 over her four seasons, including 38-0 in SEC matches in becoming the only three-time player of the year in conference history, plus 21-5 in the NCAA Tournament. That latter record is particularly important, with Embree providing the clinching championship points in Florida's back-to-back national-titles seasons of 2011 and '12. The first came on Stanford's home court, with Embree down 4-0 in the decisive third set against the reigning national champ; the second came in wipeout/shutout of UCLA one year later. Did she ever win the NCAA singles title despite living at or near the top of the rankings? No. That's because she annually spent herself during team play (before singles competition) for the sake of the Gators. After graduating in '13, the five-time All-American took a spin on the pro circuit, then coached two years as an assistant at Pepperdine before returning to UF as Thornqvist's assistant in 2019.

8
CHRISTIAN TAYLOR (Track and Field)

Taylor's exploits date to the first year of the decade and thrust him into the national (and eventually international) spotlight as one of the top triple jumpers in the world. He won the NCAA Indoors triple jump in 2009 and 2010, finished second to UF teammate Will Claye in 2011, and won NCAA Outdors national titles in 2010 and 2011. In doing so, he laid pivotal groundwork for Coach Holloway's dynasty as high-point man for the Gators' indoor NCAA championship teams in '10 and '11, the first of five in the decade. The NCAA Outdoors meet of '11 provided one of the greatest triple jump duals in collegiate history, with Taylor leading until Claye moved into first by one centimeter on his sixth and final attempt. Taylor, the final contestant, beat Claye on the last jump of the competition to capture a second outdoor crown. During his career, Taylor also was a fixture on Florida's 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams as well. Last summer, eight years after leaving UF, Taylor completed work toward his degree in sports management and was back back in Gainesville earlier this month to take part in commencement ceremonies. He figures to cross paths with Dressel and Holloway in Japan next summer, as well.

9
MIKE ZUNINO (Baseball)

When Mike Zunino was a senior at Cape Coral Mariner High in 2009, he was selected by Oakland in the 29th round of the Major League Baseball draft, but opted to come to UF instead. At that time, Coach Kevin O'Sullivan was in his second season with the Gators and looking for his first College World Series berth. He got there in Zunino's freshman season. And sophomore season. And junior season, which happened to be the year the UF catcher not only won 2012 SEC Player of the Year, but also the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Houser Trophy as the nation's top player. For his career, Zunino batted .327 in 193 games (starting all but five) and left UF ranked fourth on the school's all-time list in doubles with 58 and homers with 47, plus sixth in slugging (.620) and RBI (175), and seventh in total bases (425). Zunino's .995 career fielding percentage included just eight errors. Much like Taylor and Holloway, Zunino was on the ground floor of O'Sullivan's foundation and annual championship contention. He was drafted third overall by Seattle in 2012, to date still the highest a UF player has ever been selected.

10
SCOTTIE WILBEKIN (Basketball)

The homegrown Wilbekin graduated from Gainesville The Rock School a year early to realize his dream of playing for the Gators. He was a freshman reserve and defensive specialist for a team that won the SEC regular-season championship in 2012. His role was a similar one in in '11-12 (see Beal, Bradley), but as a junior and senior Wilbekin became an energetic catalyst that Coach Billy Donovan could not keep off the floor. When he and his famous signing-class mates became seniors it (without question) became Wilbekin's team. The point guard and clutch late shot-maker, was named SEC Player of the Year (just the second for the program ever) and a third-team All-American in 2013-14, as the Gators became the first team in league history to go 18-0 in conference play, then swept through the SEC Tournament (beating Kentucky for a third time in the title game) on the way to winning a school-record 30 in a row and reaching the program's fifth Final Four.

Also considered: Kelly Barnhill (softball); Elizabeth Beisel (swimming); Conor Dwyer (swimming); Alex Faedo (baseball); Shannon Gilroy (lacrosse); Vernon Hargreaves III (football); Savannah Jordan (soccer); Amanda Lorenz (softball); Alex McMurtry (gymnastics); Chandler Parsons (basketball); Hannah Rogers (softball); Brady Singer (baseball); Gemma Spofforth (swimming); Patric Young (basketball).

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