GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Assessing individual performance is always going to be subjective. Even more so when doing so in a superlative capacity.
The hundreds of games, matches and meets involving Florida student-athletes during the 2020-21 academic year produced a multitude of stellar efforts (and accompanying gaudy statistics). Limiting the number recognized each year to 10 is difficult – not a task taken lightly, either – and surely will garner some pushback.
That's OK. Bring it.
Some worthwhile individual achievements may not make the below list, but hopefully we can agree the moments that did make it belong.
1) Keyontae
Gator Nation breathed a collective sigh of relief when the good news about Keyontae Johnson's medical condition began showing up on social media ... and beam a giant orange-and-blue smile when he showed up on the sidelines in a pseudo-coaching role.
A case can be made a more frightening scene had never played out in the UF athletic arena.
During an early timeout in the team's Dec. 12 basketball game at Florida State, standout junior forward Keyontae Johnson, the Southeastern Conference's preseason player of the year, collapsed, face-first, onto the Tucker Center floor. Coach Mike White and trainer Dave Werner rushed from the bench, as Johnson's terrified teammates, some in tears, stood over him in shock. Thankfully (maybe even divinely), a doctor was sitting courtside and was able to render assistance that eventually saw Johnson strapped to a stretcher and taken from the arena to Tallahassee Medical Center, where he remained in a coma for the next three days while Gator Nation anxiously waited any hint of good news.
On the third day, Johnson was airlifted to UF Health Shands in Gainesville. The next day, word came that Johnson was awake, alert and speaking to doctors and his family. By week's end, he was visited by his teammates, who upon meeting with coaches amid the uncertainty expressed no interest in playing or even practicing, thus leading the cancellation of four games over the holiday break. In time, Johnson posted a video on social media thanking his medical teams at both UF and FSU.
The news got better with each day, with Johnson walking into the team's first practice after Christmas break and, from there, taking on a role as a de facto coach. When UF resumed play Dec. 29 with the Southeastern Conference opener at Vanderbilt, he was on the sidelines.
And remained there the rest of the season.
No one knows if Johnson, whose diagnosis from that day remains confidential per the wishes of his family, will play basketball again. Frankly, it doesn't matter.
What does matter – more than anything (and it's not even close) – is Johnson is still with us.
"I would say I'm blessed to be here," Johnson told FloridaGators.com in February, still his lone interview since that unforgettable day in Tallahassee. "You just can't take life for granted."
The Florida men's tennis program claimed just two NCAA singles champions over its history. For that, both Mark Merklein (1994) and Jeff Morrison (1999) have their names etched in Gator greatness.
But what junior Sam Riffice did in May was truly one of the most remarkable individual conquests for a UF athlete in recent memory.
Riffice, the No. 6 seed in the 2021 singles field, not only became the third Gator to capture a men's singles crown in rallying to defeat second-seeded Daniel Rodrigues of South Carolina 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 (the day after upsetting No. 1-seed Liam Draxl of Kentucky, no less), but he did it after helping UF and Coach Bryan Shelton win the first NCAA team championship in the program's 89-year history. That meant playing – get this – 12 matches (including team doubles) over one eight-day span of team and singles play.
Can you say marathon?
Making Riffice's run through tournament play all the more satisfying was that the championship venue at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona was about, oh, two minutes or so from his home in Orlando, making for quite the local draw of family and friends. And post-match celebration. 3) Kyle, Kyle & Kadarius
It took next to no time to realize Florida football would be full of fireworks during the 2020 season. Of course, that wasn't always a good thing. Not when the Gators were on defense, but that's a different story.
But, oh, when the Gators had the ball, were the kids whose names started with K's fun to watch go up and down the field.
Kyle Trask's coming-out party in 2019 served notice that UF would have a top-flight passing attack, but the season-opening performance he shared with tight end Kyle Pitts (8 catches, 170 yards, school record-tying 4 touchdowns) was something to behold. And as far as senior Kadarius Toney was concerned, we'd seen in previous seasons plenty of big-play flashes from the wingback who could turn a simple jet sweep into a 60-second joystick-like run.
Trask, who set UF marks by hitting nearly 69 percent of his passes for 4,283 yards and 43 touchdowns, finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting. The 6-foot-6, 245-pound Pitts, with his defensive end size and wideout speed, was a mismatch nightmare for linebackers and defensive backs on his way to catching 43 passes for 770 yards (that's 17.9 per) and 12 TDs, despite missing four games due to injuries. Toney, who worked himself into an elite route-runner, led the Gators with 70 receptions and 984 yards to go with 10 TDs. He also rushed for 174 yards and a score and averaged 12.6 yards on punt returns, including a 50-yard TD.
It was disappointing (but also a trend of the times) that both Pitts and Toney opted out of No. 7 UF's Cotton Bowl game against sixth-ranked Oklahoma, leaving a 52-46 shootout loss to top-ranked and eventual national champion Alabama in the SEC Championship Game as their last rodeo together. Minus the Pitts/Toney duo, as well standout Trevon Grimes (opt out) and Jacob Copeland (health/safety protocols), Trask had to face the Sooners minus his timing with those uber-talented teammates who had accounted for 174 catches, 2,778 receiving yards and 34 touchdowns over the '20 season. Trask threw three interceptions in the first quarter, UF trailed big early and ended up losing 55-20. It hardly told the season of the season.
But five months later, Pitts, Toney and Trask had their follow-up moments in the NFL Draft. Pitts, after basically redefining the tight end position, went No. 4 overall to the Atlanta Falcons. Toney was the 21st selection of Round 1 by the New York Giants. And Trask? He ended up two hours down Interstate-75, where he'll merely be groomed to be Tom Brady's heir with the reigning Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Not a bad swan-song season, guys. 4) Olympic look-ahead
Just last week, UF junior classmates Kieran Smith and Robert Finke qualified for the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo by winning freestyle events at the U.S. Swim Trials in Omaha, Neb. They staged a preview to coming attractions at the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships at Greensboro, N.C., back in March.
First, Finke rocked the 400 individual medley with a time of 3 minutes, 36.90 seconds that marked the second-best in school history. Two nights later, Finke blasted the field in the 1,650 freestyle at 14:12.52, giving the Clearwater, Fla., product both the NCAA and American record in the event.
In between, it was Smith, out of Ridgefield, Conn., posting a 1:30.10 gold medal-winning time of 1:30.10 in the 200 free.
The duo comprised the big point-getters for the nine-time SEC champions who went on to finish third in the overall men's standings.
— Gators Track and Field & Cross Country (@GatorsTF) May 13, 2021
On Feb. 13, officials working the throw area at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., approached the media in the photography well with some advice. Two weeks earlier, at the very same venue, they'd seen a Thomas Mardal toss roll to facility's wall and figured it might be too close for comfort with Mardal back in the circle.
So the photographers in place moved and no doubt were happy about it.
Mardal, the four-time SEC champion, heaved big that day and the Gators had their first NCAA weight-throw champion, and their first of any throwing category since since Zipe Zunic won the shot put at the 2015 indoor meet. Mardal's throw of 24.46 meters (80 feet, 3.75 inches) was easily good enough to win. His second throw of 80 feet, 1 inch did not have to count, but made the Norway native the first in NCAA history with two throws of 80 feet in the same event.
Three months later, Mardal was back atop the winner's podium again, this time at the NCAA Outdoors Championships at Eugene, Ore., when he sailed the hammer 76.74 meters (or 251 feet, 9 inches), giving him two NCAA titles in both indoor and outdoor seasons. 5b) The closer
— NCAA Track & Field (@NCAATrackField) June 12, 2021
Joseph Fahnbulleh was two years removed from his last sprint championship.
It was in high school.
Fahnbulleh, the redshirt freshman from Hopkins, Minn., set state records in both the 100 and 200 meters, with the last trip to the podium coming in his 2019 senior season. His first collegiate campaign was limited to just five meets before COVID hit in 2020, but Fahnbulleh made up for lost time at the NCAA outdoor meet with a spectacular finish to win the 200 in a time of 19.91.
With the impressive physique of a linebacker, Fahnbulleh may not look like your garden variety college sprinter. Especially in the first 100 meters or so. Nonetheless, he came into the event as one of its favorites after posting a season-best time of 20.05 in the SEC Championships.
Fahnbulleh, as always, got off to a slow start, and with about 50 meters to go still trailed LSU's Terrance Laird, Houston's Shaun Maswanganyi and Texas's Micaiah Harris from his spot in Lane 6. Fahnbulleh, though, is known for his long stride and ability to close like a freight train, and did just that pushing past Laird at the finish to win by 3/100ths of a second.
His time was the 10th-fastest in NCAA history, as well as the sixth-fastest in the world in 2021. It also ranked second all-time by a Florida sprinter behind only John Capel (19.87 in '99).
What a future awaits this young man. 7) Blaise-ing a trail
Sophomore Blaise Bicknell went 26-0 to become just the fourth Florida men's tennis player to go unbeaten while playing a minium of 20 singles matches, but also the first to do so on a UF team that reached NCAA Tournament play.
Men's tennis had a season for the ages, chock full of remarkable storylines headlined by the program's first NCAA crown. Head coach Bryan Shelton watching his freshman son, Ben, clinch the national championship was a pretty good one. Or, as mentioned above, how 'bout Riffice winning the NCAA singles crown up the street from where he grew up? Not bad.
And then there was Blaise Bicknell, the sophomore from Miami who became just the fourth player in school history to go undefeated in singles play while playing a minimum 20 matches. None of the other three – Jim Oescher (27-0 in 1975), Armistead Neely (24-0 in '68) and Kevin Cook (20-0 in '76) – shouldered the additional pressure of continuing their unbeaten streak through NCAA tournament play.
Bicknell, who played his final 19 matches at No. 4 singles, was held out of the first two NCAA regional rounds (easy team wins over South Alabama and USF), but returned to action once the tournament moved to Lake Nona for the Sweet 16. He provided the clinching point in a 4-0 sweep of 16th-seed Illinois, the second point in a 4-1 win over eighth-seeded Texas A&M, and pushed the Gators to commanding lead with their third point in what turned out to be a 4-0 shutout of No. 4 Texas, who handed the Gators one of their two defeats during 2021, to advance the program to its first NCAA final.
And while his match in the title round against second-seeded Baylor went unfinished, Bicknell's rally from a set down to tie Nick Stachowiak and force a third set was a huge momentum builder for his teammates and the pro-Gator crowd. It didn't count on his final and sparkling perfect 24-0 record … but that's OK.
Josh Goodger * Worth noting: Senior Josh Goodger, the transfer from Tulsa by way of England, also went unbeaten during the 2021 dual season, while playing almost exclusively at No. 6. Goodger finished 16-0, with his final victory a huge/timely "W" in the NCAA final against Baylor. While his aggregate win total wasn't enough to hit the minium 20-match requirement, but what a luxury it was for Shelton basically to be able to bank on that combined 40-0 mark in the bottom half of his lineup. 8) Near perfection across the board
As far as sheer, unadulterated dominance, it would be difficult to outdo the performance turned in by junior Trinity Thomas in No. 1-ranked UF's dual-meet victory at No. 2 LSU on Jan. 12.
All Thomas did was post an all-around score of 39.9 (out of a possible 40.0) – including a 10.0 on floor – to lay claim to a share of all four event titles – the first Florida gymnast to do so since Alex McMurtry in 2018 -- as the Gators snuck past the Tigers 198.15 to 198.05. Thomas's all-around tally not only marked the best score in UF history, but was the fifth-best ever in NCAA competition.
Thomas shared the previous UF all-around record with a trio of stalwarts (Alaina Johnson in 2014, Bridget Sloan in '14, McMurtry in '18, all at 39.825), but broke that tie with back-to-back 9.975s on uneven bars and vault, respectively, then popped her perfection on floor. She finished with a 9.95 on beam, helping the Gators collectively nudge past the host Tigers.
Unfortunately, Thomas would suffer an ankle injury a month later during warm-ups in the team's meet at No. 6 Alabama. The injury would hinder Thomas the rest of the season, including a spill on the beam during the final round of four at the NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas. Thomas, though, was named 2021 NCAA Gymnast of the Year by CollegeGymFans.com.
Her final ledger showed Thomas with five All-America honors for 2021 – first team in all-around, vault, bars, floor; second team on beam – making the York, Pa., prodigy the nation's lone gymnast to claim the maximum five. 9) Tre comes into his own
Sophomore shooting guard Tre Mann is projected to be a first-round pick in the NBA Draft next month, which would make him the first UF player selected in eight years.
As a college rookie, Tre Mann came to UF in the fall of 2019 with McDonald's All-America pedigree, but struggled as a freshman to find his rhythm on the way to averaging 5.3 points and 1.9 rebounds per game.
Mann, a local Gainesville kid, used the pandemic shutdown to zero in on his game. He returned to the Gators as a sophomore and a completely different player; both physically and mentally.
By season's end, the 6-foot-5 shooting guard had garnered first-team All-SEC honors after averaging 16.0 points (the most by a UF player in 12 years) and 5.6 rebounds. Down the stretch of the season, Mann helped will the Gators to the finish line, by averaging 20.8 points on nearly 57 percent shooting overall, 42 from long distance and just shy of 84 from the free-throw line over the team's final seven games. The launching pad was a pair a back-to-back road victories, the first at Auburn (19 points, 13 rebounds) and next at Kentucky (21 points, 8 rebounds), where the Gators won for just the 10th time in program history.
Mann's dagger 3-pointer with the shot clock set to expire and just 23 seconds remaining in overtime put the Gators up by four and proved the icing bucket in the team's first-round win over Virginia Tech in the NCAA Tournament. The day after UF's season ended with a second-round loss to Oral Roberts, Mann announced he was headed to the pros and next month is expected to be the first Florida player taken in the NBA Draft since Erik Murphy was a second-round pick in 2013. Mann is projected a first-rounder, which would be the Gators' first since Bradley Beal went third overall in 2012. 10) "Lav" goes off vs. Hogs
More than half the Gators' points were scored by sophomore forward Lavender Briggs.
Briggs poured in a career-high 41, knocking down 17 of her 29 field goals, including six makes from the 3-point line. When she was done, Briggs' total marked the most by a UF player since since Ronni Williams hung 43 on Vanderbilt on Jan. 29, 2017. In the bigger picture, Briggs' now sits fourth on the single-game UF scoring record mark behind Quientella Bonner (45 vs. UT-Chattanooga on Jan. 22, 1977), Merlakia Jones, 44 vs. Texas on Jan. 25, 1995), and Williams.
Though Briggs missed the season's final eight games after suffering a foot injury, she's got plenty of time to punch her way up that list.
Just last week, UF junior classmates Kieran Smith and Robert Finke qualified for the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo by winning freestyle events at the U.S. Swim Trials in Omaha, Neb. They staged a preview to coming attractions at the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships at Greensboro, N.C., back in March. 
