Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Former Gators All-American Ben Shelton, the 2022 NCAA singles champion and Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, continues to state his case as one of the elite players in the world.

Shelton earned a hard-fought 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (4) victory over Italy's Lorenzo Sonego on Wednesday to advance to the semifinals of the Australian Open for the first time. Shelton joined a unique fraternity of American tennis greats with the victory.

Shelton, 22, reached the semis at the 2023 U.S. Open and became the eighth American man in the Open Era (since 1968) to reach multiple Grand Slam semifinals at age 22 or younger.

You have probably heard of the others: Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Jim Courier, Andre Agassi, Michael Chang, Pete Sampras and Andy Roddick.

"I feel relieved right now,'' Shelton said during an on-court interview. "Shout out Lorenzo Sonego because that was some ridiculous tennis. I'm just happy to go through, to get my first win on Rod Laver Arena. It was one of my favorite matches of my career."
 

The defending champ takes on Ben Shelton for a place in the Final 🤺#AO2025 pic.twitter.com/QWHMYH5YsM

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) January 22, 2025

Sonego, ranked 55th in the world, constantly pressured Shelton by coming to the net 90 times, winning 67 of those points. Still, Shelton kept his composure and limited his unforced errors to 33, while Sonego committed 55.

Shelton advanced to face world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who defeated Australian favorite Alex de Minaur in straight sets. At the end of his post-match interview, Shelton made international headlines by sharing his thoughts on his perceived treatment by the media of the players at the Australian Open — the issue surfaced earlier in the tournament following a match won by Novak Djokovic.

Shelton, the son of former UF men's tennis coach Bryan Shelton, entered the Australian Open ranked the No. 21 player globally. Since turning professional in 2022, he has been ranked as high as 13th.

Shelton finished his UF career with a 65-10 singles record, helping the Gators win the national championship in 2021 and finishing his career by winning the NCAA singles title in 2022.
  WAY-TOO-EARLY FORECASTS

The Gators' four-game winning streak to end the season was not enough to crack the final AP Top 25, but UF did earn seven votes and finished 33rd out of 35 teams to register in the final poll. More importantly, the Gators are on the radar heading into the 2025 season and should be in the preseason AP Top 25 when the poll is released in late summer. If so, that would mark Florida's first appearance since it was No. 22 before a 33-14 loss at Kentucky in late September 2023.

Florida is already showing up in those way-too-early Top 25s that come out this time of year. ESPN.com has the Gators ranked No. 18, SI.com ranks Florida No. 16, and USA Today is even more bullish on Billy Napier's team, ranking the Gators 12th.
 

It's never too early to think about next season 👀📊

What do you think of @RJ_Young's way-too-early Top 25? 🔮 pic.twitter.com/jnKe2kE8t3

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) January 21, 2025

The top concern heading into 2025 sounds familiar to the one voiced heading into 2024.

"Florida will again play one of the most difficult schedules in the FBS,'' ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach wrote. "The Gators have home games against Texas, Georgia (Jacksonville) and Tennessee and road contests at LSU, Miami, Texas A&M and Ole Miss."
  ROSTER CHECK

The winter transfer portal closed on Dec. 28, though players who filed on time could have shown up as late as Dec. 30 because schools have a 48-hour NCAA allowance window to process transfers. Meanwhile, the spring transfer portal is scheduled for April 16-25.

For those keeping score at home, the Gators added five players via the winter portal: UMass edge rusher Kofi Asare, Michigan punter Tommy Doman, UCLA wide receiver Michael Sturdivant, Louisville quarterback Harrison Bailey and Southern Miss cornerback Michael Caraway Jr.

Here is where the 13 scholarship Gators who entered the winter portal landed: TE Arlis Boardingham (Bowling Green), OL Mike Williams (Towson), OL Christian Williams (Liberty), WR Andy Jean (Pittsburgh), DL Kelby Collins (Alabama), DL Quincy Ivory (Jackson State), LB Deuce Spurlock II (Liberty), DL Jack Pyburn (LSU), CB Ja'Keem Jackson (LSU), DL T.J. Searcy (Texas A&M), DL Justus Boone (Arkansas), TE Gavin Hill (Florida A&M) and WR Marcus Burke (UCF).
  POSTSEASON PLAYERS

The Gators are well-represented in a pair of upcoming postseason All-Star games by players who started their career at UF, finished their career at UF, or, rarer in this day and age, started and finished their career at UF.

First, let's start with the uncommon player in today's landscape, cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. Marshall signed with Florida out of Palmetto High in Miami, and as players came and went during his career, Marshall started 39 of 45 career games before a season-ending shoulder injury midway into his senior season. Marshall is a member of the West Team in the East-West Shrine Bowl on Jan. 30 in Arlington, Texas. One of his teammates is offensive lineman Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, who spent his final season in 2024 with the Gators after starting his career at San Diego State. Meanwhile, three players with UF ties are members of the East Team. Running back Montrell Johnson Jr. played for the Gators the last three seasons after transferring from Louisiana, where Napier signed him in 2021. Johnson rushed for more than 3,000 yards in his career. Johnson is joined by his former UF teammates Jalen Kimber and Antwaun Powell-Ryland. Kimber transferred to Florida from Georgia and then played his final season for Penn State in 2024. Powell-Ryland transferred to Virginia Tech after the 2022 season and registered 27.5 sacks with the Hokies over the last two seasons.

Two days later, in Mobile, Ala., four Gators have accepted invitations to play in the Reese's Senior Bowl. Rosters for the National and American teams have not been announced as of this post. Linebacker Shemar James and punter Jeremy Crawshaw are two of the UF players in the Senior Bowl. Like Marshall, James and Crawshaw spent their entire careers at UF.

The Gators also have defensive line Cam Jackson and receiver Chimere Dike in the Senior Bowl. Jackson played two seasons at Florida after transferring from Memphis, and Dike played for the Gators in 2024 after four seasons at Wisconsin. In addition, Georgia running back Trevor Etienne and Ole Miss defensive lineman Princely Umanmielen, who started their careers at Florida, have accepted invites for the Senior Bowl.
  BALLPARK CHATTER

The Gators' baseball season starts Feb. 14 when Air Force visits Condron Ballpark for a three-game series. They return to practice on Friday with a scrimmage open to the public.

Florida opens the season ranked No. 10 by D1Baseball.com as head coach Kevin O'Sullivan readies for his 18th season. The Gators advanced to the College World Series in 2024 during an up-and-down season that turned upward once the postseason began.

Florida won the Stillwater (Okla.) Regional and then the Clemson (S.C.) Super Regional to qualify for Omaha. In the offseason, the Gators added several new faces, including transfers Bobby Boser (USF), Blake Cyr (Miami), Kyle Jones (Stetson), Justin Nadeau (Jacksonville) and Landon Stripling (Texas Tech).

O'Sullivan dropped some good news recently on the "Chalk Talk" webcast when he announced sophomore outfielder Hayden Yost had been cleared to return. Yost suffered a torn ACL in May, forcing him to watch the Gators' run to the CWS.

Yost, who played at Sickles High in Tampa before signing with Florida, batted .284 as a freshman in 32 games. He added five doubles, four runs and four stolen bases.

"He looks great," O'Sullivan said. "He's 100%. He's swinging the bat as good as anybody right now, and he ran down a ball during BP [recently] in right-center field. There was no hesitation in his stride, so he's certainly ready to go."
 

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