Liam Peterson turns 21 on Wednesday and is in line for a big birthday gift next month. (Photo: Hannah White/UAA Communications)
Gators Notebook: Projecting Peterson, Remembering Alton Jones, More Tidbits
Tuesday, June 9, 2026 | General, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Big news in college sports dropped Monday morning, and surprise, surprise, Texas Tech is back in the headlines. This time, for an injunction granted to Red Raiders quarterback Brendan Sorsby by a Lubbock district judge that allows the gambling Sorsby to play in 2026.
The story is one of such seismic proportions in college athletics that we figured you might want to read about it if you had a busy start of your week.
Meanwhile, let's turn our attention back to our regularly scheduled blog, and you know what that means: we're writing about the Gators.
I have a notebook jotted full of random thoughts or news items that I come across, and here are five Gator-specific notes:
LIAM'S LINE
Liam Peterson served up four home runs in five innings to Troy in his final start at UF. Not the outing he envisioned, but Peterson's prospects are looking up.
He is considered a likely first-round pick in next month's MLB amateur draft. Gators fans who have watched Peterson and understand what makes scouts buzz about a pitcher know why. The 6-foot-5 Peterson is a classic power pitcher who can make batters swing and miss on four different pitches. He has big-league stuff.
In three seasons at UF, Peterson (14-16, 5.03 ERA, 112 BB, 284 SO in 216 2/3 innings) had a bumpy ride. He would be excellent in one start and shaky the next. That is a sure way to get a portion of Florida fans on your back. But don't be fooled by the pedestrian stats: Peterson is a top pitching prospect.
Long-time talent evaluator Jim Callis writes for MLB.com that Peterson "looks worthy of a top-10 selection at his best, but he lacks feel for pitching. The hope is that he'll be better in pro ball than he has been at Florida."
Peterson, Coastal Carolina's Cameron Flukey, and UC Santa Barbara's Jackson Flora started the season ranked as the best college arms available. Hunter Dietz of Arkansas and Ole Miss right-hander Cade Townsend have joined the conversation. The MLB draft can be harder to predict than the NBA or NFL drafts, so no one knows for sure where Peterson will land.
Despite his inconsistent college career, nearly all the mock drafts I have seen have him in the first round. For a sampling, MLB.com has him going No. 23 to the Cubs (slot value: $3.94 million), and BaseballAmerica.com has the Rangers taking Peterson with the No. 16 overall pick (slot value: $5.05 million).
Here is what we know: Peterson turns 21 on Wednesday and will have a huge signing bonus to deposit in the bank shortly.
TRANSACTION WIRE
Gators head coach Kevin O'Sullivan has begun retooling his program, including a search for a new pitching coach. David Kopp, who pitched at Clemson while O'Sullivan was the Tigers' pitching coach, has been dismissed.
Kopp spent five seasons with the Gators and made two trips to the College World Series while on staff. Best to him wherever he lands.
I wrote about Kopp and O'Sullivan's memorable return to Clemson in 2024 and an unforgettable day Kopp experienced as a player 20 years ago this week.
Florida has fired pitching coach David Kopp, sources tell @BaseballAmerica. Kopp spent the last five years with the Gators and served as FAU's pitching coach and recruiting coordinator from 2017-21. Has worked with some immense talent over the last several years.
In addition Kopp, assistant coach Taylor Black is reportedly leaving to become recruiting coordinator at N.C. State. Black spent four seasons with the Wolfpack as an assistant from 2014-17. He joined the Gators in June 2022 after four years working in the Detroit Tigers organization. In Black's first two seasons at UF, the Gators made the CWS. Best to Black in his new role.
Sources: @NCStateBaseball is expected to hire Florida's Taylor Black as its new recruiting coordinator, I'm told. Black has spent the past four seasons on the #Gators staff and will be the final coaching staff addition for new #Pack9 skipper Chris Hart.
When the Tampa Tribune named its All-Hillsborough County Team of the 1980s, Plant High defensive tackle Alton Jones made the cut. The 6-foot-2, 250-pound Jones parlayed his talent into a scholarship with the Gators, signing in 1981 in a class that featured future College Football Hall of Fame member and NFL All-Pro Lomas Brown. Photo: UAA archives
The most heavily recruited player in the county as a senior, Jones starred on a Plant team that in 1979, his junior season, drew more than 23,000 fans to Tampa Stadium for a game against Plant City, a record for a Hillsborough County high school football game.
Then-Plant coach Roland Acosta, a Tampa Bay legend, considered Jones one of the greatest players he ever coached.
"He's the Lee Roy Selmon of the high school ranks,'' Acosta said during Jones' prep career. "He's got pro potential."
Jones never played in the NFL, but he cracked the UF lineup as a true freshman and played in the Peach Bowl loss to West Virginia and Mountaineers quarterback Oliver Luck. Jones started four games as a sophomore in 1982 before knee surgery sidelined him, but he made it back on the field to play in Florida's loss to Arkansas in the Bluebonnet Bowl.
That would be his final game for the Gators.
Jones was ruled academically ineligible in the spring of 1983 and faded from the public spotlight that he had shared with his older brother, Vince Jones, and younger brother, Rodney Jones. All three played for the Gators and between them they earned eight letters over their collegiate careers.
"I play football because it's fun. I don't think about the future and all the good stuff that football can bring me. I just play it day-to-day," Jones told the Tribune heading into his senior season at Plant. "I like it that way. You never know when you're going to go out one day and get hurt and never be able to play it again, so there's no sense of playing it way down the road."
Alton Marcus Jones, 63, passed away on June 1. Information on a planned memorial service remains in the works.
PAULA'S WORLD
Gators golfer Paula Francisco capped a breakout junior season by playing in last week's U.S. Women's Open. Francisco, the first UF woman to win the Southeastern Conference individual title in a decade, missed the cut by one stroke at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Francisco reached 3-under and was briefly tied for the lead in the first round before finishing with a 1-under 70. She struggled in the second round, shooting a 6-over 77 to miss the cut. Her 71-77—147 was good for a sixth-place tie with Sweden's Meja Örtengren among the amateurs in the field.
Pitchers Christian Rodriguez, Cooper Walls and River Kurland have announced they are in the portal, according to various online media reports. Meanwhile, second baseman Cade Kurland, who is expected to play professionally, is also in the portal, as are infielder Kolt Myers and outfielder Blake Brookins. WRUF.com has a transfer portal tracker with the baseball portal open from June 1 until June 30 … The NCAA Track & Field Championships open Wednesday in Eugene, Oregon, the final competition for the Gators of the 2025-26 athletic season. Stan Becton of NCAA.com projects UF's Alida Van Daalen to be the discus national champion. Van Daalen landed the No. 3 discus throw in collegiate history last month and has been a stellar performer for the Gators for four seasons. If you want to know more about her, here is a feature I wrote when she first emerged on the scene.
Francisco reached 3-under and was briefly tied for the lead in the first round before finishing with a 1-under 70. She struggled in the second round, shooting a 6-over 77 to miss the cut. Her 71-77—147 was good for a sixth-place tie with Sweden's Meja Örtengren among the amateurs in the field.
