"You could write a book on Brandon McArthur's career at UF," coach Kevin O'Sullivan said last year.
It turns out there could be one more chapter left to write.
Though last season was said to be his last as a Gator, McArthur is working on making one final comeback.
"It's a possibility," he said. "It's not finalized yet. I'm still in the process of trying to get all of those things worked out."
One of those things is grad school - the criminology major graduated in May.
McArthur isn't the only one looking to further his education and his baseball career. Pitcher Stephen Locke, who also graduated in May, was undecided about his plans at the end of the season. Now he's getting ready to take the GRE.
"Coming back to school was probably bound to happen from the beginning," Locke said. "It just took a little while for it to clear up."
The return of both players will be huge for a UF team that won't be losing all that much. McArthur hit .337 with two home runs and 44 RBIs while playing most of the season with a torn ACL, and lefty Locke was a major cog in the rotation, going 5-2 with a 3.17 ERA.
Last year, McArthur spoke with wistfulness about the great future he saw for this team under the new coaching staff.
It was that new feeling about the direction of the program that gave him a change of heart.
"The respect that I have for the coaching staff now, with that option up in the air, that's why I haven't just walked away from this place," McArthur said. "When they came in, they totally changed the whole outlook on what we were going to do.
"This whole year, there was kind of a different mood around this place."
Locke cited a similar reason in his decision to return:
"One of the main reasons I came back is it looks like we're going to have a really legitimate shot to get back to Omaha like we did my freshman year, and that's an experience I want to have again."
Both grad school hopefuls talked eagerly about the upcoming season.
"I have a goal for myself," Locke said. "Nine or 10 wins, hopefully. That's a lofty goal, but it's your last year - you've got to have big goals."
As for McArthur, who recently had surgery on his ACL and is now going through what he jokingly called his "annual summer task" (rehab), his personal goal for next season is pretty simple.
"Stay healthy," he said, laughing.
"That's going to be my main goal, to stay healthy and come back here and hopefully help lead this team back to bigger things."
