The Alligator Awards continue this week, with the second award being for "Best Individual Moment." Editor-in-chief Jordan McPherson and staff writer Ian Cohen join alligatorSports editors Graham Hall, Luis Torres and Graham Hack in a roundtable discussion to debate the five nominees. Debates will go in alphabetical order by the writer’s last name.
Cohen: Schwarz Delivers
After JJ Schwarz belted his fourth home run of Florida’s 22-2 victory over Stetson in April, his teammates were so tired of climbing out of the dugout and congratulating him at home plate that they decided to stay back and give him the silent treatment.
But afterwards, even they admitted that they had witnessed history.
"I saw Josh Hamilton do that once on TV," junior Harrison Bader told Schwarz. "I guess any time you’re in the same sentence as Josh Hamilton, you must be doing something right."
Schwarz’s four homers set a UF record and tied a 33-year old Southeastern Conference mark set by Kentucky’s Billy Sandry in 1982. Schwarz also went 5-for-6 with a game-high 10 RBIs, just missing out on tying the Gators’ single-game RBI record, set by Preston Tucker with 11 in 2009.
From that moment on, whenever Florida’s games were televised, Schwarz was introduced by ESPN commentators to national TV audiences as the hitting phenom who recorded four home runs in a single game.
It became his calling card.
It’s an accolade that may never be equaled at Florida, in the SEC or nationally for many years to come, if at all.
Unless, of course, Schwarz can pull it off again sometime in the next two years.
Florida's JJ Schwarz (22) runs toward first base during the Gators' 15-3 victory against Miami in the NCAA Men's College World Series on Saturday, June 13, 2015 at the TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha.
Hack: A 10 for Sloan
No individual moment had more significance than Bridget Sloan’s perfect 10 on bars in the final meet of the regular season.
First, the moment was huge for the junior. Although Sloan considered bars to be her best event, it was the only one in which she had yet to score a perfect mark in her decorated collegiate career.
She had scored 9.975s in the event in her previous two meets, and she knew she was close heading into the March 13 matchup against Texas Woman’s University.
The cause for the 9.975s was a deduction for her feet not being together on the landings, and she had worked on the problem all week.
The work paid off that night, and as soon as Sloan hit the floor, she knew it was perfect.
The hug she ran to give coach Rhonda Faehn showed how much it meant.
The moment was also a turning point for Florida.
Sloan had sprained her ankle in the opening week of the season, and the initial fear was she wouldn’t return for the rest of the year.
Although she was able to come back and compete in the three meets prior to that night, scoring a 10 signalled she was truly back to her old self — an old self the Gators would need to lead them back to a third-consecutive national title.
Bridget Sloan celebrates with teammates after scoring a perfect 10.0 on bars during Florida's win against Texas Woman's University on March 13 in the O'Connell Center.
Hall: Donovan's 500th Win
You all have some great points, but only one former Hall of Fame coach has done what former men’s basketball coach Billy Donovan accomplished on Feb. 28: win 500 games before his 50th birthday.
The rarity of the feat is a testament to Donovan’s dedication to the Gators for 19 seasons, sticking with the team and rebuilding the program three times while turning Florida into a perennial power.
Before his arrival, the Gators had been to the NCAA Tournament just five times in 81 years — UF was a non-threat in the Southeastern Conference let alone a championship contender.
But Donovan changed the entire culture.
The Gators made the NCAA Tournament nine straight times from 1999-2007, including the first back-to-back national championships since Duke in 1990-91.
Everything Donovan had worked half of his life for culminated with that 66-49 win over Tennessee.
And the coach was finally at peace with leaving Gainesville — where he had watched his children grow up and his parents get old — knowing he had solidified his place in the annals of college basketball coaching history, ready for the next challenge in a Hall of Fame-worthy career.
Billy Donovan waves to the O'Connell Center crowd following Florida's 66-49 win against Tennessee on Feb. 28.
McPherson: Alhassan Dominates
Rhamat Alhassan had more than a handful of incredible moments during her freshman season with UF volleyball, but none were more remarkable than the way she started her career. In UF’s 3-0 sweep of Idaho on Aug. 29 — Alhassan’s second game and first career collegiate start — the 6-foot-4 middle blocker leveled the playing field with 13 kills on 16 errorless swings, good for a .812 hitting percentage.
Considering she didn’t start actively playing volleyball until her junior year of high school, those numbers are absolutely staggering.
And they were just the beginning. That first start fueled a dominating freshman year for Alhassan, who finished with a nation-leading .458 hitting clip — the third-highest single-season mark in UF history — and led Florida with 149 total blocks. Coach Mary Wise was hesitant to make any predictions about Alhassan before the season started.
Sure she had the height and a 30-plus inch vertical, but Wise wasn’t going to overhype the weapon she had in her frontcourt. But in all honesty, she didn’t need to.
Alhassan made her presence known when she blew the rest of the competition out of the water from the get-go.
Freshman middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan swings for a kill during Florida's 3-0 win against Georgia Southern on Aug. 29 in the O'Connell Center.
Torres: Haeger Breaks Records
Lauren Haeger had an incredible senior season.
She was named the National Player of the Year, the Women’s College World Series Most Outstanding Player and she captured a second national title to cap it all off.
But one moment stood above the rest.
On April 18 against the Georgia Bulldogs, Haeger made Southeastern Conference and Florida Gator history.
In the top of the first inning in the first game of a doubleheader, Haeger hit her 14th home run of the season — a grand slam — off of pitcher Brittany Gray.
The line drive shot over the center field fence was the 66th career blast for the Peoria, Arizona native, as she passed former Gator Megan Bush for the all-time conference and program record for home runs.
And as she crossed home plate, Haeger was mobbed and congratulated by her teammates as they celebrated with her because they had just witnessed history.
It wasn’t a matter of if, but when Haeger would set the record during the season because she was such a prolific home run hitter in her first three seasons.
Bush’s record would only last four seasons and she was among the first people to congratulate Haeger once the first game was over.
Bush was a major supporter of Haeger throughout her career at Florida and what Haeger accomplished on that day, foreshadowed what was to come later on in the season for her and the team.
UF's Lauren Haeger bats during Florida's 2-1 win against UNF on April 1, 2015, at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
Which moment did you think was best? Vote online at alligator.org/sports. All results will be revealed in our New Student Edition on Aug. 17.
