Trump hosts NCAA basketball champion Florida Gators at the White House
President Donald Trump shakes hands with Alijah Martin as he hosts the 2025 NCAA Champion, University of Florida men's basketball team in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump and head coach Todd Golden poses with a jersey as Attorney General Pam Bondi watch as Trump hosts the 2025 NCAA Champion, University of Florida men's basketball team in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump speaks as he hosts the 2025 NCAA Champion, University of Florida men's basketball team in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump speaks as he hosts the 2025 NCAA Champion, University of Florida men's basketball team in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump shakes hands with Alijah Martin as he hosts the 2025 NCAA Champion, University of Florida men's basketball team in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump and head coach Todd Golden poses with a jersey as Attorney General Pam Bondi watch as Trump hosts the 2025 NCAA Champion, University of Florida men's basketball team in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump speaks as he hosts the 2025 NCAA Champion, University of Florida men's basketball team in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump honored the 2025 NCAA basketball champion Florida Gators at the White House on Wednesday, proclaiming that 'lesser teams would have crumbled' during its nail-biting title game victory.
'It was looking bad,' Trump said, noting that Houston led by as many as 12 points in a game Florida rallied to win 65-63 in San Antonio in April. 'Did you think you were going to win?"
Advertisement
Florida (36-4) delivered four come-from-behind victories in six March Madness wins. The Gators led the finale for a total of 64 seconds, including the last 46 ticks of a contest that was in limbo until the final sequence.
Trump recounted Alijah Martin making two free throws to put the Gators ahead to stay with 46.5 seconds left, and asked Martin if he was nervous.
'Lesser teams would have crumbled,' the president said.
Florida secured the program's third title in basketball, and Trump noted that it is the only school to have a trio of NCAA titles in that sport and in football. When the Gators basketball team won back-to-back NCAA titles in 2006 and 2007, they visited President George W. Bush at the White House.
Advertisement
Wednesday's East Room ceremony featured top Trump administration leaders from Florida, including Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Mentioning Rubio, Trump said there's 'no bigger Florida fan.'
Also on hand were Florida Sens. Rick Scott and Ashley Moody, as well as assorted House members from the state and former Florida football standout Tim Tebow. Trump described Tebow 'as a college player, maybe the best ever' and said he was a big fan despite Tebow having spent part of his professional career with the NFL's New York Jets.
The team gave Trump an autographed basketball and No. 47 jersey with his name on the back. The president also hailed the Gators' 39-year-old coach, Todd Golden, as 'great" and 'young' while joking, 'Boy, would I like to be his agent.'
Last year, President Joe Biden held a joint ceremony honoring the 2024 NCAA men's and women's basketball winners, honoring South Carolina and Connecticut.
Since taking office in January, Trump has hosted a series of championship teams, including the Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles. His April ceremony in the Rose Garden with the NCAA football champion Ohio State Buckeyes is best remembered for Vice President JD Vance — an Ohio State graduate and Buckeye fan — fumbling the team's championship trophy.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Judge approves NCAA House settlement, changing the landscape of collegiate athletics
Very late on Friday afternoon, we got a massive end-of-the week news dump when a judge officially approved a settlement in the NCAA v. House case. With the ruling, the landscape of college athletics will soon look very different than it has prior. The goal of the settlement is to provide structure to the NIL landscape in college football, which is currently effectively a free-for-all. Following the ruling, On3 discussed some of the ramifications of the ruling. 'Since the NCAA was founded in 1906, institutions have never directly paid athletes, On3's Pete Nakos wrote. 'That will now change with the settlement ushering in the revenue-sharing era of college sports. Beginning July 1, schools will be able to share $20.5 million with athletes, with football expected to receive 75%, followed by men's basketball (15%), women's basketball (5%) and the remainder of sports (5%). The amount shared in revenue will increase annually. Advertisement 'Power Four football programs will have roughly $13 to $16 million to spend on rosters for the 2025 season. Many schools have front-loaded contracts ahead of the settlement's approval, taking advantage of contracts not being vetted by the newly formed NIL clearinghouse . . . ' . . . The settlement also imposes new restrictions on college sports. An NIL clearinghouse will be established, titled 'NIL Go' and run through Deloitte. All third-party NIL deals of $600 or more must be approved by the clearinghouse. If not approved, the settlement says a new third-party arbiter could deem athletes ineligible or result in a school being fined. In a gathering at the ACC spring meetings last week, Deloitte officials reportedly shared that 70% of past deals from NIL collectives would have been denied, while 90% of past deals from public companies would have been approved.' It remains to be seen exactly how the new rules will affect USC specifically. Given the Trojans' recent hire of Chad Bowden and the subsequent revamping of their recruiting operation, USC seemingly has the right people in place to bring the program into college football's new era. This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: NCAA House settlement approved, as college sports braces for impact
San Francisco Chronicle
25 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Belmont Stakes at Saratoga is a Kentucky Derby rematch
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) — The Triple Crown concludes Saturday with the 157th running of the Belmont Stakes. The race is a rematch between Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty and runner-up Journalism, who is the favorite after winning the Preakness. Derby third-place finisher Baeza also is in the field of eight. Sovereignty is racing for the first time since the first Saturday in May. Owners and trainer Bill Mott decided not to enter Sovereignty in the Preakness because of the short, two-week turnaround. Journalism is the only horse running in all three legs of the Triple Crown this year. Bob Baffert-trained Rodriguez is in the Belmont after being scratched from the Derby because of a minor foot bruise that also kept the colt out of the Preakness. The Belmont is taking place for a second consecutive time at historic Saratoga Race Course in upstate New York. The New York Racing Association temporarily relocated it there while Belmont Park on Long Island undergoes nearly half a billion dollars in renovations.
San Francisco Chronicle
26 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Cristiano Ronaldo is almost certain he won't play at the Club World Cup
MUNICH (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo says he's almost certain he will not be playing at the Club World Cup, dealing a blow to FIFA president Gianni Infantino's hopes of having one of soccer's biggest attractions at the tournament. The Portugal star confirmed Saturday that he received 'quite a few' offers from participating clubs to play for them at the tournament starting June 14, but had decided against accepting any of them. 'Some things make sense to talk about, other things don't, and, as a person says, you can't take part in everything,' Ronaldo said. 'You have to think about the short, medium and long term. It's a decision practically made on my part not to go to the Club World Cup, but I've had quite a few invitations to go.' 'This is irrelevant right now,' Ronaldo said when first asked about the Club World Cup. 'It makes no sense to talk about anything other than the national team.' ___
