Latest news with #JustinWilliams
USA Today
21 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Florida football gets commitment from blue-chip ATH Justin Williams in 2026 cycle
Florida football gets commitment from blue-chip ATH Justin Williams in 2026 cycle Florida football added local four-star athlete Justin Williams to its 2026 class on Sunday in the second of two signings for the Gators. The 5-foot-11-inch, 190-pound prospect out of Gainesville (Florida) Buchholz chose the Orange and Blue over 26 other suitors that included the Kentucky Wildcats, Florida State Seminoles, Ole Miss Rebels and North Carolina Tar Heels. While he is listed as an athlete, his primary position is at wide receiver. Williams' proximity to campus allowed him to make frequent visits with the program and acclimate to Florida's coaching staff. His most recent official visit, however, was a major step toward his commitment. "It was cool to really see, get more in-depth," he told Swamp247. "I've been here plenty of times, but just getting to know the coaches more and building that relationship, it was really fun." Williams also forged a strong relationship with Gators head coach Billy Napier. "He's an amazing person. It's the best, best coach I've ever been around like I can just tell that from, previous visits, and this visit," he noted. "(I) got to meet his wife, super cool family. And as a coach, he has his track record, and I really believe he can get me to where I want to go." Maybe most importantly, matriculating at Florida also allows him to stay close to his family and friends — something Florida State and Kentucky could not quite offer. "My mom could just drive 20 minutes down the road coming to the games," Williams offered. "It's just really cool. I'm going to see all my friends sitting in the stands.' Justin Williams' Recruiting Summary Williams is ranked No. 235 overall and No. 15 at his position nationally according to the 247Sports composite while the On3 industry ranking has him at Nos. 188 and 27, respectively. Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Latest Florida Commit Shares Incredible Stat With NFL Legend
Latest Florida Commit Shares Incredible Stat With NFL Legend originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Florida Gators are on a hot streak in their college football recruitment process, securing four-star wide receiver Justin Williams, who chose the Gators over Florida State, Missouri, Kentucky, and Indiana. Advertisement He is an elite talent at wide receiver and a prolific scorer in high school. He shifted to running back after being a full-time wide receiver, and began to excel. With his multi-position transition, he achieved a feature in the state of Florida that hasn't happened in decades. Williams is the first high schooler to achieve 1,000 rushing yards and receiving yards in the same season since NFL legend Devin Hester, who accomplished that feat in 2002. Florida Gators head coach Billy Youngblood/Gainesville Sun In Williams' 2024 season, he played in 14 games, where he ran for 1,032 yards and 16 rushing touchdowns alongside 1,473 receiving yards and 13 receiving touchdowns. He Also returned one kickoff for a touchdown. Advertisement Showing he can do it all so far will allow him to go almost anywhere in the Florida system in 2026, depending on where head coach Billy Napier will want him. He may not follow the same career path as Hester, being primarily a return man, but has that potential with the versatility on the field. In Hester's first year in college with the Miami Hurricanes, he returned one kickoff for a touchdown, and was used in the offense as an explosive weapon and in trick plays. He would end his collegiate career with four punt return touchdowns, two kick return touchdowns, 160 rushing yards and a rushing score, and 196 receiving yards. He even played defense for the Hurricanes, ending his collegiate career with one sack, five interceptions and a fumble returned for a touchdown. Advertisement If the Gators get even half the player that Hester was in Williams, then they may have found themselves one of the next big players in college football. Related: Jac Caglianone Shines During First Week in MLB Related: DJ Lagway Reacts to Florida's Latest Recruiting Win This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 9, 2025, where it first appeared.
New York Times
24-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
What's behind Hurricanes' 14-game conference finals skid? How can they end it?
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Stanley Cup champion and Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams. Calder Trophy winner Sergei Samsonov. Diminutive overachiever Nathan Gerbe. Mr. Game 7 himself, Justin Williams — well, in his second tour of duty anyway. What do they all have in common? They're among the players to wear No. 14 for the Carolina Hurricanes. If you really want to get nostalgic, Hall of Famer Dave Keon also donned the number during his time with the Whalers. Advertisement The No. 14 took on a different meaning Thursday night as the Panthers humiliated the Hurricanes in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final, giving Florida a 2-0 lead as the series shifts to Sunrise. You've heard it enough, but it was the 14th consecutive game Carolina has lost in a conference final after sweeps in 2009, 2019 and 2023. The last time they won a conference final game was, of course, Game 7 back in 2006, when the Hurricanes — on a game-winning power-play goal by some guy named Rod Brind'Amour — beat the Sabres to advance to the Stanley Cup Final and beat the Edmonton Oilers for the franchise's only Stanley Cup title. Adams, by the way, played 14 shifts in that game. The conference final futility is not something the Hurricanes are particularly thrilled to talk about. Jaccob Slavin, asked about the run being at 13 games after Carolina's Game 1 loss, shrugged off the unseemly statistic, saying, 'The past is the past.' 'Four of those losses came in 2009,' Slavin said. 'None of us are on that team.' Brind'Amour, in his penultimate season as a player on that '09 team, has been part of all 14 losses — four as a player and now 10 as the team's coach. He broke into a smile — not one of joy — when asked about what can best be described as the bleak streak. 'Well, you're going to talk about it, and you guys are going to say it,' Brind'Amour responded during the news conference. 'But what do you want to do? You're going to change your game? That's not going to work.' There's no doubt something needs to change for the Hurricanes if they're going to have any chance to recover from what looks like a dire situation. The Panthers look confident and relentless; Carolina looks timid and fragile. The past may not mean much, or even anything, but some threads run across the four Hurricanes teams that stalled in the Eastern Conference final. Break some of them, and maybe there's a new narrative to write. Advertisement No, we're not going to suggest bringing back Mike Zigomanis, Mark Recchi, Radek Dvorak or Cedric Paquette — some of the players who wore No. 18 for the Hurricanes over the past two decades — would put an end to Carolina's bleak streak. Eighteen is how many power-play goals the Hurricanes have allowed in those 14 consecutive conference final losses. Take away that the Penguins scored just three in four games in 2009, and Carolina has given up 15 PPGs in 10 ECF games with Brind'Amour as coach. Yikes. It'd be one thing if the Hurricanes were mortal on the penalty kill, but they've been the league's best since Brind'Amour took over as coach. In the last 10 ECF games, they've allowed a PPG in all but one game. Toss in the Pittsburgh series, and Carolina has given up two power-play goals in half of the 14 games in the streak — including both games in this series against the Panthers. Simply put: Get back to being good on the penalty kill. 'We've got to find a way to kill them,' Staal said after Game 2. 'Maybe getting in lanes, change it up, I'm not sure. But it's got to be an important thing that we focus on here, and we'll look it over and try to make some changes and get some more kills.' In 2023, the Hurricanes played the Panthers as tightly as possible in a four-game sweep. Carolina allowed only 10 goals in that series, and half of those games went into overtime — including the epic four-overtime Game 1 loss. In the other three ECFs, the Hurricanes have allowed a stunning 47 goals in 10 games. Those 'ass-whoopings,' as Staal called Game 2, don't predict good things for Carolina in the rest of this series. In 2009, Pittsburgh won 3-2 in Game 1 but then put a crooked number on the Hurricanes in Game 2, winning 7-4. That was followed by 6-2 and 4-1 losses. Advertisement Against the Bruins in 2019, Boston hung a combined 11 goals on Carolina in the series' first two games, never trailed in a 2-1 win in Game 3 and closed things out with a 4-0 series clincher. The Hurricanes scored seven goals in those six games, and three were in 2023's Game 4 loss to the Panthers. In total, Carolina has scored 22 times in 14 Eastern Conference final games. Sebastian Aho had a goal taken off the board at the start of the second period in Game 2, and his performance Thursday — despite having no points in a 5-0 loss — at least offered a glimpse of properly channeled desperation. His six points in 10 conference finals games are the most of any Hurricanes player during the bleak streak. Second is Seth Jarvis, who has four points in six games, with Jordan Martinook tied for third with three points in eight games. Those aren't jump-up-and-down numbers, but they at least show there are players who have been on this team for at least half of the ECF appearances who can produce. One could also argue that those three were Carolina's best players in Game 2. The problem is that no one from the current roster shows up in the top 10. Jalen Chatfield has two points in four conference final games, but he's missed both games with an injury and wouldn't be at 100 percent even if he suited up for Game 3. Andrei Svechnikov, the offensive hero of the first two rounds? He has two assists in six career conference final games. There's a chorus of one-point players: Shayne Gostisbehere (six games), Jesperi Kotkaniemi (five), Brent Burns (one) and Jordan Staal (10). Slavin is a masterful defensive presence, but he's never registered a point at this stage of the playoffs in 10 games. Svechnikov has just six shots on goal in six career ECF games. I'd expect Aho, Jarvis and Martinook to try and drag Carolina into the fight in Game 3, but they can't be pulling the rope by themselves if the Hurricanes have any chance to win. Advertisement The Hurricanes have scored first just twice in the six Eastern Conference final games against the Panthers, and both games went to overtime. In Game 1 in 2023, Jarvis opened the scoring on the power play in the waning moments of the first period to give Carolina a lead. In the following game, Chatfield scored just 1:43 in to get the Hurricanes off on the right foot. Obviously, Carolina lost both those games, but they were by razor-thin margins — a quadruple-overtime defeat followed by an early OT loss on a Matthew Tkachuk power-play tally. The best recipe for the Hurricanes is to score first and get the opportunity to establish their game. Allow the first goal again, and I fear the rolling ball of uncertainty will grow larger and spin faster.
San Francisco Chronicle
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Now everyone can get lobster corn dogs topped with caviar at BottleRock 2025
For the first time in BottleRock Napa Valley history, the famous lobster corn dog topped with caviar is available to all festivalgoers. The corn dog, a bougie BottleRock staple from Napa Valley's Michelin-starred Press Restaurant for the past three years, was previously exclusive to the VIP Culinary Garden. But this year, the team decided to have booths in both VIP and general admission areas. Attendees need to look no further than the giant 'Lobster Caviar Corn Dog' sign to get their hands on the $32 treat, which is being served by Under-study, Press' sister cafe that opens on Memorial Day in Saint Helena. 'The requests were overwhelming. Everybody last year was like, 'What is this thing? Where do I get it and how do I get it?,' said Justin Williams, Press and Under-study's director of operations. He added that the team was bombarded with requests for the corn dog from people who didn't have VIP wristbands and received countless messages on Instagram. They also noticed 'people were taking a box of them to their friends in GA.' Last year, the booth sold just under 2,000 corn dogs throughout the three-day festival. This year, with two booths, Williams said they expect to sell 5,000. His team has been working tirelessly for a week-and-a-half on prep, as they made all of the ingredients (outside of the caviar) from scratch. The filling, consisting of fish mousse, chopped lobster and herbs, is battered, fried and then topped with a remoulade and caviar. The price has gone up $6 since its 2023 debut. In addition to the corn dog, Under-study is selling truffle fries ($19), a pretzel with smoked onion mustard ($15) and a soft serve sundae with strawberries and chocolate sauce ($15).
Time of India
04-05-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
How Wyatt Johnston is becoming hockey's most clutch young star
How Wyatt Johnston is becoming hockey's most clutch young star (Image Source: Getty Images) Wyatt Johnston is becoming a household name in hockey fast. Only 21 years young, he's already participated in three Game 7s and found the back of the net in each one. That's a biggie in the NHL. Justin Williams is " Mr. Game 7 ," but Wyatt Johnston could be the next-generation clutch guy. He's young, talented, and never afraid of the moment. Let's see what he's doing to get all this attention. Wyatt Johnston rises through Game 7 pressure and delivers standout performance Game 7 is the ultimate test in hockey. It's the last game of a series, where the victor advances and the loser heads home. Many great stars have endured the agony of Game 7 , but not everyone plays well when it counts the most. Wyatt Johnston is not like other players. He has already appeared in three Game 7 games and each one, he had a goal. That's unusual for any player, but particularly impressive for one so young. Wyatt Johnston is only 21 and yet is exhibiting calmness, concentration, and poise under fire. He doesn't merely play in Game 7; he excels in Game 7. His performance in these huge games indicates he's not afraid. Rather, he appears to enjoy the challenge. Coaches, fans, and teammates are taking notice. He's emerging as a go-to player when it all comes down to it. Why Wyatt Johnston could be next "Mr. Game 7" Justin Williams earned the moniker "Mr. Game 7" because he was always incredible in those big-time games. He had seven goals and 15 points in nine Game 7 appearances, and many of those goals contributed to his team winning big. Wyatt Johnston isn't there yet, but he's gotten off to a good start. Scoring in every Game 7 you participate in is something big. That indicates that no matter how tough the game becomes, he knows how to get through and be productive. That's what distinguishes a clutch player. Already, there are whispers of Wyatt Johnston as a big-game sensation for the next generation. Strong skills, but more importantly, he possesses a great mindset. He doesn't crack under pressure. He rises. That is precisely what any team needs come playoff time: someone who delivers when the stakes are high and the game is on the tightrope. Also Read: Dallas Center Wyatt Johnston And Other NHL Players Open Up About The Significance Of NHL
