Florida Senate - 2013                            (NP)    SR 1862
       
       
       
       By Senator Benacquisto
       
       
       
       
       30-03629-13                                           20131862__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution commending the Florida Gulf Coast
    3         University men’s basketball team for winning its first
    4         Division I Atlantic Sun Conference tournament
    5         championship and receiving an automatic bid to the
    6         National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s
    7         basketball tournament, advancing all the way to the
    8         “Sweet Sixteen.”
    9  
   10         WHEREAS, Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) has, in its
   11  short history, established a winning tradition in all sports,
   12  and
   13         WHEREAS, the FGCU men’s basketball team has successfully
   14  established this tradition of athletic excellence, achieved and
   15  maintained through its hard work, determination, unselfish play,
   16  and a team-first attitude, and
   17         WHEREAS, inspired by Coach Andy Enfield and his coaching
   18  staff, Assistant Coaches Kevin Norris, Marty Richter, and
   19  Michael Fly, and Director of Operations Joey Cantens, as well as
   20  FGCU Eagles Brett Comer, Nate Hicks, Bernard Thompson,
   21  Christophe Varidel, Jamail Jones, Eric McKnight, Alexander
   22  Blessig, Filip Cvjeticanin, Chase Fieler, Leonard Livingston,
   23  Jr., Eddie Murray, Marcus Blake, Sherwood Brown, and Dajuan Graf
   24  came together to form a championship-caliber team, and
   25         WHEREAS, on March 9, 2013, the FGCU Eagles won their first
   26  Division I Atlantic Sun Conference men’s basketball tournament
   27  championship in Macon, Georgia, and
   28         WHEREAS, by winning the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament,
   29  the FGCU Eagles earned an automatic bid and advanced for the
   30  first time in the history of the basketball program to the NCAA
   31  men’s basketball tournament, and
   32         WHEREAS, on March 22, 2013, in a historic win, the number
   33  15 seed FGCU Eagles defeated the South Region’s number 2 seed
   34  team, the Georgetown University Hoyas, by a score of 78-68 in
   35  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which showcased the Eagles’ combined
   36  talent for playing balanced and selfless basketball, and
   37         WHEREAS, on March 24, 2013, the FGCU Eagles won the second
   38  round of the tournament, defeating the number 7 seed San Diego
   39  State University Aztecs by a score of 81-71, also in
   40  Philadelphia, the first 15 seed team in NCAA history to advance
   41  to the exceptional field of the final “Sweet Sixteen” teams, and
   42         WHEREAS, the storied play of the FGCU Eagles firmly
   43  established the FGCU campus as “Dunk City” in the sports
   44  lexicon, NOW, THEREFORE,
   45  
   46  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   47  
   48         That we commend the Florida Gulf Coast University men’s
   49  basketball team for winning the 2013 Atlantic Sun Conference
   50  tournament men’s basketball championship and for its historic
   51  wins in the Division I National Collegiate Athletic Association
   52  men’s basketball tournament.
   53         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be
   54  presented to FGCU President Wilson G. Bradshaw, Head Coach Andy
   55  Enfield, Assistant Coaches Kevin Norris, Marty Richter, and
   56  Michael Fly, and to each member of the Florida Gulf Coast
   57  University Eagles men’s basketball team as a tangible token of
   58  the sentiments expressed in this resolution.