Ben Shelton proudly exults in Florida Gators' 'beat down' of top-ranked Tennessee in historic win for his alma mater's basketball team

Ben Shelton has shared an ecstatic reaction to the Florida Gators men's basketball team's remarkable victory over the top-ranked Tennessee Volunteers. The team holds special significance for Shelton, since the American also represented the University of Florida during his college tennis career.

The eighth-ranked Gators achieved a stunning upset against Tennessee, claiming a crushing 73-43 victory to hand the Volunteers their first loss of the season after a 14-game winning streak. The win marked the first time Florida defeated a No. 1-ranked team at home in program history.

Ben Shelton delighted in his alma mater's crushing victory and shared a proud reaction.

"Beat down 🥱," Shelton posted on his Instagram story.

Ben Shelton's Instagram story

Shelton himself has spoken highly about how playing college tennis helped him plug the "holes" in his game. In a 2024 interview with the Guardian, the American disclosed that he had faced difficulties controlling his temper on court, even referring to his younger self as a "mental case."

The 22-year-old, who was coached by his father Bryan in college, disclosed that he was subjected to much "harsher" punishments than his teammates but acknowledged that the experience taught him how to be disciplined.

"I was pretty underdeveloped when I got to college. I had a lot of holes in my game. I was a little bit of a mental case on the court, I got angry pretty easily. But you know, when you don’t do the right things on a college team, when your dad’s the coach, the punishment is a lot harsher than other guys on the team would have," Ben Shelton said.

"I learned fairly quickly to straighten things out and figure out how to be a good teammate, fly under the radar when I needed to, and have less of those outbursts or bad practices or missing a workout because I was sleeping in," he added.

"He would scream at me more than the other guys" - Ben Shelton on playing under his father Bryan at college

Ben Shelton with his father Bryan - Source: Getty

During the aforementioned interview, Ben Shelton revealed that his father Bryan's punishments included "screaming" at him and subjecting him to more sprints than his peers in order to avoid showing any favoritism.

"He would just get on me and scream at me more than the other guys, but I get it because you can’t show favoritism. Or I’d have to run sprints in front of everybody if I showed up late, but if someone else showed up late and then I showed up late, I was running a lot more sprints than they were," Shelton said.

The 22-year-old is set to kick off his 2025 season at the ASB Classic in Auckland, entering the ATP 250 event as the top seed. After a first-round bye, Shelton will square off against Jakub Mensik in his opening match.

Following his campaign in Auckland, Ben Shelton will be in action at the Australian Open. The American will aim to deliver a stronger performance at the Melbourne Slam after suffering a third-round loss to Adrian Mannarino last year.