The Florida Gators are the talk of college sports fans these days, but a small junior college in the panhandle to the north of Gainesville on Interstate 10 is beginning to steal some of the spotlight.

In the shadow of the Gators’ unprecedented double — national titles in football and men’s basketball in the same school year, Chipola (Fla.) College became the only juco school to win state championships in men’s and women’s basketball, softball and baseball in the same year.

Miami-Dade Community College is the only other school to come close to that feat, winning three state crowns in both 1971 and 1976.

“My wife got on to me before we played the state tournament,” Chipola baseball coach Jeff Johnson said.

“She said, ‘You have to make it a clean sweep.’ There was some pressure there.”

After the Indians defeated Central Florida 12-2 for Johnson’s first state title in 11 seasons at Chipola, hundreds of supporters gathered at the baseball stadium to celebrate.

The Indians didn’t stop at state championships, either.

This winter, the men’s basketball team, established as one of the nation’s powerhouses by 32-year coach Milton Johnson, who made seven trips to the national tournament before he retired in 1993, became the national runner-up.

The women’s basketball team made the national tournament each of coach David Lane’s four years at the school and finished fifth this winter.

On May 19, third-year softball coach Belinda Hendrix guided the school to a 6-3 victory over North Idaho for its first national title since the 1960s, when the now-defunct golf program captured Chipola’s only other national crown.

With victories over Iowa Western Community College and Spartanburg (S.C.) Methodist College in the opening rounds of the school’s first appearance at the Alpine Bank Junior College World Series over the weekend, the Indians (38-17) are two victories away from another national title in baseball.

“There’s just great cohesiveness in our athletic department from the top down,” Johnson said.

“They give us all the resources to be successful.”

The school has pumped more than $1 million into renovations on its baseball and softball stadiums and its basketball arena in the past five years.

The administration’s passion for the school, the students and the community is also a driving force, according to Johnson.

Dr. Dale O’Daniel began teaching at Chipola in 1967 and eventually became the school’s president in 1995. He retired in 2003, only to come back to work for one his former economics class students, Dr. Gene Prough, who is now the president.

“It’s a unique situation,” Prough said.

“You don’t see many school presidents come back to work as an athletic director. But that shows the passion for the school and the community that Dale has.

“The success like this doesn’t happen overnight. We have tremendous support from a rural junior college community because we support each other.

“If you don’t go out and support the community when they are trying to get a new manufacturing firm in town, they will remember that and you won’t see us having charter buses full of fans to take to these events.”

The administration’s willingness to gamble on young coaches and athletes looking for a second chance has also helped.

“Coach Johnson is our dean of coaches,” Prough said.

“He was one of the best high school football and baseball players in a five-county area around here. He is one of the best pitching coaches you will ever meet.”

O’Daniel said the economics of junior college sports puts an emphasis on finding coaches who fit the culture and principles important to the school.

“We have a family atmosphere here,” he said.

“The reality is you know this is a place where a coach hopes to build a resume and move on to (NCAA) Division I. You find the right fit, somebody that will get a long with the rest of the coaches and has the same values.”

In the past few years, major leaguers such as Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Jose Bautista, Baltimore Orioles pitcher Adam Loewen and Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Russell Martin started at Chipola.

Some of college basketball’s brightest stars — Oklahoma State’s Mario Boggan, Iowa State’s Mike Taylor, Missouri’s Stephon Hannah, Ohio State’s Je’Kel Foster and incoming Indiana recruits JaMarcus Ellis and DeAndre Thomas — have also played at the school in Marianna, Fla., a quiet town of 6,000 people.

“Dr. Prough is very supportive and understands our role as leaders is at times to help at-risk kids become a better person, a better student and a better athlete,” said men’s basketball coach Greg Heiar, who is 95-11 in three years at the school.

He uses Ellis as a perfect example. After being one of the top basketball recruits in the nation five years ago, Ellis was alleged to have drug ties in reports by the Chicago press, killing his reputation and any interest from most schools.

Last year, Ellis graduated and become the school’s first national player of the year.

“JaMarcus was one of the most respectful young men I have ever met,” Prough said.

“If you don’t give young men like that an opportunity in the right setting, how’s he going to ever get anywhere.

“When you come to Chipola, you’re family and we’re going to do our best to make you a successful young man or young woman. I think the kids see that and want to be part of the Chipola way.”

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Joe Spencer can be reached via e-mail at jspencer@gjds.com.