Gators

NCAAB Florida Gators

General Information

NCAA Division: Division I
Conference: Southeastern (1932-present)
Past Conferences: Southern
City: Gainesville, Fla.
Stadium: Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O’Connell Center
NCAA Tournaments: 23 (1987, 1988, 1989, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021)

Championships

National Championships: 2 (2006, 2007)
Conference Tournament Titles: 4 (2005, 2006, 2007, 2014)
Conference Regular Season Titles: 7 (1989, 2000, 2001, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014)

Team History

The Florida Gators are a Division I program located in Gainesville, Fla. Florida, an original member of the Southeastern Conference, is one of seven schools to win back-to-back NCAA men’s basketball titles.
Florida claimed its first national championship in 2006, beating UCLA 73-57. Led by coach Billy Donovan, the Gators went 33-6, including 10-6 in conference play, and won the SEC Tournament title.

In doing so, they earned an automatic bid to the Big Dance, where they reeled off wins over South Alabama, Milwaukee, Georgetown, Villanova and George Mason, setting up a showdown with the No. 2 seed Bruins in Indianapolis.

With all five starters — Corey Brewer, Lee Humphrey, Taurean Green, Joakim Noah, Al Horford — returning the following season, the Gators were ranked preseason No. 1 for the first time in program history. Turns out they lived up to that billing, winning another 35 games and sweeping the SEC regular season and tournament titles. As a No. 1 seed, the Gators beat Jackson State, Purdue, Butler, Oregon and UCLA to return to the title game in Atlanta. By defeating top-seeded Ohio State 84-75, the Gators became the first repeat national champion on the men’s side since Duke in 1991 and 1992.

The other schools to accomplish that feat are Oklahoma A&M (1945 and 1946), Kentucky (1948 and 1949), San Francisco (1955 and 1956), Cincinnati (1961 and 1962) and UCLA (1964 and 1965, 1967-73).
All five starters and sixth man Chris Richard wound up playing professionally. Five of them were selected in the 2007 NBA Draft, including three in the Top 10 (Horford, third overall; Brewer, seventh; Noah, ninth).
Florida returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2010, before making four straight trips to the Elite Eight from 2011-14.

The Gators’ 2014 appearance resulted in a return to the Final Four, their fifth in school history. That’s where they met their match, losing 63-53 to No. 7 seed UConn to snap their 30-game winning streak.

The Gators’ first two national semifinal appearances came in 1994 under Lon Kruger (lost to Duke, 70-65) and in 2000 under Donovan (beat North Carolina 71-59, lost the national championship to Michigan State, 89-76).
Following a 16-17 finish in 2o14-15 — the Gators’ first sub-.500 record since 1998 — Donovan left Florida to coach the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder. Donovan remains the winningest coach in program history, with a record of 467-186 over 19 seasons. The Gators made the tournament 14 times under his watch, including nine straight appearances from 1999-07.

To replace Donovan, the Gators hired Louisiana Tech coach Mike White. White, a Florida native, achieved instant success in his home state, winning at least 20 games in each of his first four seasons. He also took them three straight years to the NCAA Tournament, including the Elite Eight in 2017. However, White departed following the 2021 campaign for SEC rival Georgia.
White was ultimately replaced by former San Francisco coach Todd Golden. Golden took over a team that had only modest postseason odds, as the Gators were picked to finish seventh in the 2022-23 SEC preseason media poll.

Florida’s postseason history also includes 11 appearances in the National Invitational Tournament, including semifinal trips in 1986, 1992 and 2008.

Notably, Florida has produced 37 NBA draft picks, including former All-Stars Bradley Beal and David Lee and 2006 Sixth Man of the Year Mike Miller.

All Time Records

Points Scored

Ronnie Williams: 2,090
Kenny Boynton: 2,033
Andrew Moten: 1,930

Rebounds

Neal Walk: 1,181
Eugene McDowell: 1,063
Andrew DeClercq: 958

Assists

Ahris Chiozza: 571
Erving Walker: 547
Kasey Hill: 530

FLORIDA GATORS FAQs

Who holds Florida’s single-season scoring record?

Vernon Maxwell scored a school-record 738 points in 1986-87, although the school later scrubbed his name from its record books due to an NCAA violation. He left school as the Gators’ all-time leading scorer (2,450) and was selected in the second round (47th overall) of the 1988 NBA Draft. He went on to win back-to-back NBA championships with the Houston Rockets.

How many All-Americans has Florida produced?

Florida has produced 25 All-Americans, with the most recent honorees coming in 2014: Scott Wilbekin (AP third team), Casey Prather (AP honorable mention) and Patric Young (AP honorable mention).

What is the winningest team in Florida program history?

If we’re talking strictly wins, it’s the 2013-14 Gators, who went 18-0 in SEC play and 36-3 overall and lost in the national semifinals to No. 7 seed UConn, 63-53. It was one of three 30-win seasons for Florida, with the other two being its back-to-back NCAA title years.