Colleges

Amid the joy, what next for Gators?

It's unclear who will be back, but for now UF is more than happy to savor a national championship.

By ANTONYA ENGLISH
Published April 5, 2006

INDIANAPOLIS - It had been less than 24 hours since Florida defeated UCLA 73-57 to win its first men's basketball national championship, and coach Billy Donovan barely had a chance to hoist the crystal Siemens Trophy before talk turned to the future.

Specifically, the future of at least two of his four sophomores - the players who went from relative unknowns at the beginning of the season to household-name champions Monday.

Donovan said Tuesday morning he hadn't had time to sit down and talk to the players individually. After all, there is a national championship to celebrate.

But his gut tells him everyone will be back.

"The one thing that's, I don't know if I want to use the word unfortunate, (but) it's nine hours after we win, people want to talk about the future," he said. "And I understand that. I think we have a different group of kids. I believe in my heart that all those guys will be back. They're having too much fun playing together. All this stuff with the NBA, it's all speculation right now.

"I still think the kids in our program could get a whole lot better and improve and another year in college or two would prove to be valuable for them. I'm not going to speak for them or put pressure on any of them, but I feel our team will be back next year outside of Adrian Moss."

When the tournament began, Corey Brewer, Taurean Green, Al Horford and Joakim Noah were adamant they were keeping their tight-knit foursome together.

"We're going to get together and talk about things but I really like being here and I enjoy playing under Coach Donovan," said Horford, who scored 14 points with seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks Monday. "As far as I'm concerned I would definitely like to be back here next year and do it again. ... There's always a chance (he won't return), but I really like it here and I want to be here."

Brewer, a member of the all-tournament team, echoed that sentiment.

"I've got to give you the same answer as Al," he said. "I guess guys are going to think about it. In the next week or so, I guess we'll know if everybody's coming back or not."

Florida's improbable run began with a championship in the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament to begin the season, took the Gators through a 17-0 start, included a three-game midseason losing streak, then culminated with an 11-game winning streak, a school record 33 wins and a national title.

"For our staff, we came here with a vision that we were going to change the culture and change what Florida basketball was all about," assistant coach Anthony Grant said. "I'm from this state, Miami, and there was no basketball to speak of. Nobody thought about basketball in the state of Florida.

"So to be a part of being able to bring the first national championship in basketball back to the state of Florida, bringing the first national championship to the Gator nation, just being a part of that is very humbling. I can't even begin to tell you what it feels like to know that you are a part of history."

The Gators didn't allow more than 62 points in any of their six tournament games, its average margin of victory was 16 points, the 16-point title game margin of victory was the largest since the 1992 championship game (Duke over Michigan 71-51) and the Gators blocked 10 shots, setting a team championship game record and a Final Four record.

More than an hour after Monday's game, the players were still trying to grasp the magnitude of it all. Lee Humphrey was so numb Grant kept telling him, "pinch yourself, pinch yourself."

Moss, the fifth-year senior who had sacrificed playing time for the good of the team this season, scored a tournament-high nine points and wiped away tears as he tried to put into words what he felt. Brewer, the son of a Tennessee tobacco farmer who came to college looking to avoid that path, was overwhelmed.

"It's the best feeling in the world to me," he said. "It can't get any better than this."

Donovan's father, Bill, and his mentor and former coach Rick Pitino looked on from the sideline as the coach cut down the nets.

"To see all the hard work he put into basketball finally culminate into this kind of thing, it's absolutely fantastic," Bill Donovan said. "He's certainly had his ups and downs and finally it culminates with an up year for him, which is great."

Said Pitino: "It's a dream come true. I have the same feeling now as I did when we beat Georgetown in '87 and he (Donovan) carried a very average (Providence) team on his back to the Final Four. I just thought he was so unbelievable. And tonight, I thought he coached the most perfect game I've seen at a championship level. I'm just so proud of him."

Donovan, who took the job 10 years ago against nearly everyone's judgment, said the win was about the program, not him. Its significance wasn't lost on his boss.

"This put the Florida Gator basketball program on the map," athletic director Jeremy Foley said. "This is the exclamation point right now."

Before the championship game, talk centered around UCLA's tradition (11 national titles) and Florida's effort to build tradition. The players said they recognize that if everyone returns, they have a shot at moving among the nation's elite.

"We've thought about it," said Noah, the most outstanding player of the tournament. "We have to talk about it. Right now, let us just enjoy this moment and we'll talk about it at a later time."

[Last modified April 5, 2006, 06:17:11]