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© St. Petersburg Times, published October 12, 2001
Home sweet (and expensive) home GAINESVILLE -- To visitors at Florida's new $11-million basketball complex, it looks like a very fancy place to work out, study, undergo rehabilitation and play basketball.
To Florida coaches Carol Ross and Billy Donovan, it looks like progress.
As the Gators held their annual media day Thursday afternoon in the multifunction complex located across from the track stadium, Ross talked about how far basketball has come since she arrived in 1990.
"We've come a long way in a short time," Ross said. "I've been here 12 years and it's just amazing the strides both men's and women's basketball has made -- and the perception. We're both national programs now, when we weren't, not so long ago. It just shows that some people talk the talk and some people walk it and at Florida, they are walking the talk here and it shows when you construct a complex like this that is so impressive."
When Donovan arrived five years ago, athletic director Jeremy Foley assured him that he planned to do all he could to help Donovan make Florida more than a football school.
Donovan said Foley has more than kept his word about giving the program all it needs to compete.
"To me, this is a state-of-the art basketball facility," Donovan said. "It's really an unbelievable facility. Not that I've been to every college campus in the country, but I'd be hard-pressed to believe there is something out there better than what UAA (university athletic association) has built here on campus."
ANOTHER TRY: Her first attempt at being a Gator was cut short by a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury in her right knee, resulting in the third surgery in her basketball career. But junior guard Sherisha Hills is determined to try again. The former Academy of Holy Names star said she's healthier than ever and ready to play. But there was a point during her most recent injury when she wasn't so sure.
"There is always that thought of "Should I stop here, is this a sign I should stop?' " Hills said. "But I just turned inside and talked to my family and the knee felt really good. It felt like I could play again and I didn't want to end like that. There was frustration, but I also thought everything happened for a reason so I just took it one day at a time."
BRING ON THE SPOTLIGHT: Freshman forward David Lee won the McDonald's All-American slam dunk contest, ending teammate James White's undefeated reign. But Lee said he's not trying to be the man at the Midnight Madness slam dunk contest tonight.
"I'm just going out there trying to have fun," Lee said. "That's all."