![]() A larger wooden structure was built directly adjacent to the University Gym in 1928. The 1920–21 Florida Gators basketball team outside of University Gym The "New Gym" and Alligator Alley īy the mid-1920s, the basketball team had outgrown the small brick University Gymnasium, which had been designed to serve as a student recreation center and had very little spectator space. Florida has built in-conference rivalries with Kentucky and Tennessee since the Gators began consistently competing for conference titles in the 1990s. The schedule consists of home-and-home games against five SEC teams mixed in with single games against each of the other eight SEC teams followed by the conference tournament. The 18-game Southeastern Conference (SEC) slate usually tips off around the beginning of the calendar year. The Gators usually compete in a cross-regional tournament against other top programs, schedule a game or two against other quality opponents in Gainesville or on the road, and play their annual game against in-state rival Florida State before the conference portion of the schedule begins. The college basketball season begins in early November, and the non-conference portion of the schedule typically runs until the end of the calendar year. Todd Golden became the Gators' head basketball coach in March 2022. After having made five NCAA Tournament appearances and having won only one regular season SEC championship and zero SEC tournaments in 78 seasons of basketball before his arrival, the Gators won seven SEC regular season championships and four SEC tournament championships, appeared in 14 NCAA Tournaments, reached four Final Fours, and won back-to-back national championships ( 20) during Donovan's 19 seasons in Gainesville before he left to coach in the NBA in 2015. The trajectory of Florida's basketball program changed with the hiring of head coach Billy Donovan in 1996. However, consistent success was elusive, and the Gators often found themselves in the bottom half of the SEC basketball standings. Early highlights included the program's first postseason appearance in the 1969 National Invitation Tournament with the Gators' first All-American Neal Walk, a run to the Sweet Sixteen during its first NCAA tournament appearance in 1987 under head coach Norm Sloan, and another surprise tournament run to the 1994 Final Four under head coach Lon Kruger. ![]() The basketball team did not have a permanent home court with adequate spectator space until the Florida Gymnasium opened in 1949, did not hire a full-time basketball coach until Norm Sloan in 1960, and did not play in a modern arena until the O'Connell Center opened in 1980. While the University of Florida's men's basketball team first took the court in 1915, the program did not receive much support from the university for several decades. ![]() O'Connell Center on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus. Home games are played in the Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. The Gators compete in NCAA Division I's Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Florida Gators men's basketball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of basketball.
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