The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as the "Gator Nation." The Gators compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and are consistently ranked among the top college sports programs in the United States. The University of Florida currently fields teams in nine men's sports and twelve women's sports.
William John Donovan Jr. is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He coached previously for the Oklahoma City Thunder from 2015 to 2020. Before moving to the NBA, he served as the head basketball coach at the University of Florida from 1996 to 2015, and led his Florida Gator teams to back-to-back NCAA championships in 2006 and 2007, as well as an NCAA championship appearance in 2000.
Norman Leslie Sloan Jr. was an American college basketball player and coach. Sloan was a native of Indiana and played college basketball and football at North Carolina State University. He began a long career as a basketball coach months after graduating from college in 1951, and he was the men's basketball head coach at Presbyterian College, The Citadel, North Carolina State University, and two stints at the University of Florida. Over a career that spanned 38 seasons, Sloan was named conference coach of the year five times and won the 1974 national championship at North Carolina State, his alma mater. He was nicknamed "Stormin' Norman" due to his combative nature with the media, his players, and school administrators, and his collegiate coaching career ended in controversy when Florida's basketball program was under investigation in 1989, though Sloan claimed that he was treated unfairly.
Randy Leonard Shannon is an American football coach and former player who is currently the linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator for the Florida State Seminoles football program. Shannon was the head coach at the University of Miami from 2007 to 2010 and has served as an assistant coach for the National Football League (NFL)'s Miami Dolphins and several college teams, including stints as the defensive coordinator for the Miami Hurricanes, the Florida Gators, and the UCF Knights. He won the Frank Broyles Award as the nation's top collegiate assistant coach while at Miami in 2001.
Galen Samuel Hall is a retired American college and professional football coach and player. He is a native of Pennsylvania, and an alumnus of Penn State University, where he played college football. Hall was previously the offensive coordinator at the University of Oklahoma and the University of Florida, and the head coach of the University of Florida, the Orlando Thunder, the Rhein Fire, and the XFL's Orlando Rage. He most recently served as the offensive coordinator at his alma mater, Penn State.
John Leslie Pelphrey is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach of the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles. After being named Kentucky Mr. Basketball in 1987, he became a star college player at the University of Kentucky.
William Stephen Arnsparger was an American college and professional football coach. He was born and raised in Paris, Kentucky, served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II, and graduated from Miami University (Ohio) in 1950. Immediately upon graduation, Arnsparger was hired as an assistant coach with the Miami football program, beginning a long career in the profession.
The Florida Gators men's basketball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of basketball. The Gators compete in NCAA Division I's Southeastern Conference (SEC). Home games are played in the Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus.
Donald Eugene DeVoe is a former American college basketball coach and former player. DeVoe played college basketball for Ohio State University, and later served as the head coach for Virginia Tech, the University of Wyoming, the University of Tennessee, the University of Florida and the United States Naval Academy.
The Florida Atlantic Owls men's basketball team represents Florida Atlantic University and competes in the American Athletic Conference of NCAA Division I college basketball. Their home games are played on the Abessinio Court in the Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena on the school's Boca Raton, Florida campus. Their head coach is Dusty May, who was hired on March 22, 2018. The Owls have appeared in the NCAA tournament twice, in 2002 while a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference and 2023. The Owls joined Conference USA (C-USA) in 2013 as part of the early-2010s NCAA conference realignment. After not winning a single NCAA Tournament game coming into 2023, the Owls qualified for their first Final Four in program history by defeating the Kansas State Wildcats 79–76. After the 2022–23 season, FAU left C-USA for the American Athletic Conference.
Thomas George Bartlett was an American college basketball and tennis player, as well as a college basketball and tennis head coach. After graduating from the University of Tennessee, Bartlett served as the men's basketball head coach for Carson-Newman College, the University of Chattanooga, and the University of Florida, and also as the men's tennis head coach at the University of Tennessee and UT-Chattanooga.
Michael Emerson White is an American college basketball coach and former player. He is the head coach of the University of Georgia men's basketball team. Prior to accepting the job at Georgia, White was the head coach of the Florida Gators from 2015 to 2022 and the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs from 2011 to 2015.
The history of Florida Gators football began in 1906, when the newly established "University of the State of Florida" fielded a football team during its first full academic year of existence. The school's name was shortened to the University of Florida in 1908, and the football team gained the nickname "Gators" in 1911. The program started small, usually playing six to eight games per season against small colleges and local athletic club teams in north Florida and south Georgia. The Orange and Blue developed early rivalries with the Stetson Hatters from nearby Deland and Mercer Bears from Macon. During the 1910s, Florida began playing a wider range of opponents from more established football programs across the southeastern United States and faced off against several future rivals - such as Georgia, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, and Auburn - for the first time.
Todd Raymond Golden is an American former basketball player and current head coach of the Florida Gators men's basketball team.
The 1988–89 Florida Gators men's basketball team represented the University of Florida as a member of the Southeastern Conference during the 1988–89 NCAA men's basketball season. They were coached by Norm Sloan, who was in his ninth consecutive season at the school.
The 2021–22 Florida Gators men's basketball team represented the University of Florida during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by seventh-year head coach Mike White, and played their home games at the O'Connell Center in Gainesville, Florida as a member of the Southeastern Conference. They finished the season 20–14, 9–9 in SEC Play to finish a five-way tie for fifth place. As the No. 9 seed in the SEC tournament, they lost in the second round to Texas A&M. They received an at-large bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Iona in the first round before losing to Xavier.
The 2021–22 Georgia Bulldogs basketball team represented the University of Georgia during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by fourth-year head coach Tom Crean, and played their home games at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Georgia as a member of the Southeastern Conference. The Bulldogs finished the season 6–26, 1–17 in SEC play to finish in last place. They lost to Vanderbilt in the first round of the SEC tournament. The 26 losses set the school record for most losses in a single season surpassing the previous record set by the 1951–52 team.
The 2022–23 Florida Gators men's basketball team represented the University of Florida during the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by first-year head coach Todd Golden, and played their home games at the O'Connell Center in Gainesville, Florida as a member of the Southeastern Conference. They finished the season 16–15, 9–9 in SEC Play to finish in eighth place. As the No. 8 seed in the SEC tournament, they lost in the second round to Mississippi State. They received an at-large bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to UCF.
The 2022–23 West Coast Conference men's basketball season began with practices in September 2022 and ended with the 2023 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament in March 2023. This was the 72nd season for WCC men's basketball, and the 34th under its current name of "West Coast Conference". The conference was founded in 1952 as the California Basketball Association, became the West Coast Athletic Conference in 1956, and dropped the word "Athletic" in 1989.
