What happened to the Gator basketball dynasty emerging?

It seems much more than three years ago that the University team men's basketball Florida was on top of world basketball College with a future brighter than the midday sun in the Sahara. It had just finished back-to-back national championship seasons, and the owners were the # 1 ranked recruiting class according to Rivals.com.

Coach Billy Donovan College hottest commodity of basketball - have accepted a lucrative offer to coach in the pros with the Orlando Magic on May 31 2007, only to recant and "return" to the Gators a few days. And only a few weeks later would be three of his basketball heroes taken within the first 10 picks of the NBA Draft (Al Horford # 3 to Atlanta, Corey Brewer # 7 to Minnesota and Joakim Noah # 9 in Chicago).

Yes, things were really good at Gatorland with many predicting Ky. supplant the program as the standard of the SEC, and take its place alongside Duke, North Carolina and UCLA in the world.

To be fair, that the Florida Gators team Basketball has lost all five starters from the champions to repeat a struggle in 2007-2008 was expected. However, the number 1 recruiting class # 2007 was followed with another stellar class in 2008, and expectations were high once again as the Gators were preseason # 19 in the AP survey of 2008-2009.

Florida finished 25-11 in 2008-2009 good for # 3 in the SEC East and accepted the invitation 2 straight NIT where they lost in the quarterfinals of the NIT. For most schools this would be considered a major successful year, but at the University of Florida, with his pedigree of champions, top recruiting classes, and the bright young coach was a bit disappointing.

Now fast forward 3 years later to find a Gator team making its first trip back to the NCAA Tournament repeated since 2007. Hoping to make a run at the tournament this year after two consecutive NIT appearances - the Gators were received sharply again the big dance with a 99-92 overtime loss to BYU double heartbreaking.

NIT appearances and first-round exits from the tournament is not what Gator Nation expected after winning everything in the following years, but there is a silver lining. Everyone except senior Dan Werner is expected to return next season and this is still a great talent of University of Florida list.

Only time will tell if this basketball program ever Florida reach the heights expected just a few years ago, but as Billy Donovan, a beautiful campus and even more beautiful coeds are still a constant that will continue to attract talented players.

When the calendar turns into March in the future, we expect this football crazed fan base will have reason to talk football rings instead of spring. Average Gator football teams will be supported with enthusiasm, but prolonged periods a little better than basketball mediocre could deal a blow to the program that may take many years to recover.

Top QB Prospects 2010 NFL Draft Preseason Rankings

Tagged with:

Filed under: College football

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!