# 2005–06 Florida Gators men's basketball team

The 2005–06 Florida Gators men's basketball team represented the University of Florida in the sport of basketball during the 2005–06 college basketball season. The Gators competed in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by head coach Billy Donovan, and played their home games in the O'Connell Center on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus.
The Gators started the season looking to end their recent streak of losing in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. They finished the season with a 24–6 record entering the SEC Championship. They won all three games and received a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament, eventually playing in the final against UCLA. On April 3, 2006, Florida beat UCLA 73–57 to win their first ever NCAA Championship.

## Class of 2005

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Walter Hodge PG | Melbourne, Florida | Florida Air Academy | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Apr 11, 2005 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| David Huertas SG | Jacksonville, Florida | Arlington Country Day School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Jul 2, 2004 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Jimmie Sutton C | Coconut Creek, Florida | North Broward Prep | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 250 lb (110 kg) | Sep 11, 2004 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Overall Recruiting Rankings: Scout – 21 Rivals – NR ESPN – ||||||

## Roster

| Name | Number | Position | Height | Weight | Class | Hometown |
| Jack Berry | 22 | G | 6–6 | 215 | Sophomore | Windermere, Florida |
| Corey Brewer | 2 | F | 6–9 | 185 | Sophomore | Portland, Tennessee |
| Taurean Green | 11 | G | 6–0 | 177 | Sophomore | Ft. Lauderdale, Florida |
| Garrett Tyler | 25 | G/F | 6–7 | 200 | Junior | Palm Harbor, Florida |
| Walter Hodge | 15 | G | 6–0 | 170 | Freshman | Guaynabo, Puerto Rico |
| Al Horford | 42 | F/C | 6–10 | 245 | Sophomore | Grand Ledge, Michigan |
| David Huertas | 33 | G | 6–5 | 185 | Freshman | Humacao, Puerto Rico |
| Lee Humphrey | 12 | G | 6–2 | 192 | Junior | Maryville, Tennessee |
| Adrian Moss | 4 | F | 6–9 | 247 | Senior | Houston, Texas |
| Joakim Noah | 13 | F/C | 6–11 | 230 | Sophomore | New York, New York |
| Chris Richard | 32 | F/C | 6–9 | 255 | Junior | Lakeland, Florida |
| Jimmie Sutton | 5 | F/C | 6–10 | 252 | Freshman | Deerfield Beach, Florida |
| Brett Swanson | 1 | G | 6–2 | 180 | Junior | Pace, Florida |

### Coaches

| Name | Type | College | Graduating year |
| Billy Donovan | Head Coach | Providence College | 1987 |
| Anthony Grant | Associate head coach | University of Dayton | 1987 |
| Donnie Jones | AssistantCoach | Pikeville College | 1988 |
| Larry Shyatt | Assistant Coach | College of Wooster | 1973 |
| Darren Hertz | Assistant to the head coach | University of Florida | 1997 |
| Adam Beaupre | Video coordinator | University of Florida | 1999 |
| Matt Herring | Strength & Conditioning Coordinator | University of Texas Southwestern | 1994 |
| Dave Werner | Athletic Trainer | Eastern Kentucky University | 1991 |
| Tom Williams | Academic Counselor | | |

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 1, 2005* 7:00 pm | | Embry-Riddle | W 86–48 | | O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL |
| November 4, 2005* 7:00 pm | | West Florida | W 84–41 | | O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 9, 2005* 7:30 pm, FSN | | St. Peter's College | W 80–51 | 1–0 | O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL |
| November 10, 2005* 8:00 pm, FSN | | Albany College | W 83–64 | 2–0 | O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL |
| November 17, 2005* 7:00 pm, ESPN | | vs. No. 19 Wake Forest | W 77–72 | 3–0 | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| November 18, 2005* 9:15 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. No. 16 Syracuse | W 75–70 | 4–0 | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| November 25, 2005* 7:30 pm, FSN | No. 14 | Florida State | W 74–66 | 5–0 | O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL |
| November 28, 2005* 7:00 pm, FSN | No. 14 | Alabama State | W 87–60 | 6–0 | O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL |
| December 3, 2005* 12:00 pm, SUN | No. 11 | Central Florida | W 80–47 | 7–0 | O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL |
| December 6, 2005* 7:30 pm, SUN | No. 10 | at Providence | W 87–77 | 8–0 | Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence, RI |
| December 9, 2005* 8:30 pm, FSN | No. 10 | Bethune-Cookman | W 88–58 | 9–0 | O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL |
| December 18, 2005* 1:00 pm, SUN | No. 7 | Jacksonville | W 101–58 | 10–0 | O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL |
| December 22, 2005* 7:00 pm, FSN | No. 5 | at Miami | W 77–67 | 11–0 | BankUnited Center Coral Gables, FL |
| December 30, 2005* 1:00 pm, SUN | No. 5 | Florida A&M | W 84–47 | 12–0 | O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL |
| January 3, 2006* 6:00 pm | No. 5 | Morgan State | W 92–49 | 13–0 | O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL |
| January 7, 2006 12:00 pm, JP | No. 5 | at Georgia | W 90–72 | 14–0 (1–0) | Stegeman Coliseum Athens, GA |
| January 11, 2006 7:00 pm | No. 2 | Mississippi State | W 75–60 | 15–0 (2–0) | O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL |
| January 14, 2006 6:00 pm, FSN | No. 2 | Auburn | W 69–57 | 16–0 (3–0) | O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL |
| January 18, 2006* 7:00 pm | No. 2 | Savannah State | W 113–62 | 17–0 | O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL |
| January 21, 2006 7:00 pm, FSN | No. 2 | at Tennessee | L 76–80 | 17–1 (3–1) | Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, TN |
| January 25, 2006 8:00 pm, JP | No. 5 | at South Carolina | L 62–68 | 17–2 (3–2) | Colonial Center Columbia, SC |
| January 28, 2006 1:00 pm, JP | No. 5 | Vanderbilt | W 81–58 | 18–2 (4–2) | O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL |
| January 31, 2006 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 8 | at Ole Miss | W 69–58 | 19–2 (5–2) | Tad Smith Coliseum Oxford, MS |
| February 4, 2006 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 8 | Kentucky ESPN College GameDay | W 95–80 | 20–2 (6–2) | O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL |
| February 8, 2006 7:00 pm, SUN | No. 7 | South Carolina | L 67–71 | 20–3 (6–3) | O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL |
| February 11, 2006 1:00 pm, JP | No. 7 | LSU | W 71–62 | 21–3 (7–3) | O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL |
| February 15, 2006 8:00 pm, SUN | No. 10 | at Vanderbilt | W 73–68 | 22–3 (8–3) | Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, TN |
| February 18, 2006 2:00 pm, JP | No. 10 | at Arkansas | L 81–85 | 22–4 (8–4) | Bud Walton Arena Fayetteville, AR |
| February 22, 2006 8:00 pm, JP | No. 12 | No. 10 Tennessee | L 72–76 | 22–5 (8–5) | O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL |
| February 26, 2006 4:00 pm, CBS | No. 12 | at Alabama | L 77–82 | 22–6 (8–6) | Coleman Coliseum Tuscaloosa, AL |
| March 1, 2006 7:00 pm, FSN | No. 17 | Georgia | W 77–66 | 23–6 (9–6) | O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL |
| March 6, 2006 7:00 pm, CBS | No. 16 | at Kentucky | W 79–64 | 24–6 (10–6) | Rupp Arena Lexington, KY |
| SEC Tournament ||||||
| March 10, 2006 9:45 pm, JP | No. 16 | vs. Arkansas SEC Championship round 2 | W 74–71 | 25–6 | Gaylord Entertainment Center Nashville, TN |
| March 11, 2006 3:15 pm, JP | No. 16 | vs. No. 18 LSU SEC Championship round 3 | W 81–65 | 26–6 | Gaylord Entertainment Center Nashville, TN |
| March 12, 2006 1:00 pm, CBS | No. 16 | vs. South Carolina SEC Championship game | W 49–47 | 27–6 | Gaylord Entertainment Center Nashville, TN |
| NCAA Division I Tournament ||||||
| March 16, 2006 2:45 pm, CBS | (3) No. 11 | vs. (14) South Alabama First round | W 76–50 | 28–6 | Veterans Memorial Arena Jacksonville, FL |
| March 18, 2006 3:20 pm, CBS | (3) No. 11 | vs. (11) UW-Milwaukee Second round | W 82–60 | 29–6 | Veterans Memorial Arena Jacksonville, FL |
| March 24, 2006 9:40 pm, CBS | (3) No. 11 | vs. (7) No. 23 Georgetown Sweet Sixteen | W 57–53 | 30–6 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN |
| March 26, 2006 5:05 pm, CBS | (3) No. 11 | vs. (1) No. 3 Villanova Elite Eight | W 75–62 | 31–6 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN |
| April 1, 2006 6:05 pm, CBS | (3) No. 11 | vs. (11) George Mason Final Four | W 73–58 | 32–6 | RCA Dome Indianapolis, IN |
| April 3, 2006 9:21 pm, CBS | (3) No. 11 | vs. (2) No. 7 UCLA National Championship Game | W 73–57 | 33–6 | RCA Dome Indianapolis, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Accomplishments

First National Championship in school history.