page_title: Florida Gators
section_title: Men's basketball
hierarchical_section_title: Florida Gators / Men's basketball
caption_attribution_description: President George W. Bush stands with members of the University of Florida Men’s Basketball Team Thursday, April 6, 2006, during a photo opportunity with the 2005 and 2006 NCAA Sports Champions at the White House. White House photo by Eric Draper
context_page_description: 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 and the Southeastern Conference 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.
  All Florida Gators sports teams compete in NCAA Division I, and 20 of the 21 Gators teams compete in the SEC. The sole University of Florida sports team that does not play in the SEC is the women's lacrosse team, which joined the American Athletic Conference after the 2018 lacrosse season. The University of Florida was one of the thirteen charter members who joined together to form the new Southeastern Conference in 1932. Previously, the university was a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association from 1912 to 1921 and the Southeastern Conference from 1922 until the SEC began play in the fall of 1933.
context_section_description: Florida enjoyed limited success in men's basketball before the mid-1980s.  Coach Norm Sloan's Gators were invited to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT)—only the second time the team had been invited to a post-season tournament.  They returned to the NIT in 1985 and 1986, and made their first appearance in the NCAA Basketball Tournament in 1987, when guard Vernon Maxwell led the team to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.  The Gators received invitations to the NCAA Tournament in 1988 and 1989, but Sloan was forced to resign at the outset of the 1989–90 season as a result of NCAA infractions.
  Coach Lon Kruger brought renewed success, and his Gators reached the NIT final four in 1991–92.  During the 1993–94 season, Andrew DeClercq and Dametri Hill led the Gators to their first NCAA Tournament Final Four following a dramatic victory over the Connecticut Huskies in the NCAA Regional Final.
  Athletic Director Jeremy Foley hired Billy Donovan as Kruger's replacement in 1996.  Donovan's recruiting prowess was evident early, as he landed recruiting classes with future NBA players Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem and Matt Bonner.  Donovan's Gators advanced to the NCAA Tournament final before losing to the Michigan State Spartans in 2000, and demonstrated a consistency previously unknown to the program as they received invitations to the NCAA Tournament every year from 1999 through 2007, a team-record eight-year streak.
  Under Donovan, Florida won its first SEC Men's Basketball Tournament in 2005, when they beat the Kentucky Wildcats in the SEC title game.
  The 2005–06 team's 17–0 start was the best in team history, surprising many with a young, selfless squad led by four sophomores.  The team began the season unranked, but won its second consecutive SEC Tournament championship.  On April 3, 2006, the Gators defeated the UCLA Bruins 73–57 in the NCAA Tournament championship game to win Florida's first men's national basketball championship.  Within days, all five starters announced they would return for another season to try to win back-to-back championships.
  At the outset of the 2006–07 season, the Gators were ranked No. 1 in both major polls for the first time.  The Gators won their second consecutive NCAA national men's basketball championship on April 2, 2007, defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes 84–75.  They became the first team since Duke in 1991–92 to win back-to-back tournaments and the first in NCAA history to do so with the same starting line-up.  Afterward, Florida's four star juniors announced they would enter the NBA draft.
  Donovan's Gators returned to championship form in 2010–11, winning the program's fifth regular season SEC championship and fighting their way to the NCAA regional semifinals (the "Elite Eight") before losing 74–71 to the Butler Bulldogs in overtime.  In 2011–12, the Gators received a No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament, exceeded expectations, and advanced to the Elite Eight, headlined by the play of star freshman Bradley Beal and point guard Erving Walker, before falling to Louisville.  During the 2013–14 season, the Gators were ranked No. 1 in the nation, won the SEC championship with 36 straight wins during the regular season and tournament games, went on a school-record 30 game winning streak, and advanced to the NCAA Final Four, headlined by the play of four senior veterans: Patric Young, Scottie Wilbekin, Will Yeguete and Casey Prather.
  The Gators men's basketball team is currently led by coach Mike White, and plays its home games in the O'Connell Center. White's Gators returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2016–17 after a two-year absence despite finishing second in the SEC during the regular season and suffering an early exit from the SEC Tournament. The Gators, as a #4 seed, ultimately reached the Elite Eight before falling short against fellow conference partner South Carolina.
caption: The 2005–06 national champion Gators with President George W. Bush at the White House.
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