The basketball staff of the Florida Gators men reflects the University of Florida in the sport of basketball. The Gators compete in NCAA Division I am Southeastern Conference (SEC). Home games are played at the Exactech Arena in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus.
The University of Florida's first basketball team took the court but achievement was scarce for many decades. The program didn't have a decent gymnasium before the Florida Gymnasium in 1950, didn't hire a full-time basketball coach until Norm Sloan in 1960, also didn't play in a contemporary stadium until the O'Connell Center started in 1980. Florida made its first postseason tournament appearance from the 1969 National Invitation Tournament and appeared at the NCAA tournament in 1987, but constant success was elusive, and the Gators frequently found themselves in the bottom half of their conference standings.
Victory was finally found by florida's basketball program under head coach Billy Donovan, who had been hired in 1996. Recently as Florida's coach, Donovan led the schedule to seven of its eight Southeastern Conference (SEC) regular season championships, all four SEC championship championships, two of twenty-two NCAA Tournament appearances, four out of five Final Four appearances, along with back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007. Florida's head coach since 2015 has been Mike White, who's led the Gators to three NCAA Tournament bids in his four seasons in the school.
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