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Gator basketball history question?
Posted on 3/6/17 at 6:05 pm
Posted on 3/6/17 at 6:05 pm
From reading the secr, there was a thread on # NCAAT apperances, S16s, E8s, and FFs, as well as National Titles.
Growing up, basically, all I knew was Billy D. However, who was also being considered at the time back in 96 when he was hired? Obviously worked out really, really well but wanted to know how it would've turned out 20+ years later. I know Lon Kruger got the first FF apperance for us and such, but long-term, wonder what would've happened had BD not come when he did.
Just a history question for the older folk
Growing up, basically, all I knew was Billy D. However, who was also being considered at the time back in 96 when he was hired? Obviously worked out really, really well but wanted to know how it would've turned out 20+ years later. I know Lon Kruger got the first FF apperance for us and such, but long-term, wonder what would've happened had BD not come when he did.
Just a history question for the older folk
2
Posted on 3/7/17 at 8:37 am to SpartyGator
Older folks? You young whipper snapper! I can probably give you an answer from the senior perspective. Although thru the years UF had some successful teams and some great players, until Billy D arrive they were not consistent year after year. Norm Sloan and Lon Kruger both were good coaches, recruited some good players like Vernon Maxwell, Andrew DeClercq and Dwayne Schintzius. Until the arrival of Billy D. Neal Walk was probably the best player in UF history.
Billy Donovan brought the program to a national level and for the only time in school history raised the sport to the level of football. Had he not come to UF the sport would have remained a sleeping giant and continued with years of mediocrity. With his departure and the hiring of Mike White, I think the future of Gator basketball is in good hands but would not be possible without the Donovan success. Go Gators.
Billy Donovan brought the program to a national level and for the only time in school history raised the sport to the level of football. Had he not come to UF the sport would have remained a sleeping giant and continued with years of mediocrity. With his departure and the hiring of Mike White, I think the future of Gator basketball is in good hands but would not be possible without the Donovan success. Go Gators.
Posted on 3/8/17 at 8:48 pm to UFMatt
Norm Sloan related a recruiting story once on a TV interview that had my sides hurting....this was back min the old days and it was wild wild west. Coaches could treat recruits and their families to great meals out on the town back then.
Sloan related that a few times he would show up at recruits home who was living in obvious poverty and house would be completely dark and no one around...at the appointed time for dinner the "family" showed up in mass....like 20 of them and just in time for dinner reservation...eat like royalty and then everyone would disappear again.
Maxwell would not be able to attend a power school nowadays...he was borderline academically and was in trouble a lot...lots of talent, but not exactly in school to achieve anything but NBA. Had problems galore.
I went to school with a kid out of Tampa who was 6'5 or so and back then that was tall (mid 1960s), good kid and he went to UF...and everyone knew he was going there from his junior year on.
Donovan indeed made UF a basketball school that matched the success of the football program.
Sloan related that a few times he would show up at recruits home who was living in obvious poverty and house would be completely dark and no one around...at the appointed time for dinner the "family" showed up in mass....like 20 of them and just in time for dinner reservation...eat like royalty and then everyone would disappear again.
Maxwell would not be able to attend a power school nowadays...he was borderline academically and was in trouble a lot...lots of talent, but not exactly in school to achieve anything but NBA. Had problems galore.
I went to school with a kid out of Tampa who was 6'5 or so and back then that was tall (mid 1960s), good kid and he went to UF...and everyone knew he was going there from his junior year on.
Donovan indeed made UF a basketball school that matched the success of the football program.
Posted on 3/9/17 at 8:11 am to reel_gator8
Vernon Maxwell was a talented player but was trouble with a capital T. If I remember correctly, he threw UF under the bus and was the main cause for probation and the firing of Norm Sloan.
Posted on 3/9/17 at 10:22 am to SpartyGator
I don't remember anyone else who was considered, but it has been a while. Pitino had revived UK and was considered the gold standard. Billy was a big part of Pitino's success both as a player and an asst coach. He went to Marshall and started having success and IIRC it was kind of like when we hired Urban. He was the best young up and comer around and it was a no brainer.
One of the things that Billy implemented which I thought was brilliant was that we started the game as if we were down 10 points and it was the end of the game. It was such a frenzy, and most teams didn't know what the heck was going on. He was very innovative and different esp when he was just getting the program going.
I am sure some on here can expand on this who know more or correct me if I am off a little.
One of the things that Billy implemented which I thought was brilliant was that we started the game as if we were down 10 points and it was the end of the game. It was such a frenzy, and most teams didn't know what the heck was going on. He was very innovative and different esp when he was just getting the program going.
I am sure some on here can expand on this who know more or correct me if I am off a little.
Posted on 3/20/17 at 11:13 pm to bigDgator
Well remember that Norm Sloan left UF and went to NC State and won a national title but he might have "bent the rules just so slightly" and the NCAA came a calling (of course Duke or UNC would not have been blowing the whistle, would they do such a thing 
So it was exit stage left and Sloan came back to UF. A very good coach who grew up in the sport and knew everyone cheated...Maxwell was suspended a few times...got more than 1 or 2 coeds pregnant and was a liability from the word go. But damn....at UNC or Duke or UK he would have been a golden child with his talent on the court.
Google Vernon Maxwell and see what you come up with...I have not done myself. Remember the old days when our court was called "Alligator Alley" BB was just not popular in Fla back then at all. I just googled Vernon and Norm...wow! Vernon played in 130 games for UF>>>>???
Sloan deserves a medal of courage to keep him all four years but remember those were different times back then
Norm took UF to three NCAA tourneys during his second tenure..and he was HC when UF won the regular season SEC in 1988-89....UF was also reeling from football probation when Sloan came back and when the NCAA police came...it was time to retire. Sloan had a trademark, he always wore plaid jackets and he was a riot in interviews. He was buried (RIP) in his plaid jacket btw. You had to like him if you met him.
From wiki
In 1960, Sloan became the first full-time basketball coach at the University of Florida.[4] His Florida Gators men's basketball teams tallied an 85–63 record in six seasons, including the school's first victory over an Adolph Rupp-coached Kentucky Wildcats team in 1965. He was unable to get the Gators into postseason play during this time; during the 1960s, only one team per conference was guaranteed an NCAA bid. Nonetheless, he revived a Gators program that had been, according to Florida historian Norm Carlson, essentially an intramural program playing at the intercollegiate level.[5] The Miami Herald dubbed Sloan the "father of UF hoops" for his achievements in the 1960s.[5]
Return to Florida[edit]
After a salary dispute with NC State, Sloan returned to Gainesville in 1980 and turned the Florida Gators basketball program around for a second time. Sloan's Gators won over twenty games and made the NCAA Tournament in each of his last three seasons—the school's first NCAA Tournament appearances ever—led by star guard Vernon Maxwell and center Dwayne Schintzius. This was capped off with Florida's first Southeastern Conference regular season basketball championship in 1988–1989. His teams compiled a 150–131 record in those nine seasons, giving him an overall record of 235–194 in fifteen years with the Gators. His reputation as "Stormin' Norman" continued during his feuds with LSU Tigers coach Dale Brown.
Resignation[edit]
Sloan was forced to retire on October 31, 1989—just days before the start of the 1989–90 season—in the wake of an NCAA investigation into the Gators program.[9][10]
So it was exit stage left and Sloan came back to UF. A very good coach who grew up in the sport and knew everyone cheated...Maxwell was suspended a few times...got more than 1 or 2 coeds pregnant and was a liability from the word go. But damn....at UNC or Duke or UK he would have been a golden child with his talent on the court.
Google Vernon Maxwell and see what you come up with...I have not done myself. Remember the old days when our court was called "Alligator Alley" BB was just not popular in Fla back then at all. I just googled Vernon and Norm...wow! Vernon played in 130 games for UF>>>>???
Sloan deserves a medal of courage to keep him all four years but remember those were different times back then
Norm took UF to three NCAA tourneys during his second tenure..and he was HC when UF won the regular season SEC in 1988-89....UF was also reeling from football probation when Sloan came back and when the NCAA police came...it was time to retire. Sloan had a trademark, he always wore plaid jackets and he was a riot in interviews. He was buried (RIP) in his plaid jacket btw. You had to like him if you met him.
From wiki
In 1960, Sloan became the first full-time basketball coach at the University of Florida.[4] His Florida Gators men's basketball teams tallied an 85–63 record in six seasons, including the school's first victory over an Adolph Rupp-coached Kentucky Wildcats team in 1965. He was unable to get the Gators into postseason play during this time; during the 1960s, only one team per conference was guaranteed an NCAA bid. Nonetheless, he revived a Gators program that had been, according to Florida historian Norm Carlson, essentially an intramural program playing at the intercollegiate level.[5] The Miami Herald dubbed Sloan the "father of UF hoops" for his achievements in the 1960s.[5]
Return to Florida[edit]
After a salary dispute with NC State, Sloan returned to Gainesville in 1980 and turned the Florida Gators basketball program around for a second time. Sloan's Gators won over twenty games and made the NCAA Tournament in each of his last three seasons—the school's first NCAA Tournament appearances ever—led by star guard Vernon Maxwell and center Dwayne Schintzius. This was capped off with Florida's first Southeastern Conference regular season basketball championship in 1988–1989. His teams compiled a 150–131 record in those nine seasons, giving him an overall record of 235–194 in fifteen years with the Gators. His reputation as "Stormin' Norman" continued during his feuds with LSU Tigers coach Dale Brown.
Resignation[edit]
Sloan was forced to retire on October 31, 1989—just days before the start of the 1989–90 season—in the wake of an NCAA investigation into the Gators program.[9][10]
Posted on 3/21/17 at 5:36 am to reel_gator8
Ok...part 2 of basketball history. After Sloan left we made a horrible hire in Don Devoe who had coached at Tennessee and other schools. To say Devoe and Schintzius (RIP) were at odds is an understatement...Devoe was not well liked by UF players and he was let go after just 1 year.
He tried the law and order approach and that was an epic fail. We went 7-21 in his only season. Schintzius did have his issues and I will never forget the game where Vandy fans
threw tennis balls on the court to really pile on him.
He tried the law and order approach and that was an epic fail. We went 7-21 in his only season. Schintzius did have his issues and I will never forget the game where Vandy fans
threw tennis balls on the court to really pile on him.
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