Buy Florida Gators Tickets Now!

Stadium:
Stephen C. O'Connell Center
The Stephen C. O'Connell Center, popularly nicknamed the "O-Dome" is a 12,000-seat multi-purpose arena at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. The facility is named for Stephen C. O'Connell, a former University of Florida President. It is situated between the west side of football's Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and the east side of baseball's McKethan Stadium. The arena opened in 1980. Renovations in 1998 replaced the inflatable Teflon-coated fabric with a permanent, hard shell dome on top of the structure. In 2006, the arena undertook an overhaul of the four scoreboards located above the entrances to Gates 1-4. Instead of displaying information and advertisements, the scoreboards are now used for live instant replays for events inside the arena. The arena, which is the fourth on-campus home of the Gators, replaced the old Florida Gymnasium, nicknamed "Alligator Alley," which was the home of the Gators for the previous, and forgettable, 31 seasons and is still located to the east of the football stadium.

Team History:
Florida had limited success prior to the mid-1990s. However, under the tenure of Norm Sloan, Vernon Maxwell led the team to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet Sixteen in 1987, and Sloan coached the team to the tournament again the following two years. After a drug scandal involving Maxwell, Sloan left and the program went on probation. Lon Kruger slowly brought the team to increased success and reached the NIT final four in his second year as coach. In 1993-94, the pieces fell into place for Florida. Behind Andrew DeClercq and Dametri Hill, the Gators went to their first Final Four following a dramatic victory over UConn. Two year's later, Kruger's final season resulted in a losing record, and he left to coach at Illinois. Florida's Athletic Director Jeremy Foley, looking for a young coach with a proven track record, hired Billy Donovan, then at Marshall, as Kruger's replacement. His recruiting prowess was evident early, bringing future NBA star Jason Williams with him from Marshall and having early recruiting classes with future NBA players Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem, and Matt Bonner, among others. The Gators have made the NCAA Tournament every year since Donovan's third season with the team, an eight-year streak that is easily the school record.

Season Preview:
Joakim Noah has been the face of college basketball the past two seasons. I know you're going to say that Kevin Durant or Greg Oden dwarfs Noah in importance or relevance. And, obviously, they were the two most dominant players at various points this past season. And they will be the two can't-miss franchise players in the NBA draft Thursday night. Still, if you think about who has been the lightning rod in college hoops the past two seasons, it's not even close. It's Noah. And the one thing that Noah has that Oden and Durant don't have is a ring -- make that two rings, for winning back-to-back national titles with Florida. I'll be honest: I'll miss Noah's candor, his thoughtful answers and his provocative nature. For a young man who is just a junior in college, Noah has quite a perspective on the world. I'm willing to bet that few college students, let alone athletes, display a poster featuring the famous photo of one man standing in front of four tanks in the middle of a road in Tiananmen Square in Beijing during the June 3, 1989 protests.

Official Site:
gatorzone.com