The 2014–15 Florida Gators men's basketball team represented the University of Florida in the sport of basketball during the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Gators competed in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by nineteen-year head coach Billy Donovan, and played their home games in the O'Connell Center on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus. They finished the season 16–17, 8–10 in SEC play to finish in a tie for eighth place. They advanced to the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament where they lost to Kentucky.
Gator non-participation in a postseason tournament had been 17 years before. The Gators' 63.7 points-per-game had been their lowest during Billy Donovan's 19-year coaching tenure. After the season, Donovan accepted an offer to coach the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder. He would leave the Gators as the regular season games' winningest head coach in the program's history and while at the helm coached the Gators to more NCAA tournament appearances, and more SEC championships, than the combined totals of all the other head coaches in the program's history.
Previous season
The Gators finished the 2013–14 season as the SEC regular-season champions with an overall record of 36–3, 18–0 record in conference play, the first SEC team to ever accomplish the feat, after the SEC re-expanded to an 18-game regular-season schedule prior to the 2012–13 season. In doing so, the Gators won their seventh SEC regular season championship, and their third in four seasons. The Gators beat the Kentucky Wildcats 61–60 to claim the SEC Tournament championship. As a No. 1 seed in the 2014 NCAA tournament's South Region, Florida won its four tournament games, defeating 16-seed Albany, 8-seed Pittsburgh, 4-seed UCLA and 11-seed Dayton. The Gators' season ended with a loss to 7-seed, and eventual national champion, UConn in the Final Four.
Offseason
Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes 24 G/F 6’6” 212 Senior Jackson, Tennessee Graduated 5 G 6’2” 176 Senior Gainesville, Florida Graduated 15 F 6’8” 230 Senior Bordeaux, France Graduated 4 C 6’9” 240 Senior Jacksonville, Florida Graduated
Incoming transfers Name No. Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes 21 F 6’10” 250 RS Sr. Lansing, Michigan Transfer from Michigan.Younger brother of former Gators and current Atlanta Hawks center Al Horford.Will play in the 2014–15 season. 15 C 6’10” 245 RS So. Bauchi, Nigeria Transfer from South Florida.Will sit out a season and play in 2015–16.
Recruiting class
Personnel
Roster
Notes During the season, sophomore guard Dillon Graham transferred from Florida to Embry–Riddle.
Coaches Name Position College Graduating year Billy Donovan Head coach Providence College 1987 Matt McCall Associate head coach University of Florida 2005 John Pelphrey Assistant coach University of Kentucky 1992 Rashon Burno Assistant coach DePaul University 2002 Darren Hertz Assistant to the head coach University of Florida 1997 Oliver Winterbone Video coordinator Rutgers University 2005 Preston Greene Strength and conditioning coordinator Clemson University 1999 Dave Werner Athletic Trainer Eastern Kentucky University 1991 Tom Williams Academic Counselor University of Florida 1978
Team statistics
Schedule and results
!colspan=9 style="background:#0021A5; color:#FFFFFF;"| Exhibition
!colspan=9 style="background:#0021A5; color:#FFFFFF;"| Regular season (non-conference play)
!colspan=9 style="background:#0021A5; color:#FFFFFF;"| Regular season (SEC conference play)
!colspan=9 style="background:#0021A5; color:#FFFFFF;"|SEC tournament
Source:
Rankings
+ Ranking movementLegend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. (RV) Received votes but unranked. (NR) Not ranked. Poll Pre Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12 Wk 13 Wk 14 Wk 15 Wk 16 Wk 17 Wk 18 Wk 19 Final AP 7 8 18 RV NR NR RV RV NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR N/A Coaches 7 7 16 24 RV RV RV NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
See also 2014–15 Florida Gators women's basketball team
References