GATORS

Roundball Nation?

By JOEY KNIGHT

Published: Mar 4, 2007

GAINESVILLE - The most popular man in Gainesville was bereft of sleep - and a podium.

So Florida men's basketball coach Billy Donovan improvised, stepping gingerly onto a white Igloo cooler to peer above the TV cameras and address the crowd of roughly 7,000 in the Gainesville Raceway grandstands.

This adoring mass had skipped lunch - and presumably class - on Tuesday to welcome home the University of Florida's newest national champs.

It erupted when the team bus rolled onto a paved raceway strip just before 1 p.m. and broke into a chant of "Bil-ly, Bil-ly, Bil-ly" when Donovan was handed the microphone.

"I'm fortunate to coach an unbelievable group of guys," said Donovan, who hadn't gone to bed since his team's convincing 73-57 triumph over UCLA in the NCAA Tournament title game 13 1/2 hours earlier.

"They've been totally selfless, and they've been all about the team and all about winning. I've been so blessed ... and I'm happy I can be a part of the first-ever national championship."

With that, the audience roared again.

In other news, the Gators held a spring football practice Tuesday afternoon. About four dozen observers showed up.

Surreality has set in on Alachua County, nerve center of the Gator Nation. At a time when Florida fans typically are obsessed with three-step drops and corner blitzes, they're instead reveling in their newfound identity crisis:

Football or basketball school?

"Absolutely [it's a football school], but now we've got an added flavor," said Chip Ratliff, who has spent the last 27 years cutting hair - including Donovan's and former Florida football coach Steve Spurrier's - at a tiny, cluttered shop across the street from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

"We've got, like, an ice cream cone. We've got football, and now we've got the candy coating, called basketball."

Others opt for sugar coating, waxing diplomatically about how the school's two primary sports can enjoy a peaceful, profitable co-existence. They say there's no reason they can't.

But neither numbers nor geography lie. In Florida, football is the undisputed king, and even Donovan acknowledges it.

"The passion in the state of Florida is for football; that's never changing," he said. "And I'm OK with that because the passion for the University of Florida is greater than football; it's greater than anything."

According to figures UF provided to the U.S. Department of Education, Florida football generated $43,317,641 in revenue during the 2004-05 school year - Ron Zook's final season as football coach. Basketball earned $6,522,311.

And while local retailers such as Dawn Fincher - owner of a Gators apparel store near campus - are enjoying a windfall with the basketball team's improbable romp through the NCAA field, they're quick to say their livelihood hinges on football season.

"Today's been like Christmas; it's been a real shot in the arm," said Fincher, who drove to Orlando in Tuesday's wee hours to pick up a supply of national title T-shirts from her printer.

"But this is not our season. God bless the basketball team - they do great - but it doesn't translate into a lot of money in the store during basketball season."

For now, though, it translates into a lot of adoration. The cheers remained steady and strong as the Gators took turns with the microphone during their formal reception at the raceway.

And during his impromptu speech, tournament Most Valuable Player Joakim Noah seemed to capture the collective sentiment of the fan base:

"Let's do it in football now!"

Said Donovan, who will take his team to the White House on Thursday: "I'm here to embrace football, love football and realize that football does a lot for our basketball program. It's all about being a family."