Champs Return To Wild Welcome

By BILL WARD The Tampa Tribune

Published: Apr 4, 2007

GAINESVILLE - When they finally arrived at Gainesville Regional Airport on Tuesday afternoon, the players from the Gators men's basketball team looked completely exhausted. And considering they had just won their second NCAA title in a span of 363 days while still managing to be college students, it was easy to see why.

Still, most of them didn't disappoint the crowd of more than 1,000 that turned up at this small airport just outside of town to greet them. With a Gators pep band playing an assortment of Florida fight songs, the players lumbered off their charter jet and were welcomed as heroes by cheerleaders, dancers and fans, many of whom were UF students who cut classes to attend the historic occasion.

"This just shows how much everybody appreciates what we do for our program," said Florida center/forward Chris Richard, a Lakeland Kathleen product. "Yeah, we're pretty tired. But it gives you a lift to come out here and see a ton of people waiting out here in this heat just to see us."

A few minutes later, fan favorite Joakim Noah made his arrival. Among Gator fans, Noah has rock star status - even after a less-than-stellar performance in Monday's title game against Ohio State. Fans screamed with excitement as he approached them, and a large contingent started chanting "No-ah, No-ah, No-ah." Noah stuck around for nearly a half-hour to sign everything from basketballs to Swedish flags to body parts.

"This is a big reason why we came back this season to make another run at it," he said. "This is what it's all about and I'm just doing what my coach said, living in the moment."

That coach, Billy Donovan, gave fans high-fives, then went to a nearby Gainesville Police Department squad car and got on its public-address system. He thanked the fans for their support and invited them to join him and the team for an official celebration Friday night at the O'Connell Center.

Donovan didn't address the issue of where he might be coaching next season. There's plenty of talk of him heading to the University of Kentucky or the NBA's Miami Heat.

UF sophomore Palak Thakkar, an aerospace engineering student, said Athletic Director Jeremy Foley should do anything to keep Donovan at UF. And Thakkar meant anything.

"When Billy Donovan came off the plane, I was hoping to see him with two things: a suitcase full of money and Jeremy Foley's soul," Thakkar said with a laugh. "We need to keep him. Donovan has built this program from scratch and Florida fans won't go back to the way it was before he got here. We're spoiled now."

Reporter Bill Ward can be reached at (813) 259-7456 or wward@tampatrib.com.