GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Florida is going dancing this week.
The Gators mens basketball team is hitting the road to Iowa on Wednesday to start its NCAA tournament campaign.
Mike White and his side have done a good job turning things around in recent weeks - going from a team that many thought would miss the tournament to a team that was one missed call away from making the SEC Championship game.
On Sunday, their hard work paid off when they were selected as a No. 10 seed in the West Region.
" Congratulated our seniors last night after we watched it together," said White. "Quick turn. It’s about Nevada now. They made a great run last year, they’re really good and we’re excited about the opportunity.”
"It’s definitely been a roller coaster, it’s been fun, definitely," said senior guard Jalen Hudson. "We kind of waited till the last minute to kind of get ourselves in, but I’m just so excited that we were able to get into the NCAA Tournament. Especially, not for me, but also my other seniors that are on the team as well. I’m just excited man. That’s kind of what we came here to do, to Florida, all of us, so I’m just excited to kind of get things going.”
“The key for us was just coming together more, especially on the offensive end," added freshman guard Andrew Nembhard. "Just playing the game, playing for each other and not worrying about who scores and who gets all the glory.”
The seniors taking more ownership of the team is a reason why the Gators were able to turn things around.
“I would say that Kevarrius Hayes over the past four or five weeks has become one of my favorite guys I've coached, really finishing strong. Plays as hard as anybody in the SEC. Thought he deserved to be on the all-SEC defensive team. Getting 11 a game over the last 10. Extremely efficient. He's been terrific. I've said it for a long time. He's been leading this group for two, three, four months. But his leadership has increased and it's become more valuable," said White. "In addition, Jalen Hudson has finished really strong. He's been really locked in from a scouting report standpoint, from a schematic standpoint, even within game huddles, Jalen's really stepped up with how vocal he's being and how engaged he is, especially defensively. He's made a big jump and I think it's carried over to him, obviously, getting more minutes and doing more offensively. He's playing very well right now."
But Hudson and company had to wait to find out their fate. Florida was one of the last ones to find out they made it into the tournament during Selection Sunday.
“Oh my God, man. Yes, I was getting very anxious, they waited for the last bracket to put us in, so I was getting very anxious," remembered Hudson. "But I’m glad that we were able to sneak in there.”
There is no time to celebrate for the Gators.
“Literally probably five minutes after the show it was back to business," said Hudson. "We don’t really have any time to celebrate at all. It’s a quick turnaround, we leave tomorrow in the morning so we celebrate we might miss a day, might miss an opportunity to put some work in."
The Gators will head to Iowa on Tuesday to prepare for a matchup against Nevada on Thursday.
“They’re terrific. they’ve won a ton of games over the past couple years," said White. "They’re big and their old. A really big team, a really physical team. Trying to play eight guys and six are seniors. They’ve got to be, probably, the oldest team in the country. Experienced, talented, athletic, versatile offensively. Defensively, they’re long and athletic and can get away with a lot of switching. Offensively, they’re very efficient. They’re very well coached. They get to the foul line a bunch. They do an unbelievable job of taking care of the basketball. Just a very skilled team. Really good.”
