2007–08 Florida Gators men's basketball team

The 2007–08 Florida Gators men's basketball team represented the University of Florida in the sport of basketball during the 2007–08 college basketball season. The Gators competed in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by head coach Billy Donovan, and played their home games in the O'Connell Center on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus.

2007–08 Florida Gators men's basketball
National Invitation Tournament, Semifinals
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	East
Record	24–12 (8–8 SEC)
Head coach	Billy Donovan
Assistant coach	Larry Shyatt Lewis Preston Rob Lanier
Home arena	O'Connell Center

2007–08 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
No. 5 Tennessee	14	–	2		.875			31	–	5		.861
Kentucky	12	–	4		.750			18	–	13		.581
No. 19 Vanderbilt	10	–	6		.625			26	–	8		.765
Florida	8	–	8		.500			24	–	12		.667
South Carolina	5	–	11		.313			14	–	18		.438
Georgia †	4	–	12		.250			17	–	17		.500
West
Mississippi State	12	–	4		.750			23	–	11		.676
Arkansas	9	–	7		.563			23	–	12		.657
Ole Miss	7	–	9		.438			24	–	11		.686
LSU	6	–	10		.375			13	–	18		.419
Alabama	5	–	11		.313			17	–	16		.515
Auburn	4	–	12		.250			14	–	16		.467
† 2008 SEC tournament winner As of April 7, 2008 Rankings from AP Poll

The Gators were looking to rebuild after their 2006–07 season, when they won their second consecutive NCAA national championship. However, none of the starters returned from their 2006–07 season.

Class of 2007

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Adam Allen SG	Milton, Florida	Milton HS	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jun 5, 2006
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 78
Nick Calathes PG	Winter Park, Florida	Lake Howell HS	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Apr 28, 2005
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 97
Jai Lucas PG	Bellaire, Texas	Bellaire HS	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	145 lb (66 kg)	May 14, 2007
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 97
Chandler Parsons SF	Winter Park, Florida	Lake Howell HS	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Aug 26, 2006
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 96
Alex Tyus PF	Cincinnati, Ohio	Harmony Christian HS	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jul 11, 2006
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 91
Overall Recruiting Rankings: Scout – 3 Rivals – 1 ESPN –

Roster

Name	Number	Position	Height	Weight	Class	Hometown
Adam Allen	14	F	6–8	206	Freshman	Milton, Florida
Nick Calathes	33	G/F	6–6	185	Freshman	Winter Park, Florida
Hudson Fricke	40	G	6–1	185	Freshman	Greenville, South Carolina
Walter Hodge	15	G	6–0	170	Junior	Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
Jai Lucas	5	G	5–11	150	Freshman	Houston, Texas
John Hamilton	7	F	6–9	245	Junior	Orlando, Florida
Chandler Parsons	25	F	6–9	200	Freshman	Winter Park, Florida
Shane Payne	4	G/F	6–5	180	Freshman	Weston, Florida
Marreese Speights	34	F/C	6–10	250	Sophomore	St. Petersburg, Florida
Alex Tyus	23	F	6–8	203	Freshman	St. Louis, Missouri
Michael Weisenberg	22	F	6–7	190	Junior	Long Beach, New York
Dan Werner	21	F	6–7	235	Sophomore	Middletown, New Jersey

Coaches

Name	Type	College	Graduating year
Billy Donovan	Head coach	Providence College	1987
Larry Shyatt	Associate head coach	College of Wooster	1973
Lewis Preston	Assistant coach	Virginia Military Institute	1993
Rob Lanier	Assistant coach	St. Bonaventure University	1990
Darren Hertz	Assistant to the head coach	University of Florida	1997
Adam Beaupre	Video coordinator	University of Florida	1999
Matt Herring	Strength & Conditioning Coordinator	University of Texas Southwestern	1994
Dave Werner	Athletic trainer	Eastern Kentucky University
Tom Williams	Academic Counselor

2007–2008 schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Exhibition
November 1, 2007* 8:00 pm		Flagler	W 97–51		O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
November 5, 2007* 7:00 pm		Lynn	W 101–65		O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
Regular season (Non-conference play)
November 9, 2007* 8:00 pm, FSN		North Dakota State	W 75–65	1–0	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
November 11, 2007* 3:00 pm, SUN		Tennessee Tech	W 93–65	2–0	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
November 14, 2007* 7:00 pm, FSN		North Carolina Central	W 105–51	3–0	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
November 17, 2007* 7:00 pm, FSN		Rutgers	W 88–63	4–0	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
November 20, 2007* 8:00 pm, SUN	No. 24	North Florida	W 102–51	5–0	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
November 23, 2007* 8:00 pm, FSN	No. 24	Florida State	L 51–65	5–1	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
November 27, 2007* 7:00 pm, FSN		Stetson	W 71–48	6–1	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
November 30, 2007* 7:30 pm, FSN		vs. Vermont	W 86–61	7–1	St. Pete Times Forum  St. Petersburg, FL
December 3, 2007* 7:00 pm, FSN		Jacksonville	W 88–72	8–1	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
December 5, 2007* 7:00 pm, SUN		Florida A&M	W 91–52	9–1	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
December 15, 2007* 3:00 pm, SUN		vs. Georgia Southern	W 52–49	10–1	Veterans Memorial Arena  Jacksonville, FL
December 19, 2007* 7:00 pm, FSN		Charleston Southern	W 89–64	11–1	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
December 22, 2007* 4:00 pm, CBS		at Ohio State	L 49–62	11–2	Jerome Schottenstein Center  Columbus, OH
December 29, 2007* 6:30 pm, FSN		vs. Temple	W 86–69	12–2	BankAtlantic Center  Sunrise, FL
January 2, 2008* 8:00 pm, FSN		High Point	W 88–70	13–2	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
Regular season (SEC conference play)
January 8, 2008 9:00 pm, ESPN		at Alabama	W 90–83	14–2 (1–0)	Coleman Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, AL
January 12, 2008 12:00 pm, Raycom		Auburn	W 72–56	15–2 (2–0)	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
January 16, 2008 8:00 pm, Raycom		at No. 15 Ole Miss	L 87–89	15–3 (2–1)	Tad Smith Coliseum  Oxford, MS
January 19, 2008 9:00 pm, ESPN		Kentucky ESPN College GameDay	W 81–70 OT	16–3 (3–1)	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
January 23, 2008 8:00 pm, Raycom		at South Carolina	W 73–71	17–3 (4–1)	Colonial Center  Columbia, SC
January 27, 2008 1:00 pm, Raycom		No. 13 Vanderbilt	W 86–64	18–3 (5–1)	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
February 2, 2008 3:00 pm, Raycom	No. 19	at Arkansas	L 61–80	18–4 (5–2)	Bud Walton Arena  Fayetteville, AR
February 5, 2008 9:00 pm, ESPN	No. 22	at No. 7 Tennessee	L 82–104	18–5 (5–3)	Thompson-Boling Arena  Knoxville, TN
February 9, 2008 3:00 pm, Raycom	No. 22	Georgia	W 77–67	19–5 (6–3)	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
February 13, 2008 8:00 pm, Raycom		LSU	L 73–85	19–6 (6–4)	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
February 16, 2008 3:00 pm, Raycom		at No. 19 Vanderbilt	L 58–61	19–7 (6–5)	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, TN
February 20, 2008 8:00 pm, Raycom		South Carolina	W 85–82	20–7 (7–5)	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
February 27, 2008 7:30 pm, SUN		at Georgia	W 77–64	21–7 (8–5)	Stegeman Coliseum  Athens, GA
March 1, 2008 4:00 pm, CBS		Mississippi State	L 59–68	21–8 (8–6)	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
March 5, 2008 9:00 pm, Raycom		No. 4 Tennessee	L 86–89	21–9 (8–7)	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
March 9, 2008 12:00 pm, CBS		at Kentucky	L 70–75	21–10 (8–8)	Rupp Arena  Lexington, KY
SEC tournament
March 13, 2008 7:30 pm, Raycom		vs. Alabama SEC tournament first round	L 69–80	21–11	Georgia Dome  Atlanta, GA
National Invitation Tournament
March 19, 2008 9:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 2	No. 7 San Diego St NIT First Round	W 73–49	22–11	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
March 21, 2008 9:30 pm, ESPNU	No. 2	No. 3 Creighton NIT Second Round	W 82–54	23–11	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
March 25, 2008 9:00 pm, ESPN	No. 2	at No. 1 Arizona State NIT Quarterfinal	W 70–57	24–11	Wells Fargo Arena  Tempe, AZ
April 1, 2008 7:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 2	vs. No. 2 Massachusetts NIT Semifinal	L 66–78	24–12	Madison Square Garden  New York City, NY
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from Coaches' Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.