April 3, 2006: The University of Florida defeats UCLA 73-57 at the RCA Dome (formerly the Hoosier Dome) in Indianapolis, to win its 1st National Championship in basketball.
In so doing, they become the 1st school ever to hold the National Championship in football and basketball at the same time.
Billy Donovan had played on the Providence College team that reached the NCAA Final Four under Rick Pitino in 1987. Pitino then signed to coach the New York Knicks, and signed Donovan for the 1987-88 season. It would be his only season as an NBA player. Pitino went to the University of Kentucky in 1989, and Donovan joined him as an assistant coach.
He wasn't there when Pitino led Kentucky to the National Championship in 1996, because he was named head coach at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia in 1994. But Pitino's '96 title made colleges look at his former players and assistant coaches. The University of Florida wanted to succeed Kentucky as the dominant basketball program in the Southeastern Conference, and hired Donovan.
It worked wonders: He led them to the SEC regular season title in 2000 and 2001, the Final Four in 2000, and the SEC Tournament in 2005. In 2005-06, with center Joakim Noah, forwards Al Horford and Corey Brewer, and guards Taurean Green and Lee Humphrey, they had a 24-6 regular season. (Noah was the son of French tennis champion Yannick Noah. Horford was the son of former NBA player Alfredo "Tito" Horford. Green was the son of former NBA payer Sidney Green.)
They started 17-0, then lost back-to-back games, by 4 away to Tennessee and 6 away to South Carolina. After 3 wins, they lost to South Carolina again, this time by 4 at home at the O'Connell Center in Gainesville. After 2 more wins, they lost 3 straight: By 4 away to Arkansas, by 4 at home to Tennessee, and by 5 away to Alabama.
At what's now known as the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, they struggled in the SEC Tournament, beating Arkansas by 4, blowing out Louisiana State, and, given a 3rd chance to beat South Carolina, beating them, 49-47, to take the title.
In the NCAA Tournament, they had little trouble with South Alabama and the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. But against Number 23 Georgetown, they could only win, 57-53. Against Number 3 Villanova, they won, 75-62, to get back to the Final Four, at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. There, they ended the "Cinderella" story of George Mason University, of Fairfax, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C., beating them, 73-58.
Their opponents in the Final would be the University of California at Los Angeles. UCLA have won more National Championships in basketball than any other school: 11, most recently in 1995. Indeed, the school has won more NCAA Championships in all sports combined than any other school. Coach Ben Howland's team was ranked Number 7, led by guard Jordan Farmar, who later played on back-to-back NBA Championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. Each school came into the game with a 32-6 record.
But the game was no contest. No Gator scored more than Noah's 16, but he also had 9 rebounds, and essentially controlled the game. Florida led 36-25 at the half, and won, 73-57. They had their 1st National Championship.
They won the National Championship again the next year, beating Ohio State in the Final, with Brewer succeeding Noah as the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player. They had also won the SEC title, both in the regular season and in the Tournament.
In between, Florida's football team beat Ohio State in the Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game, making them the 1st team ever to hold the National Championships in football and basketball at the same time. They had become the 1st team to win the basketball title, then the football title; then, the 1st to win the football title, then the basketball title. Through the 2022 NCAA basketball tournament, they remain the only school to achieve any of these.
Noah was a 2-time NBA All-Star with the Chicago Bulls. Horford was a 5-time All-Star, for the Atlanta Hawks and the Boston Celtics. Brewer won a NBA Championship with the 2011 Dallas Mavericks. In 2020, he was named head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans.
Donovan would win the SEC regular-season title again in 2011, '13 and '14; and also won the SEC Tournament and reached the Final Four in 2014. In 2015, he left to become the head coach of the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder; in 2020, of the Chicago Bulls.
UPDATE: In 2022, Taurean Green rejoined the University of Florida basketball program, as director of player development. In 2023, he was named an assistant coach under Todd Golden. In 2025, they won another National Championship.
In 2024, Al Horford won an NBA Championship with the Celtics, having lost in the Finals in 2022.
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April 3, 2006, as NCAA Final nights tend to be, was a Monday. The NBA played no games on the day. Football was out of season. It was Opening Day for most teams in Major League Baseball:
* The New York Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics, 15-2 at the McAfee Coliseum, as the Oakland Coliseum was then known. Randy Johnson, whom Yankee fans would like to forget ever played for them, was the winning pitcher, while Barry Zito didn't get out of the 2nd inning.
Alex Rodriguez went 3-for-5 with a home run, a walk and 5 RBIs. Hideki Matsui went 4-for-4 with a home run, 2 walks and 4 RBIs. Johnny Damon, whom the Yankees signed away from the Red Sox, went 3-for-7 with an RBI. Derek Jeter went 2-for-6 with a walk and 2 RBIs. Frank Thomas, in his 1st major league game away from the Chicago White Sox, hit his 489th career home run for the A's.
* The New York Mets beat the Washington Nationals, 3-2 at Shea Stadium. Tom Glavine was the winning pitcher. David Wright hit a home run. Xavier Nady went 4-for-4 with an RBI.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 13-5 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Chris Carpenter outpitched Jon Lieber. Albert Pujols hit 2 home runs, and former Phillie Scott Rolen hit 1. For the Phils, Pat Burrell and Ryan Howard hit home runs, and Chase Utley went 3-for-5 with an RBI.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 9-6 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 16-7 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. Matt Murton hit a home run for the Cubs. He and Todd Walker each had 3 RBIs. Both men had 3 hits, along with Juan Pierre.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-2 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-1 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers, 7-3 at Ameriquest Field (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. David Ortiz cheated his way to 3-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBIs.
* The Houston Astros beat the Florida Marlins, 1-0 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston. Roy Oswalt pitched 8 innings of 5-hit shutout ball, and Brad Lidge finished the 5-hit shutout, outpitching Dontrelle Willis and 3 Marlin relievers. The only run came in the bottom of the 7th, when Joe Borowski threw a wild pitch, allowing Craig Biggio to score with Morgan Ensberg at bat.
* The Colorado Rockies beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-2 at Coors Field in Denver. In the bottom of the 11th inning, Brad Hawpe grounded into a fielder's choice that scored Matt Holliday with the winning run.
* The San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-1 at Petco Park in San Diego. Barry Bonds went 1-for-4.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 11-10 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Andruw Jones went 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk and 4 RBIs.
* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-4 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.
* The Chicago White Sox and the Cleveland Indians opened the night before, at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago. The White Sox won, 10-4. Jim Thome, who eventually returned to Cleveland and became their all-time home run leader, hit one in his Pale Hose debut.
* And the Minnesota Twins and the Toronto Blue Jays were scheduled to open the next day, at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. The Jays won, 6-3.
And there were 10 games in the NHL:
* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Washington Capitals, 6-5 at the RBC Center (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh, North Carolina. Ray Whitney scored the winning goal, 1:25 into overtime.
* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat their arch-rivals, the Florida Panthers, 4-1 at the St. Pete Times Forum (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.
* The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Nashville Predators, 3-1 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.
* The San Jose Sharks beat the Dallas Stars, 3-2 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Joe Thornton scored the winning goal, with 21 seconds left in overtime.
* The Ottawa Senators beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 6-4 at Scotiabank Place (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.
* The Buffalo Sabres beat their arch-rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2 in a shootout at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.
* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-3 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.
* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Calgary Flames, 2-1 in a shootout at the Saddledome in Calgary.
* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 7-1 at Rexall Place (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known) in Edmonton.
* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Vancouver Canucks, 1-0 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los
Angeles.
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