Pat Dooley’s High Five (January 6th)

I hate to start off The Return of the High Five with a negative vibe, but there hasn’t been a ton to cheer about for Florida fans of late.

So, here is the start of the Friday series as Dooley Downer gives you five things to know about Florida’s 7-7 basketball record heading into Saturday’s game against Georgia:

 

* The original idea was to look back at other Florida basketball teams who have been 7-7 or worse at this point in the season. I quit somewhere in the John Lotz Era because there were so many. That gives you an idea of the late success this program has had and how bad it was B.B. – Before Billy. This is the first team this century to be at .500 at this point in the season but there were plenty in the previous century.

 

* Of course, that means neither Billy Donovan or Mike White, the previous two coaches, were among the teams that were in this bad shape at this point in the season.

 

* The last coach to have a team with a worse record than the current team at this point of the season is the man they are honoring Saturday — Hall of Famer Lon Kruger. His first team at Florida — after the house had been cleaned – was 6-8 after 14 games. That was after Don DeVoe’s 6-8 start the year before as interim coach.

 

* The most remarkable team to ever start 7-7 was the 1988-89 team. After that start, the Gators won the SEC regular season title (with a 13-5 record). It was the first time in school history the Gators won it and they also played in the SEC Tournament final losing to Alabama. They lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Colorado State.

 

* There was also the 1981-82 team which started the season 7-7 and still made the NIT. Those Gators lost to South Alabama by a point in the first round. But they did rally to finish third in the conference.