A glimpse inside the euphoric postgame locker room

	The Walk-On Andrew Abramson is a senior at Florida whose work has appeared in the Miami Herald, the Daytona Beach News-Journal and the Independent Florida Alligator.
	When asked what he was thinking after the game, Noah replied, "About how cool I was." Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images Sport

By Andrew Abramson

One minute Chris Richard would smile, scream and revel in the glory. The next second he would stare aimlessly into space, unsure how to grasp the magnitude of everything.

Welcome to the national championship locker room. Nothing compares.

You could see it in their eyes -- the shock and bewilderment. Not because the Gators didn't believe they'd win a national title, but because once you reach the pinnacle of basketball, what's next? You spend your entire life working for that moment when you can cut down the nets, stand at half-court and sing the corny One Shining Moment.

"We're shining right now," MVP Joakim Noah said. "We feel so good."

Florida assistant coach Anthony Grant approached Lee Humphrey and told him to pinch himself. Lee felt the pinch. He wasn't dreaming. But the look in his eyes said otherwise, as if he was sleepwalking through an amazing dream that couldn't be reality.

"It hasn't set in. I don't think it will for a while," Humphrey said. "I still feel like I've got to practice tomorrow, lift weights."

How do you react when you realize that one 40-minute game could change your destiny? "It changes your life for sure," Richard said. "Not many people can say they won a national championship."

Especially at the University of Florida. "We'll be remembered forever," Richard said. "We're the first to win it at Florida, and no one will ever forget that."

Noah was the locker room's stud. Everyone gravitated to him. The energy shooting through the room began and ended with the to-be lottery pick in the NBA draft. Noah was asked what he was feeling when the final buzzer sounded and Florida's improbable championship was won. Noah said he didn't necessarily feel proud or thrilled but rather "I was just thinking about how cool I was," Noah said. "I felt real cool for some reason."

In the ecstatic locker room players hugged reporters -- a major no-no in the world of sports and journalism  But hey, when you're a cool kid on top of the world, you get to break the rules.