4 Florida

Practice had opened five days earlier, but on a cool, drizzly day in late October, Florida's O'Connell Center was teeming with toddlers. The cause of this invasion was the road show Sesame Street Live, which had come to the O Dome for three performances. Big Bird has since packed his feathers and left town, but there's still a distinctly juvenile air in the arena now that Boy Wonder Billy Donovan and his cast of child prodigies have the place to themselves.

There were snickers four years ago when Florida hired Donovan, a Rick Pitino acolyte who was just 30 at the time. But Donovan has already proved himself a capable bench coach and a peerless recruiter. Last year three of the Gators' top five scorers were freshmen, yet they went 22-9 and reached the Sweet Sixteen. Florida hasn't gotten much older—Donovan will rely heavily on his second straight top five recruiting class—but that doesn't mean the Gators won't be better. "Age has nothing to do with anything," Donovan says. "For me to make preliminary excuses and say we're not that good, we're young, I think that sends the wrong message to our kids."

Still, whether the Gators contend for the national title this season depends on the extent to which last year's freshmen—and in particular versatile forward Mike Miller—have matured. The 6'8" Miller led the team in scoring (12.2 points a game) and was second in rebounding (5.2), but he was hampered by a nagging ankle sprain and exhibited typical freshman inconsistency last season. Exhibit A: He followed his 20-point performance (3 for 4 from three-point range) in a 75-68 win over Kentucky by scoring four points in an 11-point loss to Mississippi.

A South Dakota kid whose hometown nickname was Skinny, Miller also had trouble maintaining weight. He got up to 225 pounds in late December but finished the year back where he started, at 205. "It was all Creatine weight. I'd lose 10 pounds after two practices," he says. Still, the hyperkinetic Donovan found a kindred spirit in Miller, who displayed a passion for the game despite his occasional struggles. A few hours after Miller had gone 3 for 8 from the field in an early win over Florida State, Donovan returned to his office at 1 a.m. and heard sounds coming from the practice gym upstairs. When he went to investigate, he found Miller doing wind sprints. "A lot of people look at shooting and ball handling and passing ability when they recruit," Donovan says. "I look for guys who love the game."

Last year's other freshmen—5'10" Ted Dupay, 6'3" LaDarius Halton and 6'7" Udonis Haslem—also had to work through growing pains, though Haslem proved to be a surprisingly sturdy center. They should have plenty of advice for this year's group of greenhorns. Brett Nelson, a 6'3" guard hailed as one of the best players to come out of West Virginia since Jerry West, will share time with Dupay at the point, while 6'9" Matt Bonner will add depth up front. But the unquestioned gemstone of the incoming class is 6'8" Donnell Harvey, a big-time rebounding talent from smalltown Shellman, Ga. (pop. 1,752). "No traffic lights, two convenience stores, one grocery store. Y'all city-boys wouldn't like it," he says. With those additions the Gators have a bona fide nine-man rotation, meaning Donovan has the depth to unleash the trademark full-court pressure he learned from his mentor, Pitino.

Last season, Florida's NCAA tournament run ended when Gonzaga's Casey Calvary scored on a tip-in with 4-4 seconds remaining to give the Zags a 73-72 second-round win. Most teams try to forget a loss like that, but the Gators prefer to remember. That's why strength and conditioning coordinator Scott Webster wore a Gonzaga T-shirt during preseason workouts. "If we had made it to the Final Eight and lost, we would have said, 'Hey guys, great year,' " Donovan says. "I think our guys feel like their season wasn't complete. They want to do more."

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