7 Florida

Oh, what might have been for Florida. Coach Billy Donovan was set to welcome one of the premier recruiting classes of all time until 6'11" forward Kwame Brown, who had signed with the Gators last November, decided to go straight to the NBA, becoming the first player taken in the draft, by the Washington Wizards. As if Donovan had needed a constant reminder of what might have been, he then watched as Brown bought a house in Gainesville, just up the street from Donovan's. The jilted coach doesn't hold a grudge, though. "Kwame's going to be a great pro," he says, and he and his staff even helped Brown get into shape over the summer.

Despite losing Brown, Donovan still has plenty of talent and leadership, starting with junior guard Brett Nelson. Lots of college players are gym rats who had a key to the gym in high school, but Nelson was given the key to the St. Albans (W.Va.) High gym by coach Tex Williams when he was in fourth grade. In the 12 years since, Nelson has developed near-perfect shooting form. "I've never seen Brett have a bad shooting day," says senior center Udonis Haslem. "That's not to say he hasn't missed shots, but I've never been able to say, 'Brett struggled today.' "

Nelson, who connected on 45.3% of his three-pointers last season, led the SEC in scoring in conference play (17.9 points a game). He also stepped in and ran the offense after point guard Justin Hamilton went down with a season-ending injury to his left knee last January. (In Florida's last seven games Nelson turned the ball over just 12 times.) Now that Hamilton has recovered, Nelson will move back to shooting guard. Throw sophomore Orien Greene into the mix, and the Gators will hardly miss streaky guard Teddy Dupay, who was stripped of his final year of eligibility because of his alleged involvement with a gambler.

In the frontcourt, 6'10" forward Matt Bonner has the perimeter skills of a small forward, and, says Donovan, "He's the most conscientious, hardest-working kid I've ever been associated with. His day is consumed by academics and basketball. That's all he does." They aren't new obsessions. As a second-grader in Concord, N.H., Bonner made good on his goal of reading 100 books a month, and as he developed as a player, he let his sister, Becky, who's a sophomore forward at Stanford, use a Wiffle bat to guard him during backyard games. Matt has done well with both his loves: He averaged 13.3 points and 7.7 rebounds a game last year, and as a business major, he has a 3.96 GPA. He'll team up front with the 6'9" Haslem—probably the best low-post player in the SEC—and freshman David Lee, a 6'9", 224-pound forward from St. Louis, who's the top recruit in the SEC.

So even without Brown, the Gators could make their third trip to the Final Four in eight years. "You look at great programs, and they have done it over 15, 20 years," says Donovan. "Our pocket of success here has been very small. The big challenge is being able to maintain it."

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