A student gets out of class and starts the short stroll from Weimer Hall toward Stadium Road. His eyes are focused straight ahead in a deadpan gaze - the common look for most UF students going from class to class.
But then he looks up and quickly pulls out his cell phone.
"Guess who I just saw," he says to a friend.
After a few seconds' pause… "Al Horford…You know, the basketball player?"
Well, most people know.
He's not shimmying after thundering dunks or having food fights with Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer and Taurean Green in their on-campus apartment anymore, but Horford and Green have at least made a pit stop in their NBA careers this Summer-A session as they are slowly working toward their degrees.
Forget their bulging bank accounts. Those aren't showing at the moment. Green still walks into the UF practice facility with a Checkers lunch bag in one hand and a soda in the other. There's something about a drive-thru restaurant that advertises "Burgers Fries Colas" that doesn't scream affluent NBA lifestyle.
Horford shows up to his TV & American Society class in basketball shorts and a T-shirt - after getting off the RTS busses that all the other "normal" students are on. Horford said he actually wants to blend in with the rest of the student population.
Okay, so they have nice cars, but you can't tell they're NBA players in any other way.
And that's all Horford almost was for a time. After his Atlanta Hawks brought the eventual NBA Champion Boston Celtics to a seventh game in the first round of the playoffs, Horford's first season lasted longer than most would've thought. By the time the Celtics had finally managed their way against the Hawks, Summer A was set to start in eight days.
That's eight days to clean out the locker, deal with the end of the season, move to Gainesville, actually find a place to stay in Gainesville and register for classes.
Good luck, Al.
"When the season was over," Horford said. "I didn't think I was going to do it. I'm like, 'There's no way I can do this.' Then I came, got registered and kind of got back into it, and I was good. But I was hesitant at first. It was intense. I think it was maybe time for me to relax and shut it down for a little bit. Instead, I just came back here and started."
Two members of the '04s are back, albeit only for six weeks. Still, while Horford could be soaking up the sun in his hometown Dominican Republic and Green could be doing the same in his hometown in South Florida, they're sitting in lecture halls listening to information other than how to handle the opponent's offense.
"It was weird," Green said. "I hadn't been to class in I don't know how long.
"People ask why we come back, because we're making a lot of money now. But there's life after basketball, so you might as well come back and get it done. Basketball is not forever. I wish it could be, but it's not."
They will forever be remembered as Gainesville heroes, though. Horford walks on campus, and he gets asked for a photo. Just sitting in Weimer, a parent comes up to him and asks him for his autograph for his son.
"I don't mind it at all," Horford said. "It's a good thing. People want to meet you and just appreciate what you've done. That's something that makes me happy to represent the university the right way."
Being a multi-million dollar athlete and still coming back to earn your degree is doing just that.
"People were kind of in disbelief," Horford said, "and they're still in disbelief, even when they see me two days before summer school's over. You're really back?"
Horford's not kidding.
"I was wondering what he was doing here," UF senior Sean Jordan said. "I turned around and texted my friend, 'Al's in my class right now.'
"They have their priorities right."
They're back and, once again, living together. Green and Horford are staying together with a friend at an off-campus house. However, this time, without Noah or Brewer, the place has become a bit more tidy. According to some members of this season's men's basketball team, the '04s were a much cleaner basketball team than they were housekeepers.
The stench of Five Star Pizza was an aroma that often filled the air.
"Me and Taurean - we manage to keep it clean," Horford said. "We were more neat than Jo and Corey. They were dirty, they could tell you."
But what if they got a visit from their gangly chest-pounding African Viking and goofy Brew Crew?
"No," Green said bluntly. "Definitely not. They'd mess it up."
Even with plush NBA bank accounts, some things just don't change much.
"It's the same dude," Horford said of living with Green again. "Taurean - lot of energy, running around all the time. It's amazing he's the same. A lot of people change, but he's the same person."
Coming back to get your degree isn't a new fad for NBA players. Rare? Yes, but it has happened before. What is extremely rare, however, is coming back after just one year.
Other athletes will come back after they've established their pro careers, not when they're just beginning.
"I feel if I didn't come now, I would have a hard time trying to get back in school again," Horford said. "I probably wouldn't have done it."
Added Green: "School isn't my strong point, but I got to get it done. So that's what I'm here doing. Just get it out of the way. Just getting it finished as soon as possible instead of waiting around forever to come back."
Tell that to other millionaire athletes. Many make promises, but not all fulfill them.
But, then again, the '04s have shown that they are not the typical athletes. Going into the 2005 season, where an NIT championship for UF would have been considered a success. Thirty-nine games later? Oops.
This is just the latest event that this group has surprised Gainesville with. And it probably won't be the last.
