In 2014, Kasey Hill was celebrating a trip to the Final Four.
In 2017, he watched South Carolina do the same.
But despite falling one game short of where he went as a freshman, Hill said Florida was better this year.
“This is the best team I’ve been a part of,” Hill, a senior, said.
While the loss stung as South Carolina’s bench stormed the court, in the moments after, the Gators realized how improbable a run to the Elite Eight was in the first place.
“I know a lot of people didn’t think, didn’t have us going this far at the beginning of the season, probably didn’t even have us making the tournament,” senior forward Justin Leon said.
After weighing the results from Florida’s last three seasons, it’s not hard to see why the team felt doubted.
In 2014-15, Hill’s sophomore season, the Gators finished with a 16-17 record. They didn’t play in a postseason tournament for the first time in 17 years. UF coaching legend Billy Donovan, who led Florida to two NCAA Championships in 2006 and 2007, left Gainesville to coach in the NBA.
In 2015-16, Hill’s junior season, UF hired Mike White from Louisiana Tech.
White’s Gators finished with a 21-15 record and an NIT appearance, a slight uptick from Donovan’s last year.
In 2016-17, Florida finished with a 27-9 record. UF made the Elite Eight. White won SEC Coach of the Year. The Gators beat SEC powerhouse Kentucky by 22 points.
Before the season, some suspected Florida would improve. Reporters picked Florida to finish second in the conference standings.
But not many predicted Florida would make the Sweet 16, let alone win in the Sweet 16.
Florida’s season was complicated by renovations to the O’Connell Center which kept UF on the road or at neutral sites for its first 11 games.
Florida’s season got more complicated after starting center John Egbunu tore his ACL against Auburn amid a nine-game winning streak.
Florida’s season got even more complicated when the team lost three of its last four games before the NCAA Tournament, leading White to tell reporters that his team had undoubtedly lost momentum.
Multiple analysts picked No. 4 seed UF to be the first team upset in the NCAA Tournament. But Florida beat East Tennessee State.
Then Virginia.
Then Wisconsin.
Then, against South Carolina, the Gators beat themselves, fumbling passes, picking up fouls and hemorrhaging a seven-point halftime lead.
The Gators were forced to watch the Gamecocks — a team they had beat by 15 about a month earlier — swipe the glory Florida wanted.
Florida won’t shower in Gatorade. It won’t cut down the nets. It won’t do any more locker room dances.
But UF can celebrate topping expectations and taking the school on a memorable March run for the first time since Kasey Hill's first season in orange and blue.
“Happy we got the university back into the tournament," Hill said, "and that we made it this far.”
Matt Brannon is the assistant sports editor. Contact him at mbrannon@alligator.org, and follow him on Twitter @MattB_727.
UF head coach Mike White greets fans at the Gainesville Regional Airport on Sunday.
