The Gators men’s basketball team is losing seniors Kasey Hill, Canyon Barry, Justin Leon and Schuyler Rimmer to graduation, and it could possibly lose junior starters Devin Robinson and John Egbunu to the NBA Draft.
When the final buzzer rang in Madison Square Garden in the Elite Eight on Sunday afternoon, three things became clear: The Gators were completely outplayed by South Carolina, their season was over and, last but not least, senior point guard Kasey Hill’s career as a Florida Gators basketball player was over as well.
By almost every account, the Florida basketball team exceeded expectations this season — only 9.3 percent of NCAA Tournament brackets filled out on ESPN.com had Florida advancing to the Elite Eight.
With Sunday’s 77-70 loss to South Carolina in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, the careers of four Gators came to a close: seniors Kasey Hill, Justin Leon, Canyon Barry and Schuyler Rimmer.
In 2014, Kasey Hill was celebrating a trip to the Final Four.
Chris Chiozza:
Florida’s March magic ran out Sunday.
Down two points. Four seconds left. And the full length of the court.
OK, who saw this coming?
When Florida hired Mike White as the men’s basketball coach to take over for UF legend Billy Donovan, forward Devin Robinson had never heard White's name.
All Chris Chiozza could do was watch.
Ahh, March Madness.
The Gators basketball team is riding a wave of momentum back to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in three seasons. For that, Florida fans can thank the Gators defense, which put on a truly absurd display of dominance in No. 4 seed UF’s 65-39 win over No. 5 seed Virginia on Saturday in Orlando.
Twenty minutes after the game ended, Kasey Hill sat in front of his locker, still wearing orange and blue.
ORLANDO — With five minutes left in the game, Chris Chiozza rifled a pass to Devin Robinson on the right wing.
Kasey Hill has never smiled so wide after shooting an air ball.
ORLANDO — It was fairly obvious on Thursday, even as the final seconds ticked off the clock, and even as the game’s outcome wasn’t in question.
ORLANDO — In the first possession of his first NCAA Tournament game, Kevarrius Hayes lost the ball under the rim.
ORLANDO — Before the Gators set foot on the court at the Amway Center for their first NCAA Tournament action in two years, Mike White turned on the locker room’s TV.
Before Justin Leon takes the court, before he slips on his No. 23 jersey, before the arena doors open and Florida basketball fans flood in, his mom is awake in Arkansas.
Solutions by The State News
