2008–09 Florida Gators Men's Basketball Team
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2008–09 Florida Gators Men's Basketball Team
The 2008–09 Florida Gators men's basketball team represented the University of Florida in the sport of basketball during the 2008–09 college basketball season. The Gators competed in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by head coach Billy Donovan, and played their home games in the O'Connell Center on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus. The Gators were looking to build on their 24–12 record from the 2007–08 season. Preseason Entering the season, the Gators had to overcome the loss of Marreese Speights, who left for the 2008 NBA draft after his sophomore season with the Gators. (Speights was selected in the draft by the Philadelphia 76ers.) To replace him, the Gators added six freshmen to the team. The Gators won their two preseason games against Rollins and Warner. Class of 2008 , - , colspan="7" style="padding-left:10px;" , Overall Rec ...
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Billy Donovan
William John Donovan Jr. (born May 30, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Before moving to the NBA, he served as the head basketball coach at the University of Florida from 1996 to 2015, and led his Florida Gator teams to back-to-back NCAA championships in 2006 and 2007, as well as an NCAA championship appearance in 2000. Donovan was born and raised in Rockville Centre on Long Island, New York, where he played basketball at St. Agnes Cathedral High School. He was the starting point guard for Rick Pitino's Providence College squad and led the Friars to the 1987 Final Four. As such, he is one of only four men (Dean Smith, Joe B. Hall and Bobby Knight being the others) to appear in the NCAA Final Four as a player and win the NCAA national championship as a coach. After college, Donovan spent the 1987–88 and 1988–89 basketball seasons split between t ...
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Eloy Vargas
Eloy Antônio Camacho Vargas (born December 30, 1988) is a Dominican professional basketball player for Paisas Basketball of the Basketball Champions League Americas. He started his collegiate basketball career at Florida Gators men's basketball, Florida, and finished it at Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball, Kentucky, and represents the Dominican Republic national basketball team, Dominican national team in international competition. Professional career After graduating from the University of Kentucky in 2012, Vargas returned to the Dominican Republic to play for Cañeros de La Romana of the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto. On August 24, 2012, Vargas signed a two-year deal with CB Clavijo of the Liga Española de Baloncesto, LEB Oro. He later left Clavijo in September 2012 before appearing in a game for them. He then signed with Alba Fehérvár of Hungary in October 2012 but did not end up joining the team. He went on to play for three Dominican teams in 2013: Cupes de los Pepines, ...
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Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Its coastline lies on the Bight of Biafra, part of the Gulf of Guinea, and the Atlantic Ocean. Due to its strategic position at the crossroads between West Africa and Central Africa, it has been categorized as being in both camps. Cameroon's population of nearly 31 million people speak 250 native languages, in addition to the national tongues of English and French, or both. Early inhabitants of the territory included the Sao civilisation around Lake Chad and the Baka people (Cameroon and Gabon), Baka hunter-gatherers in the southeastern rainforest. Portuguese discoveries, Portuguese explorers reached the coast in the 15th century and named the area ''Rio dos Camarões'' (''Shrimp River''), which became ''C ...
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Douala
Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. It was home to Central Africa's largest port, now being replaced by Kribi port. It has the country’s major international airport, Douala International Airport (DLA). It is the commercial and economic capital of Cameroon and the entire Economic Community of Central African States, CEMAC region comprising Gabon, Congo, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic and Cameroon. Consequently, it handles most of the country's major exports, such as Petroleum, oil, Cocoa bean, cocoa and coffee, timber, metals and fruits. , the city and its surrounding area had an estimated population of 5,066,000. The city sits on the estuary of Wouri River and its climate is tropical. History The first Europeans to visit the area were the Portuguese people, Portuguese in about 1472. At the time, the estuary of Wouri River was known as the Rio dos ...
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Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
Guaynabo (, ) is a Guaynabo barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the northeastern coastal plain of Puerto Rico. Located west of the capital San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan, east of Bayamón, Puerto Rico, Bayamón, south of Cataño, Puerto Rico, Cataño and San Juan Bay, and north of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico, Aguas Buenas, Guaynabo is spread over 9 barrios and the downtown area and administrative center of Guaynabo barrio-pueblo, Guaynabo Pueblo. With a land area of and a population of 89,780 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is part of the San Juan–Bayamón–Caguas metropolitan area, San Juan metropolitan area. The studios of WAPA-TV, the most watched List of television stations in Puerto Rico, television station in Puerto Rico, are located in Guaynabo. History The first European settlement in Puerto Rico, Caparra Archaeological Site, Caparra, was founded in 1508 by Juan Ponce de León in land that is today part of Guayna ...
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Walter Hodge
Walter Wallace Hodge Muñoz (born September 21, 1986) is a Puerto Rican- U.S. Virgin Islander professional basketball player for the Cangrejeros de Santurce of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). Internationally, Hodge plays with the senior U.S. Virgin Islands national basketball team, due to eligibility arising from his Virgin Islander grandfather. After being a reserve point guard in his first two seasons with the Florida Gators, he became the starting point guard for the two-time defending national champions in the 2007–08 season. On June 5, 2013, in appreciation for his contribution to Zielona Góra, his jersey number was retired. Early years Hodge was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He attended Florida Air Academy in Melbourne, Florida, a private military academy, and played high school basketball for the Florida Air Falcons. The Falcons won the state championships, with undefeated teams, during his sophomore and senior seasons. College career Hodge accepted a ...
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Greenville, South Carolina
Greenville ( ; ) is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, sixth-most populous city in the state. The Greenville Metropolitan statistical area, metropolitan area had 928,195 residents in 2020 and is the South Carolina statistical areas, largest metro area in South Carolina. Greenville is the anchor city of Upstate South Carolina, an economic and cultural region with an estimated population of 1.59 million as of 2023. Greenville was established in 1797 and incorporated in 1831. It is located approximately halfway between Atlanta, Georgia and Charlotte, North Carolina, along Interstate 85; its metro area also includes Interstates Interstate 185 (South Carolina), 185 and Interstate 385, 385. Numerous companies have offices within the city; examples include Michelin, Prisma Health, Bon Secours (Virginia & South Ca ...
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Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-largest metropolitan area in the country at 2.84 million residents. The city is also part of the Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area, which had a population of 9.97 million in 2020. Baltimore was designated as an independent city by the Constitution of Maryland in 1851. Though not located under the jurisdiction of any county in the state, it forms part of the central Maryland region together with the surrounding county that shares its name. The land that is present-day Baltimore was used as hunting ground by Paleo-Indians. In the early 1600s, the Susquehannock began to hunt there. People from the Province of Maryland established the Port of Baltimore in 1706 to support the tobacco trade with Europe and established the Town ...
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Winter Park, Florida
Winter Park is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 29,795 according to the 2020 census. It is part of the Greater Orlando, Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Winter Park was founded as a resort community by northern business magnates in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its main street, called Park Avenue, is located in the middle of town. It includes civic buildings, retail, art galleries, a private liberal arts college (Rollins College), museums, a park, a train station, a golf course country club, a historic cemetery, and a beach and boat launch. History The Winter Park area's first human residents were migrant Muscogee people who had earlier intermingled with the Choctaw and other indigenous people. In a process of ethnogenesis, the Native Americans formed a new culture which they called "Seminole", a derivative of the Muskogean languages, Mvskoke' (a Creek language) word simano-li, an adaptation of the ...
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Nick Calathes
Nicholas William Calathes (Greek language, Greek: Νικόλαος Γουίλιαμ "Νικ" Καλάθης, born February 7, 1989) is a Greek-American professional basketball player for AS Monaco Basket, AS Monaco of the French LNB Pro A and the EuroLeague. He is widely considered as one of the best point guards in EuroLeague history. After playing college basketball for the Florida Gators men's basketball, Florida Gators, Calathes won the EuroLeague title with Panathinaikos B.C., Panathinaikos in 2010–11 Euroleague, 2011, and reached another final in 2020–21 EuroLeague, 2021 with FC Barcelona Bàsquet, FC Barcelona. A two-time All-EuroLeague Team, All-EuroLeague First Team selection, he is the EuroLeague career statistical leaders#Assists, EuroLeague all-time assists leader as well as the competition's EuroLeague career statistical leaders#Steals, all-time steals leader. Calathes represents the Greece national basketball team, Hellenic national basketball team international ...
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Milton, Florida
Milton is a city and county seat of Santa Rosa County, Florida, Santa Rosa County, Florida, United States. It is located within the Pensacola metropolitan area. The city was first Incorporated in 1844, however certain areas such as East Milton, Florida, East Milton, Point Baker, Florida, Point Baker, and Bagdad, Florida, Bagdad remain unincorporated. Milton is located in the geographic center of Santa Rosa County, and it is bordered by Pace, Florida, Pace to the west, and Navarre, Florida, Navarre to the south. The population was 10,197 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Etymology Milton was known by various names during its development. Most notable were "Hell-Town" (muggy, inhospitable land covered with briars, mosquitoes, thorns, snakes), "Jernigan's Landing", "Scratch Ankle" (due to the briars that grew along the riverbank), and "Hard Scrabble". According to Florida historian Allen Morris (historian), Allen Morris, "Just which Milton was honored by the final name ...
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ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Communications (20%) through the joint venture ESPN Inc. The company was founded in 1979 by Bill Rasmussen, Scott Rasmussen and Ed Eagan. ESPN broadcasts primarily from studio facilities located in Bristol, Connecticut. The network also operates offices and auxiliary studios in Miami, Orlando, New York City, Las Vegas, Seattle, Charlotte, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. James Pitaro has been chairman since March 5, 2018, following the resignation of John Skipper on December 18, 2017. , ESPN is available to approximately 70 million pay television households in the United States—down from its 2011 peak of 100 million households. It operates regional channels in Africa, Australia, Latin America, and the Netherlands. In Ca ...
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