Early Departures of the Donovan Era, Part II

Written by James Brown, Gatorsfirst.com Co-Founder

I began writing this piece thinking that Nick Calathes could actually go to the NBA and it would be chronologically relevant.  Since that time, Allan Chaney and DeShawn Painter have assured that it is a pertinent topic whether Calathes stays or goes.  After I completed all my research and dove into the writing, I realized it would be easier to follow in a series format.  This is the second in that series. You can find Part I here.

Entering the 2000's, Billy Donovan had successfully doubled the number of trips to the Final Four in school history (after the 99-00 run, that number stood at 2), and built an impressive recruiting resume.  He also had yet to win an SEC Tournament.

We will see that the program from here, featured some additional recruiting highs and lows.  The Gators also went on to capture their first of what would be three consecutive SEC titles, and were on the verge of something very big, indeed.

This second section covers the early 2000's.  Coincidentally, it spans almost the whole of my college career.

2001-02

I’d say this was easily Donovan’s most heralded recruiting class.  McDonald’s All-Americans Kwame Brown, David Lee, and James White were the original members of this class.  Kwame famously became the first high school talent to go #1 overall to Michael Jordan and the Washington Wizards.  Once it was evident he was leaving, it freed up a scholarship, so Donovan brought in Adrian Moss.  Because of his redshirt, and the relatively high turnover of most college basketball programs, it only seemed like Adrian Moss came into school under Norm Sloan.

Also, Teddy Dupay officially left the program in September 2001 for the gambling thing. The best story I can think of right now from the 2001-02 freshmen is about walk-on Max Booker, who, after not walking-on in 2002-03, somehow was included in the halftime shooting contest.  In a lay-up race, he easily passed all the other contestants, and was the only one to dunk, and did so repeatedly, all while struggling to keep his pants on.  Anyway, he’s a walk-on, so I’ll leave him out of the ‘early departure’ list.

2002-03

I don’t know if it’s fair to call this class a ‘dud’.  But consider who was a true freshmen this year, and how none of them made it through all four years; Rashid Al-Kaleem (who I remember mainly for his gum-chewing), Mario Boggan (who made an incredible game-winning three point against Kevin Durant’s Longhorns, which is all the more incredible because of the way Billy used to rip on him about his weight), Christian Drejer (who left the team midseason to play professionally in Europe, after Billy Donovan and co. had to fight extensively to prove his amateur status before he came to UF), Matt Walsh, and Anthony Roberson (who both left early for the NBA and went undrafted).  Roberson was the only McDonald’s All-American. Dallas Baker is also listed by rivals as a SG in this class, but I ignored that.

Preseason media pictures taken by the team actually had James White in them, but he soon transferred to Cincinnati.  Orien Greene, the Gainesville native, transferred to Louisiana-Lafayette, to get away from the pressures of playing in his hometown.  Keep in mind he was transferring AWAY from home, as this contrasts information from later seasons.

The best story out of this freshmen group was actually a sign in the student section; a chick had a sign with a picture of the hair-grooming instrument, saying “I wanna blow Drejer.”  They made her take it down.

Also departing before this season started was John Pelfrey, the top Donovan assistant, and the first member of the ‘Billy Donovan coaching tree.’  While he’s now at Arkansas, a fairly big basketball school, he’s most memorable as the guy who let Christian Laettner hit the most famous shot, ever, in his face.

2003-04

Mario Boggan transferred to Oklahoma State in the offseason and Christian Drejer decided to go to Europe instead of Athens, GA in February 2004.  There’s a joke there, somewhere.

Incoming freshmen; Lee Humphrey (who looks like Air Dog), Chris Richard (another actual in-state guy, Mr. Basketball and whatnot), Ryan Appleby (who is the first recruit I remember who claimed to ‘grow up’ watching Billy Donovan’s up-tempo style), and Mohamed Abukar (who I nicknamed ‘Mustache Ride,’ and who ended up at Florida after the Harrick family was run out of Georgia).  It’s also worth noting Sylbrin Robinson makes another appearance in Gator lore in December 2003, when he returns with Northeastern.

2004-05

Rashid Al-Kaleem left and at the time I could find no information on his departure.  As student athletes don’t transfer to schools right away, this wasn’t completely out of the ordinary, but I never heard anything until he surfaced in the ABA, signing with the Cape Cod team (he’s a Massachusetts resident, I’ll count that as ‘going home’).  I later learned he went the DII route. Ryan Appleby transferred home to Washington.  Mohamed Abukar transferred home to San Diego State.  Incoming freshmen; Cornelius Ingram, the two-sport star; Joakim Noah, the craziest person, ever; Taurean Green, who once watched one of my intramural hoops games; Al Horford, the quiet, true leader of this group; and Corey Brewer, who won one Final Four MOP and probably should have won two.  Brewer was also the only McDonald’s All-American in this class.

Look for Part III tomorrow.

Any Thoughts?

You can view the original article here.