1998–99 Florida Gators men's basketball team

The 1998–99 Florida Gators men's basketball team represented the University of Florida in the sport of basketball during the 1998–99 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 team was the first strong team for Coach Donovan at Florida. The Gators made the Sweet Sixteen, before being upset by Gonzaga. At the end of that game, Florida guard Kenyan Weaks was called for a controversial traveling violation.

1998–99 Florida Gators men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	East
Ranking
Coaches	No. 17
AP	No. 23
Record	22–9 (10–6 SEC)
Head coach	Billy Donovan (3rd season)
Assistant coaches	John Pelphrey (3rd season) Anthony Grant (3rd season) Donnie Jones (3rd season)
Home arena	O'Connell Center
Seasons ← 1997–98 1999–2000 →

1998–99 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
No. 20 Tennessee	12	–	4		.750			21	–	9		.700
No. 8 Kentucky †	11	–	5		.688			28	–	9		.757
No. 23 Florida	10	–	6		.625			22	–	9		.710
Georgia	6	–	10		.375			15	–	15		.500
Vanderbilt	5	–	11		.313			14	–	15		.483
South Carolina	3	–	13		.188			8	–	21		.276
West
No. 4 Auburn	14	–	2		.875			29	–	4		.879
No. 17 Arkansas	9	–	7		.563			23	–	11		.676
Ole Miss	8	–	8		.500			20	–	13		.606
Mississippi State	8	–	8		.500			20	–	13		.606
Alabama	6	–	10		.375			17	–	15		.531
LSU	4	–	12		.250			12	–	15		.444
† 1999 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

Senior captains were guard Eddie Shannon and forward Greg Stolt. The team featured freshmen Mike Miller, Teddy Dupay, and Udonis Haslem.

Roster

1998–99 Florida Gators men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G/F 13 Mike Miller 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Mitchell Mitchell, South Dakota C 50 Udonis Haslem 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Fr Miami Senior Miami, Florida F 24 Greg Stolt 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Sr Grissom Huntsville, Alabama G 3 Eddie Shannon 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 162 lb (73 kg) Sr Cardinal Newman West Palm Beach, Florida G 5 Teddy Dupay 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 178 lb (81 kg) Fr Mariner Ft. Myers, Florida F 25 Major Parker 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 218 lb (99 kg) So Cardinal Gibbons Fort Lauderdale, Florida G 52 Kenyan Weaks 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 198 lb (90 kg) Jr   Concord, North Carolina F 00 Brent Wright 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) So Miami Senior Miami, Florida	Head coach Billy Donovan Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster

^[2]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 16, 1998*		Georgia Southern	W 76–62	1–0	Stephen C. O'Connell Center  Gainesville, Florida
Nov 20, 1998*		at Florida State	W 82–66	2–0	Donald L. Tucker Center  Tallahassee, Florida
Nov 23, 1998*		Bethune-Cookman	W 91–61	3–0	Stephen C. O'Connell Center  Gainesville, Florida
Nov 30, 1998*		Coastal Carolina	W 110–68	4–0	Stephen C. O'Connell Center  Gainesville, Florida
Dec 5, 1998*		Charleston Southern	W 80–67	5–0	Stephen C. O'Connell Center  Gainesville, Florida
Dec 9, 1998*		at No. 3 Duke	L 86–116	5–1	Cameron Indoor Stadium  Durham, North Carolina
Dec 12, 1998*		Jacksonville	W 79–72	6–1	Stephen C. O'Connell Center  Gainesville, Florida
Dec 20, 1998*		Long Island University	W 119–61	7–1	Stephen C. O'Connell Center  Gainesville, Florida
Dec 22, 1998*		Morehead State	W 117–70	8–1	Stephen C. O'Connell Center  Gainesville, Florida
Dec 27, 1998*		vs. Michigan	W 79–63	9–1
Jan 2, 1999		at No. 7 Kentucky	L 58–93	9–2 (0–1)	Rupp Arena  Lexington, Kentucky
Jan 6, 1999		Vanderbilt	W 90–59	10–2 (1–1)	Stephen C. O'Connell Center  Gainesville, Florida
Jan 10, 1999		Georgia	W 72–62	11–2 (2–1)	Stephen C. O'Connell Center  Gainesville, Florida
Jan 13, 1999		at South Carolina	W 68–51	12–2 (3–1)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Jan 16, 1999		at No. 8 Auburn	L 69–88	12–3 (3–2)	Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum  Auburn, Alabama
Jan 20, 1999		at LSU	W 77–58	13–3 (4–2)	Maravich Assembly Center  Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jan 23, 1999		Tennessee	W 93–72	14–3 (5–2)	Stephen C. O'Connell Center  Gainesville, Florida
Jan 27, 1999	No. 25	Alabama	W 72–68	15–3 (6–2)	Stephen C. O'Connell Center  Gainesville, Florida
Jan 30, 1999	No. 25	at Mississippi State	L 63–66	15–4 (6–3)	Humphrey Coliseum  Starkville, Mississippi
Feb 4, 1999		No. 5 Kentucky	W 75–68	16–4 (7–3)	Stephen C. O'Connell Center  Gainesville, Florida
Feb 6, 1999		Ole Miss	L 68–79	16–5 (7–4)	Stephen C. O'Connell Center  Gainesville, Florida
Feb 10, 1999	No. 23	at Tennessee	L 56–91	16–6 (7–5)	Thompson-Boling Arena  Knoxville, Tennessee
Feb 13, 1999	No. 23	at Georgia	W 75–64	17–6 (8–5)	Stegeman Coliseum  Athens, Georgia
Feb 16, 1999	No. 23	Arkansas	W 74–61	18–6 (9–5)	Stephen C. O'Connell Center  Gainesville, Florida
Feb 24, 1999	No. 19	South Carolina	W 89–61	19–6 (10–5)	Stephen C. O'Connell Center  Gainesville, Florida
Feb 27, 1999	No. 19	at Vanderbilt	L 70–71 ^OT	19–7 (10–6)	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, Tennessee
SEC Tournament
Mar 4, 1999*	No. 21	vs. LSU Quarterfinal	W 97–75	20–7	Georgia Dome  Atlanta, Georgia
Mar 5, 1999*	No. 21	vs. No. 22 Arkansas Semifinal	L 74–75	20–8	Georgia Dome  Atlanta, Georgia
NCAA Tournament
Mar 11, 1999*	(6 W) No. 23	vs. (11 W) Penn First round	W 75–61	21–8	KeyArena  Seattle, Washington
Mar 13, 1999*	(6 W) No. 23	vs. (14 W) Weber State Second Round	W 82–74 ^OT	22–8	KeyArena  Seattle, Washington
Mar 18, 1999*	(6 W) No. 23	vs. (10 W) Gonzaga West Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	L 72–73^[3]	22–9	US Airways Center  Phoenix, Arizona
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Eastern.

Rankings

Main article: 1998–99 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

References

1. sports-reference.com 1998-99 Southeastern Conference Season Summary
2. "1998-99 Men's Basketball Roster". University of Florida Athletics. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
3. "Gonzaga, Connecticut March On". The Washington Post. March 19, 1999. Retrieved June 27, 2021.