WINTER 200442 UF TODAY 43 UF TODAY 43Jim

Bur

gess

(BEE

’63)

By the NumbersNational Championship Style

0 Number of national sports pundits who pre-dicted the Gator men’s basketball team’s bracket-busting run at the start of the 65-team NCAA tournament in March

12,294,000 Households that tuned into the NCAA championship game, according to Nielsen ratings

10,406 People at the post-champion-ship pep rally April 7 in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center

.744 Free-throw percentage for the team

195,331 Gator fans attending the games over the season

5,000+/- Gators who attended the Final Four pep rallies in Indianapolis

3 Times UF has competed in the Final Four

$70,000 Amount the UF Athletic Asso-ciation paid to purchase the NCAA championship floor, which will be sanded, repainted with Gator colors and installed in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center for next season

6,000 Gator fans at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center to watch the championship game broadcast on a large-screen television

13 NCAA tournament appearances, seven of which were with head coach Billy Donovan

Untallied Total number of records broken by the 2005-06 Gator men’s basketball team, in-cluding best start in school history, longest winning streak in school history, longest string of consecu-tive home victories and most blocked shots in NCAA championship game history

For the latest UF sports news, visit www.gatorzone.com.

SP

OR

TS

As th

e lo

ne u

pper

clas

sman

sta

rter

on

last

se

ason

’s N

atio

nal C

ham

pion

ship

bas

ketb

all

team

, it

wou

ld s

eem

Lee

Hum

phre

y m

ight

fe

el n

egle

cted

by

the

atte

ntio

n re

ceiv

ed b

y th

e 20

05-0

6 “f

ab fo

ur”

unde

rcla

ssm

en J

oaki

m N

oah,

Al H

orfo

rd,

Tau

rean

Gre

en a

nd C

orey

Bre

wer

.B

ut r

athe

r th

an q

uiet

ly s

tayi

ng o

ut o

f the

spo

tlig

ht,

Hum

phre

y, n

ow a

sen

ior,

care

fully

cho

oses

his

tim

es t

o sh

ine,

oft

en r

esul

ting

in g

ame-

win

ning

per

form

ance

s.

One

suc

h pe

rfor

man

ce w

as d

urin

g th

e G

ator

s’ N

CA

A T

ourn

amen

t se

mi-

final

gam

e in

Ind

iana

polis

, w

here

his

3-p

oint

sho

otin

g th

rust

UF

into

the

Na-

tion

al C

ham

pion

ship

gam

e. U

F’s

win

was

larg

ely

at-

trib

uted

to

Hum

phre

y, e

arni

ng h

im p

laye

r of

the

gam

e ac

cola

des.

Ove

rall,

he

mad

e te

n 3-

poin

t ba

sket

s in

the

fin

al t

wo

tour

nam

ent

gam

es, t

ying

him

at

seco

nd a

ll-ti

me

for

3-po

int

accu

racy

in t

he F

inal

Fou

r.“R

epet

itio

n is

the

big

gest

thi

ng, b

ut I

had

goo

d in

stru

ctio

n,”

Hum

phre

y sa

ys o

f his

long

-ran

ge s

hoot

-in

g sk

ills.

“A

lot

of it

is a

God

-giv

en g

ift,

but

you

hav

e to

tra

in a

s w

ell.”

Hum

phre

y ha

s be

en t

rain

ing

sinc

e he

mad

e hi

s fir

st

buck

et a

t ag

e 5

from

beh

ind

the

back

boar

d.“M

y da

d is

a m

iddl

e sc

hool

bas

ketb

all c

oach

, so

I w

as a

lway

s ar

ound

the

gym

,” s

ays

the

Mar

yvill

e,

Tenn

., na

tive

. “H

e an

d I

used

to

shoo

t ev

ery

nigh

t;

thos

e ar

e so

me

of m

y be

st c

hild

hood

mem

orie

s.”

Hum

phre

y’s

pare

nts,

Ton

y an

d M

ache

ala,

who

bot

h w

ork

for

the

Tenn

esse

e sc

hool

sys

tem

, pro

vide

d th

e fo

unda

tion

for

his

bask

etba

ll, e

duca

tion

and

cha

ract

er,

says

UF

head

coa

ch B

illy

Don

ovan

.“H

e is

as

hum

ble

an a

thle

te a

s I’v

e ev

er b

een

arou

nd, a

nd I

thi

nk a

lot

of t

hat

goes

bac

k to

his

up-

brin

ging

,” s

ays

Don

ovan

. “H

e is

a c

lass

indi

vidu

al, a

nd

he w

ill b

e su

cces

sful

in a

ll w

alks

of l

ife.

”

Des

pite

his

suc

cess

as

a G

ator

, Hum

phre

y sa

ys h

e gr

ew u

p a

Uni

vers

ity

of T

enne

ssee

fan.

“Ten

ness

ee n

ever

rea

lly r

ecru

ited

me,

so

I di

dn’t

have

the

cho

ice

of g

oing

the

re. I

love

the

Uni

vers

ity

of

Flor

ida

— it

’s be

en a

gre

at fi

t fo

r m

e ba

sket

ball-

wis

e.”

UF

has

also

pro

vide

d an

aca

dem

ic fi

t fo

r th

e ap

-pl

ied

phys

iolo

gy a

nd k

ines

iolo

gy m

ajor

. Las

t se

ason

, H

umph

rey

was

nam

ed t

o th

e A

cade

mic

All-

Am

eric

an

Seco

nd T

eam

and

was

aw

arde

d th

e So

uthe

aste

rn C

on-

fere

nce

Men

’s B

aske

tbal

l Sch

olar

Ath

lete

of t

he Y

ear.

Whi

le H

umph

rey

is n

ot c

erta

in o

f pos

t-gr

adua

tion

pl

ans,

he

says

he

wou

ld li

ke a

cha

nce

to p

lay

prof

es-

sion

al b

aske

tbal

l or

coac

h, e

choi

ng h

is r

ole

mod

el

— h

is d

ad.

For

the

pres

ent,

Hum

phre

y w

ill fo

cus

on c

urre

nt

goal

s —

to

be a

lead

er o

n a

team

str

ivin

g to

rep

eat

the

succ

ess

of t

he 2

005-

06 s

easo

n. H

is r

ole

as a

lead

er is

be

st s

umm

ariz

ed b

y hi

s fo

rmer

tea

mm

ate

and

lone

20

05-0

6 se

nior

, Adr

ian

Mos

s.“L

ee is

a t

rue

team

mat

e, n

o be

tter

way

to

put

it,”

M

oss

says

. “H

e w

orks

rea

lly h

ard

in t

he g

ym; h

e w

orks

re

ally

har

d in

the

cla

ssro

om a

nd s

how

s th

e yo

unge

r gu

ys h

ow im

port

ant

it is

. And

did

I m

enti

on h

e sh

oots

th

e lig

hts

out

of a

gym

?”

By M

ered

ith Je

an M

orto

n (B

SJ ’0

6)

Long

S

hot

SUMMER 200642