Saturday night was a spectacle.
The 10,000 fans that loaded into the O'Connell Center weren't in attendance just to watch a basketball game. They came to help welcome home the pioneer who molded Florida basketball into an elite national championship-winning program.
The ovation for former UF head coach Billy Donovan when he entered out onto the court, the one that now showcases his name, at halftime was deafening.
And deservedly so.
During 19 seasons at Florida, Donovan accumulated 467 wins, four Final Four appearances and two national championship titles.
His assistant coaches admired him, his players loved him, and that was evident by the abundant amount of them that traveled to Gainesville just to support him.