The Florida Gators were an hour or so removed from Saturday night's lopsided defeat of Virginia -- and subsequent berth in the Sweet 16 -- when some calls and text messages started going out to recruits.
And why not? It's always good to strike when the moment (and momentum) is rolling.
The UF coaching staff, though, didn't spend a bunch of time on that. The Gators did not get back to Gainesville until around 1:45 a.m. Sunday, but there were a lot of eyeballs on laptops on the bus ride, either reviewing the UVA tape or getting a scout jump on Wisconsin.
Lots of eyeballs from prospective student-athletes will be on the Gators (26-8) when they face the Badgers (27-9) Friday night at Madison Square Garden in the NCAA East Region semifinals.
"I think any time you have success it's going to continue to help with recruiting," Coach Mike White said Tuesday. "We've been well-received since we've gotten here just because we are Florida, but the reception has been a little bit warmer [with] the way we finished last year, the way we've played this year. Our guys have put us in the Top 25 all year and certainly recruits don't mind seeing that. … Phone calls are returned a little quicker, as are texts. I think our recruiting base knows that Florida is very healthy."
According to ESPN recruiting analysts, the Gators have a top-10 incoming freshman class for 2017-18 in 6-foot-6 guard DeAundrae Ballard (Atlanta), 6-8 forward Chase Johnson (Ripley, W.Va.) and forward/center Isaiah Stokes (Memphis, Tenn.). All three rate among the ESPN Top 100 prospects. UF could sign a fourth player during the spring period, depending on attrition.
Junior forward Devin Robinson and Coach Mike White share a moment late in UF's 66-39 blowout of Virginia.
IT'S A PROCESS
Two years ago, sophomore Kasey Hill, and freshmen Devin Robinsonand Chris Chiozza were watching NCAA Tournament games, not participating in them. The Gators weren't even in the NIT. Instead, they were processing the disappointment of a 16-17 record and — little did they know — were about to be blindsided by Coach Billy Donovan's defection for the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder.
About a month after Duke won the 2015 national title game — against Wisconsin, by the way — Donovan was gone and White, by way of Louisiana Tech, was being introduced as the first new UF head coach in 19 years.
"Nobody really knew who he was," Robinson said.
Everyone in college basketball knew the considerable shadow Donovan left cast upon the program. White included.
Meanwhile, the players had decisions to make. They all came to Florida to play for one of the greatest coaches in college basketball history.
Chiozza remembers getting the call from Donovan, then dialing up his parents and asking them what he should do. That went on with every UF player, with Donovan telling each of them to give White a chance. Eventually, the players talked (and texted) amongst themselves and came up with a plan.
"We all agreed we were going to wait to find out who the new coach was before we made a decision because we were such a close team," Chiozza said. "When we learned it was Coach White, we did a little research on him."
The findings were good.
The first-year on-court results were OK, but not acceptable; no NIT bid ever is with a program like Florida. Along the way, however, the Gators and their coach got to know each other better and played like it.
Now White, who never reached the NCAA Tournament in four years at LaTech, is a Sweet 16 coach, the first in UF history to get the Gators there in his second season.
"I've talked about following Coach Donovan. I mean, someone had to," White said. "He made it a better place. It's the University of Florida. But I'm not competing with Coach Donovan. I'm trying to do the best job I can do and my staff is doing the same. We're just trying to keep it simple."
PRETTY MUCH STRANGERS
Kasey Hill as a freshman at Wisconsin in 2013.
Florida and Wisconsin played each other in back-to-back seasons within the last five years, thanks to the ESPN-sponsored SEC/Big Ten Challenge.
The Gators defeated the Badgers 74-56 on Nov. 13, 2012 at the O'Connell Center, thanks to a perfect shooting night from forward Erik Murphy, who went 10-for-10 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line on his way to a career-high 24 points. On Nov. 12, 2013, the Gators went to Madison without Scottie Wilbekin and Dorian Finney-Smith, both suspended, and were beaten 59-53 at Kohl Center.
That was the first road game (and just the second collegiate game) of Hill's career. He struggled in going two of 11 from the floor for four points, three rebounds, four assists and two turnovers before fouling out. Wisconsin forward Nigel Hayes, now a senior, also was a freshman that night. He had eight points and two rebounds.
Badgers coach Greg Gard was asked about that game in his Monday meeting with the media.
"That has no relevance to this game, for either side; us or them," Gard said. "Different coach on both ends, and different players. I won't even go back and watch that game. Kasey Hill is a different and better player than he was then. The other pieces around him are different. Mike does things differently than Billy. This is a different [Florida] team, a good team, and we'll prepare for that team."
Watch the Gard and senior guard Bronson Koenig news conferences here.
RESPECT CARD
After being many a talking head's upset fodder heading into the opening NCAA weekend, the Gators are again being looked upon as a ripe-for-the-picking higher seed. Wisconsin, out of the rugged Big Ten, is getting a lot of love as far as which team will be headed to the "Elite Eight."
White is cool with that.
"I'd rather that than the alternative, I won't lie to you," he said. "I don't know how much of a factor it plays, but I said it the other day: If you have [something] to get you angry, might as well use it. I understand why a lot of people would pick Wisconsin. Totally understand that. Our guys do too. Maybe it's motivation, maybe it's not."
SPEAKING OF RESPECT …
The Southeastern Conference took some punches during the regular season — and rightfully so, given some of the bad losses to some mid- and low-major programs.
But after the first NCAA weekend carnage, the SEC has three teams still standing in the Sweet 16, which is tied with the Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 for most, and two more than the Atlantic Coast Conference, which saw eight of its nine teams knee-capped during the first and second rounds.
"I felt like the SEC might get a little slept on," senior forward Justin Leon said. "Now, to show that we're a pretty tough conference, I think that speaks good not only for Florida basketball, but just the whole conference."
Added Robinson: "It's a tough league and we don't get talked about a lot."
The Florida Gators were an hour or so removed from Saturday night's lopsided defeat of Virginia -- and subsequent berth in the Sweet 16 -- when some calls and text messages started going out to recruits. 
