It's Nov. 22, 1996, and the final buzzer sounds on UF's 80-63 win over Central Florida.
First-year coach Billy Donovan walks down the court, hugging assistants and shaking hands, his jet-black hair having not yet given way to wisps of grey.
The banners hanging from the ceiling of the O'Connell Center were then just a dream -the lines on the 30-year-old's resume still waiting to be filled.
When the Gators take the floor in Auburn tonight, Donovan will be a long way away from that first victory in orange and blue. He'll be going for win No. 300 at UF.
Donovan passed Norm Sloan (235) as UF's all-time leader in coaching wins two seasons ago.
But like most things in life, nothing seems quite like the first time around.
"In today's day and age of coaching, it is really hard to stay at a place for a long period of time," Donovan said. "I think when you see that number there, it takes me back to when it first started and believing in those guys. That changed me as a coach."
Donovan had just taken over a program that had only won 12 games the year before, and the talent pool was a far cry from the Mike Millers, David Lees and Al Horfords of the coming years.
The Gators won 13 games in Donovan's first season.
"We were not the most talented group, but they played really hard and gave me everything they had," Donovan said. "Certainly there were some frustrating games, but I give that team a lot of respect, because they really overachieved."
Players like Joel Reinhart and Dan Williams helped Donovan lay the foundation for what would become one of college basketball's premier programs.
"In their senior year, giving them a chance to go to the Sweet 16 and experience some things that they never had before was special," Donovan said.
As Donovan was taking his first steps into the world of Southeastern Conference coaching, his current players were spending more time on the monkey bars than the basketball court.
Chandler Parsons was an 8-year-old fourth grader at Highlands Elementary in Ms. Kelly's class.
While Donovan focused on notching win No. 1, Parsons was more concerned with the pressing academic matters of the moment.
"I was learning how to write cursive," he said.
But surely even back then, basketball and the Gators were high on his priority list.
"Not in fourth grade, I don't think," Parsons said. "I was all about the recess back then."
Now, as Donovan heads toward the future, he takes the time to look back on the road he has traveled down.
"It is always special when you get a chance to be a part of something, (have an) impact from the ground floor and be a part of the building process," Donovan said. "There is definitely an appreciation for when it all started and everything that went into it."
