GAINESVILLE, Fla. — There’s high energy at the University of Florida as Gators fans celebrate their big win. A rally took place to welcome the team home from San Antonio. The team’s speaker shouted out, “Please welcome home the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball National Champions Florida Gators!!”
A frenzy of fans showed up to cheer on the NCAA Men’s basketball champions! Student Deja Ford says, “It’s good to be a Florida Gator I love it so much.” Gianna Fernandez agrees, “I was also in the ozone last night. The studying hits hard, but the ozone hits harder.”
Star player Walter Clayton took to the stage saying, “Florida is back on top!” Teammates signed autographs and took pictures with fans. Player Rueben Chinyelu says, “The best part of all this is seeing the smiles on the fans.” Urban Klavzar also talked to us as he posed with fans, “It’s unbelievable. The support here is crazy man. I’ve never seen that in my life. My first year in the United States. I’m just very proud of my whole team. "
“This is a first time I get to celebrate a national championship in Gainesville.” Alumni Rhonda Silvia, who graduated from UF in 1977 came prepared. “I wanted to make sure I had pom poms when the team came out, I do have my (Gator) water bottle container this is probably 40 years old.”
Head Coach Todd Golden talked about his winning team, “They were amazing all year! Thirty-six wins.”
For these Gators, it’s a fantastic feeling! Student Deja Ford says, “We go so hard for football, but basketball, it’s our first time winning in almost 20 years so it’s a really big deal.”
Cadence Busbee told us, “We haven’t had a lot of sports success since I’ve been here so it’s a really big deal. We were cheering for them last night!”
There was an endless line of fans waiting for championship t-shirts. The last time the team captured a men’s basketball championship was back in 2007. A celebration takes place this Saturday at the Swamp.
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