“Please welcome back to the O-Dome, Gator great Lee Humphrey!”
As the P.A. announcers voice tapered off in his self-echoing way, the applause from fans throughout the Stephen C. O’Connell center picked up; politely at first and then with more gusto, non-coincidentally with growing murmurs of “yea Lee Humprhey from the national championship teams”, and “There he is, right behind the bench”.
Sure enough, sitting on the first row of bleachers with his wife was Lee Humphrey; the sharp shooting smiling kid who was apart of those famed five that brought Florida back-to-back National Championships.
Humphrey and his wife are two months into their new adventure as parents, and decided slipping away from Jacksonville for a night would be a nice evening. They knew exactly where to head.
“We’ve been wanting to come up and see the guys play and see everybody at Florida basketball,” Humphrey said after the game was over. “And it was a fun game to come to.”
Fun is putting it mildly for Gator fans, who saw their boys sprint back from a devastating loss to Kansas and retaliate with an 85-47, win over Yale. The same Yale team who had just beaten UCONN, defending national champs and the team to end the Gators run for the same just last season.
But on this particular Monday evening, the bulldogs looked more like the Washington Generals as Gator players pulled no look assist, ankle-breaking passes and dunks that vibrated the rim along with the O-Dome.
And in perhaps an almost prophetic sign, with the reigning record holder for Florida basketball’s most consecutive 3-point games watching from the stands, the Gators had their best performance from 3-point land all season, shooting 10-19.
Humphrey was impressed.
“I think they’re athletic, and they had a lot of energy…they’re young and they’re going to keep improving and they’re going to be a good team.”
He would certainly know what a good team looks like.
As one of the starting five on the 2006 and 2007 back-to-back national championship teams, Humphrey helped set history that still hangs over him today; literally.
While sitting in the O-Dome on Monday night, he only had to glance up to see banners hanging over the center of the court. There is one to represent every time the Gators have gone to at least a Final Four. But there are only two that say National Champions and for Humphrey, that still boggles the mind eight years later.
“It’s pretty amazing. It’s something you never think will happen but we were fortunate enough to be in a good situation with a good team and we won.”
And while eight years may have caused some memories to go fuzzy around the edges, there are still things that remain with certain clarity.
“I remember just the camaraderie that we had and the teamwork and playing together and everybody rallying behind each other and just having fun playing basketball; going on big runs and winning a lot of games.”
While those teams boasted future NBA starts Joakim Noah and Al Horford, among others, they also relied heavily on Humphrey’s ability to shoot well beyond the arc to win a lot of those games.
During his time at Florida, Humphrey was able to set records for 3-pointers made in a season, in a career and in consecutive games. He also set a NCAA record for most 3-pointers made in the tournament.
Head coach Billy Donovan remembers those shots well, and in the early minutes of Monday’s game, was ready for history to repeat itself.
“After we could not make a 3 point shot, I thought maybe [Lee] was going to come rescue the day a little bit,” Donovan joked afterwards.
“Always great to see him,” Donovan added. “He’s a great kid, I’ve always enjoyed him.”
Humphrey would have been more than willing to “rescue the day” if it meant he could return to the 90 feet of hardwood that made him seem larger than life.
“I wanted to get back out. You can feel the energy in the gym and you remember the atmosphere and running around and fans cheering you on.”
But it was those moments from downtown that Humphrey recalled the most.
“The first 3 that [Michael] Frazier hit I was imaging that being me.”
Frazier has already chased down one of Humphrey’s accolades, by setting a new UF record for most 3-pointers in a season. Frazier is the current leader with 118; Humphrey had 113.
And now Frazier is barreling down on even more of Humphrey’s statistical honors. One that he seems poised to break is the one that Humphrey still holds as the UF leader; consecutive games with a 3 pointer. Frazier needs nine more consecutive games and he will tie Humphrey.
Frazier is also steadily moving up the chart for most 3-pointers in a UF career. A chart which still places Humphrey as second all time. Will Frazier pass Lee before leaving for the NBA?
“Oh he [has the potential], I think he well,” says Humphrey. “He’s playing really well, he’s scoring a lot of points, I think he will.”
If/when he does, it’ll be a title Humphrey is happy to concede.
“He’s a great shooter so it’s a good person to give it up too.”
With a tip of the hat from one great shooter to another, Lee Humphrey returned home to his new baby, leaving his night at the O-Dome behind, full of history he helped create and records for the new guys to chase.