Around once a month throughout the regular season, Florida coach Kelly Rae Finley carved out time for her team to gather and, at least for a few minutes, not think about basketball. In November, for instance, while at the San Juan Shootout, everyone traveling with the program—from players to managers to support staff to the radio broadcasters—pulled the name of another person at random and was asked to write something they appreciated about them. They then exchanged note cards.
In February, the team met again, this time in the film room, and wrote down something they were thankful for and read it aloud in front of one another. “I believe that gratefulness needs to be trained,” Finley says.
Adds senior guard Zippy Broughton: “I think the little things like that are a huge reason why teams can bond and be successful.”
In Finley’s debut campaign, Florida has undergone a revival. It beat five ranked opponents for the first time since the 2005–06 season. And UF’s 21 wins are the school’s most since ’15–16. On Saturday, the No. 10 seed Gators will return to the NCAA tournament for the first time in six years and meet No. 7 seed UCF in the first round.
One of Finley’s mentors, longtime Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith, says, “Coaching is relational.” It’s a philosophy that the 36-year-old Finley works to manifest, and one that has been especially important this year.
Last July, then Florida coach Cam Newbauer resigned after four seasons with the program; a school-issued statement said the decision was made for personal reasons. In the fall, though, the university’s student newspaper, , and ESPN, both reported accounts that Newbauer had been verbally, emotionally and physically abusive to his players. By then, Finley, who was initially hired as an assistant in 2017, was a few months into her tenure as the school’s interim head coach.
Finley has already made her mark on the program. “The care that the team has for the game now, I think it’s way different for us,” senior guard Kiki Smith says.
Key to that added commitment is their coach’s concerted efforts to relate with her players on a personal basis. “When you can connect with each of us on a different level, it’s very special,” Smith says. “When you trust a person, you don’t want to disappoint them and you can see that’s how it is with the team now.”
“[She’s] put Florida back up at the top,” Florida alumna and radio broadcaster Brittany Davis says.
The Gators have shown resilience throughout the year. Entering March Madness, why should they stop believing now?