Gator great, two-time national champion selected as SEC Legend

This critical member of the Oh-Fours is getting his due from the Southeastern Conference.

One of of the greatest point guards to ever don the Orange and Blue inside the O’Connell Center added a much-welcomed accolade on Monday.

Taurean Green, who helped lead Florida to two straight national championships as a member of the Oh-Fours, has been selected as Florida’s 2024 SEC Legends honoree. He will be recognized at the 2024 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee, the program announced.

The talented ball-handler from South Florida helped the Gators claim the 2005, 2006 and 2007 SEC Tournament titles during his three-year tenure. He earned All-SEC honors in 2006 and 2007, while also grabbing the 2006 SEC Tournament MVP award and a spot on the 2007 All-SEC Tournament Team.

He was the SEC’s free throw percentage leader in 2006-07, shooting 84.9% from the charity stripe.

For his career, Green amassed 1,174 points thanks in part to a 38.9% average from beyond the arc, while also dishing 397 assists to his talented teammates. He owns the two highest minutes-played seasons in school history, logging 1,328 in 2006-07 and 1,302 in 2005-06.

Additionally, Green holds one of the program’s top-10 single seasons in assists (184, 6th, 2005-06), free throws made (171, 4th, 2005-06), free throw percentage (88.6%, 6th, 2005-06) and 3-pointers made (88, 9th, 2005-06; 82, 10th, 2006-07), while his 37 consecutive free throws made in 2005-06 were a school record at the time and are still the second-longest streak by a Gator on record.

The former Gator was a 2007 NBA draft pick by the Portland Trail Blazers, playing with them and the Denver Nuggets before crossing the Atlantic to continue his professional career. He spent time in France, Greece and Israel before returning to the States, where he got his first gig under his former head coach Billy Donovan with the Chicago Bulls in 2021-22.

Since then, Green served as director of player development on Todd Golden’s staff last season before being promoted to to assistant coach, player development ahead of the 2023-24 season.

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