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Season In Review: College Basketball

My favorite images from a historic season

By Matt Pendleton Photography

April 15^th, 2020

Season In Review: 2019-2020

The 2019-20 season was historic. I was able to work for five amazing organizations: The Gainesville Sun, Indiana Hoosiers Athletics, Presbyterian College Athletics, Auburn Tigers Athletics, and Florida Gators Athletics. From the women to the men, the postseason was gearing up to be pure magic.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the post-season for college basketball.

While this was not the way I wanted it to end, there was still a ton of great action from regular season. Here's my recap of a fun season of basketball. Feel free to tap the ENJOY button in the top right to show some love.

The Gear

It takes a ton of gear to ensure I can create basketball images. Here's the gear I used this season:

Cameras: Canon 1D-X Mark II, Canon 1D-X
Lenses: Canon 85mm f1.4L IS, Canon 24-70mm f2.8L II, Canon 70-200mm f2.8L II, Canon 200-400mm f4L IS w 1.4x extender, Canon 300mm f2.8L
Gear: Lexar 32GB Memory Cards and Readers, Tiffen UV filters, Hoodman eyecups, PocketWizard Plus X radio triggers
Grip and Support: Black Rapid Double Breathe camera straps, Oben monopods, Peak Design Slide Lite camera straps, f-plate floor plate
Lighting: Available light and Profoto A1X

FULL GEAR LIST

The Season Opener

The Florida Gators Women's Basketball team kicked off the college basketball season for me with an exhibition vs Valdosta State and season opener vs Longwood. This was also the start for freshman sensation Lavender Briggs who had a record freshman campaign.

The Gainesville Sun

I had the unique opportunity this season to expand my client list by working as a correspondent for The Gainesville Sun, the local newspaper in Gainesville.

Brad McClenny is the head staff photographer at the Sun and reached out to me to cover the Florida Gators Men's Basketball game vs. Arkansas.

The Gators had a great game and I had some fun shooting in beautiful Exactech Arena.

Working for Visiting Teams

The great thing about working in Gainesville, Florida is the Florida Gators teams bring in a ton of big-time visiting teams. Many of those teams use images for live tweeting and fan engagement during the game.

This is the best part of being a freelancer. I get to provide a team photographer experience and help the team reach their audience while they are away.

This year I worked for Auburn Athletics, Indiana Athletics, and Presbyterian College as they visited the Gators.

Auburn Tigers

Indiana Hoosiers

Presbyterian Blue Hose

The Coaches

I make it a point to capture unique images of the coaches from the season. There were a few big personalities this year along with amazing in-game attire.

Marquee Match-ups

The Florida Gators Women's Basketball team competes against marquee teams every year. Here's a few action shots from the FSU, Kentucky, Tennessee, LSU, and Georgia games.

Florida State Seminoles

Kentucky Wildcats

Tennessee Volunteers

LSU Tigers

Georgia Bulldogs

The Legend: Billy D

Billy Donovan, former head coach of the Florida Gators Men's Basketball team received the honor of having the court named after him during the Vanderbilt game. This historic event brought back all former Gator greats back to campus from 2006 National Champions (Joakim Noah, Al Horford) to more current greats like Brad Beal and Chris Chiozza. This was truly special to cover.

Other Games

Even the non-marquee games have some great action! Here's a few select images from the rest of the regular season.

End of Regular Season

The Florida Gators Women's Basketball team ended their regular season versus the top seeded South Carolina Gamecocks at home and then the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens, Georgia. It was Link to Pink week and the Gators finished out wearing their best Gator pink.

I traveled with the Gators for their matchup in Athens.

The Postseason

I have the unique honor to travel with the Florida Gators Women's Basketball team for the postseason. The postseason begins in Greenville, South Carolina at the 2020 SEC Women's Basketball Tournament. A short bus trip from Athens, Georgia to Greenville was a great way to catch up on photo editing.

Practice

The Gators earned a first-round bye in the tournament and that meant they had a ton of time to get situated in Greenville. They conducted practices, workouts, and lots of study hall.

I was able to sneak out with the Florida Gators marketing and communications teams to create fresh images for their social media. Downtown Greenville is such a beautiful place even if it rains.

SEC Tournament Media Day and Open Practice

The Gators get the full red carpet treatment during the SEC Tournament Media Day, Gift Lounge, and Open Practice.

SEC Legend: Sarah Lowe

One of the most decorated student-athletes in Florida Gators Women's Basketball history joined the Gators shoot-around to give a talk. Sarah would later be recognized at halftime during the first game as a SEC Tournament Legend.

SEC Tournament: LSU

For their first game, the Gators played LSU as part of the 7-10 matchup. It was close game in the first quarter and had a lot of great action. I get great access as the team photographer.

Ultimately, the Gators fell to the Tigers 73-59 ending their run. Later prior to the start of the NCAA Tournament, the Gators learned that all sports were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Team Behind The Team

Throughout the season, I enjoy capturing the team behind the team. From the managers to health staff to communications, each person plays an integral part to how a team performs. This is my shoutout to them!

Thank You!

Basketball is one of my favorite sports to shoot (and play). I had a blast working for all these great organizations this season. Although the postseason was cancelled, I am optimistic that next season all teams will be hungry to compete.