Florida basketball program is healthy though it is not at the level it was when Billy Donovan won back-to-back national championships and was regularly getting guys to the league. Florida has not had a player drafted in the NBA since Brad Beal.
The Stephen C. O'Connell Center was renovated immediately following the 2015-16 season and is very nice. When it reopened it had a corporate sponsorship for the first time and it's called Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Most fans still call O-Dome.
The Rowdy Reptiles sit in a section of the arena in the lower bowl directly across from the team benches.
Mike White is a very good coach he had to replace his associate head coach left to take a head coaching job at FAU. He hired Al Pinkins from Texas Tech it was a terrific recruiter and will Coach the bigs. Pinkins is 6-foot-6 and played small forward at NC State.
Florida gets good crowds, and very good student support. However it is a football school so the casual fan doesn't really focus on basketball until after football has its national Signing Day.
Depending on where you are in the state will determine how popular The Big Three programs are. Obviously Florida dominates Gainesville and Florida State dominates Tallahassee and Miami dominates Miami. Orlando and its suburbs, West Tampa, are huge Gator areas. Jacksonville West until about I-75 is Gator territory. I-75 West, past Tallahassee to the end of the state in Pensacola is Seminole. Tampa is a big Seminole Towne with pockets of Gator fans.
South Florida is where you will see the strongest support for Miami but you will also see pockets of Miami fans in the Orlando and Tampa area. Those are people who fled South Florida and it's crime back in the day but still have their allegiance with Miami.
Also I believe most of the in-state minority students who attend the University of Florida come from Miami and other South Florida cities.
Be sure to tell your nephew that when he does it is always, ALWAYS, right hand on top. If he does left hand on top people will know right away that he is a freshman, probably from out of state, and is to be ridiculed.
He can search YouTube for the chomp and for chants like "It's great to be a Florida Gator".
If you have any other questions about UF I'll be more than happy to answer them here. If I know the answer LOL