After a somewhat surprising run to the Elite Eight, Florida basketball is back for more. Will this be the year Florida takes down Kentucky?
Replacing a head coach who made a historical “football school” care just as much about basketball is difficult to do. Not long ago, two-time National Champion coach Billy Donavan elected to venture into the pros with the Oklahoma City Thunder, leaving Mike White in charge of Florida basketball.
White, formally the head coach at Louisiana Tech for four seasons, was next in charge and after a couple of rocky seasons, the Gators had a very impressive season in 2016-17. With a collection of solid athletes who played excellent defense, Florida made a run to the Elite Eight, where they succumbed to an even better defensive unit in Frank Martin’s South Carolina Gamecocks.
The Gators were a balanced squad, with seven players averaging between 7-14 points a night, with their sixth man graduate transfer Canyon Barry (son of NBA Ball of Famer Rick Barry) giving 11 per game himself.
A blow did come for Florida this off-season when Devin Robinson made a surprising decision and decided to go pro, though. Kasey Hill and Justin Leon, two reliable and steady starters graduated and then the team was down three players. White does have ready-made replacements for those players, though, including another high-scoring grad transfer moving from the mid-major level.
Kentucky has dominated the SEC since John Calipari arrived, but is this the year that changes? With the Wildcats reloading and a number of young, yet talented teams hoping for a breakout season, Florida will have its work cut out for them in the conference.
Yet none of those teams, with the exception of the Gamecocks, plays the type of defense that Coach White deploys. If the overall offense of the team can gain consistency, then the sky is the limit for this veteran squad. Question is, which of these guys will become that go-to scorer?