Florida Basketball: 5 reasons why Gators can win 2020 national championship

3) Kerry Blackshear Jr.

Let’s talk more about Kerry Blackshear because he provides so much to this Florida team and may end up being their most impactful player.

We already talked about the backcourt and, while that may still be this team’s biggest strength, Blackshear gives them a legitimate threat down low to balance that out. He averaged 14.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game at Virginia Tech a year ago while earning All-ACC honors for his efforts.

At Media Day, White raved about all the things Blackshear adds to the lineup.

"“He’s very talented. He’s smart. He understands the game at a high level. He’s tough. He’s stronger than he looks. He looks strong, but he’s really strong, and he’s difficult to defend. He’s a good defender, as well. He gives us an opportunity to play a little bit differently offensively than we’ve played here in that we’ve struggled to score on the interior. We’ve struggled at times to get to the foul line, to throw it in the post. He’s the best passing big that I’ve coached. He’s good at a lot of things.”"

Blackshear will serve as Florida’s best (and perhaps only) interior scoring threat and, because he’s so good down low, he’ll create a ton of open looks on the perimeter for Florida’s shooters. On the other end, he’s an effective defender in the post that can adequately switch out and guard on the perimeter. And, not to be overlooked, he adds needed experience to a lineup that would’ve relied almost exclusively on underclassmen.

Blackshear is going to do many different things for the Gators, and that projected level of impact is why he was the easy choice to win SEC Preseason Player of the Year.