Florida Gators basketball looking for answers in Egbunu’s absence

The Florida Gators basketball team finds themselves in a very familiar situation right now, having to close out the season without their starting center for the second year in a row.

Only this season, the stakes are much higher. Florida is a lock for the NCAA Tournament and is in the running for a top finish in the SEC. When the news came out that John Egbunu would miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL suffered at Auburn, the dreams of a strong finish to the season became much harder to reach.

“It’s two seasons in a row when he can’t finish the season with his teammates,” said head coach Mike White. “He’s worked really hard. He tried to fight through it last year when he could before the surgery with his thumb. He’d really been playing well as of late. It’s easy to say, people say that, ‘He’s playing his best basketball’. He really was. He was kind of in a slump there midseason, and the last two to three weeks he’d really been coming. The exact game he gets hurt, Auburn, and he’s off to a great start. He had a couple of monster dunks. He was making some big plays. It’s really unfortunate for our team.”

There was a small glimmer of hope that the injury wouldn’t sideline Egbunu for the remainder of the season when his knee was not very swollen or in a lot of pain after the Auburn game. The next day, leading up to his MRI, it began to swell more and more and athletic trainer Duke Werner warned White to expect the worst.

When the results came back, it confirmed the thing Florida players and coaches dreaded. His left ACL was torn. Egbunu then had to face his teammates and tell them everything they did not want to hear.

“Our team is shook-up, of course,” White said. “It was an emotional meeting when John let the team know that he was out for the season. Our guys were really shook-up. I feel bad for Kasey and Justin and Canyon and Schuyler and the other seniors and the rest of his teammates, but you feel terrible for John.”

While Florida’s road is a much more difficult one now, the team must find a way to pull together and move on. The Gators will rely on several players to step in and fill the hole Egbunu leaves. It will take a combined effort that could include Florida moving to some smaller lineups.

“Guys need to step up,” said White. “That’s our only choice. Kevarrius Hayes has got to be really solid. He’s got to be intelligent with his amount of physicality. We’ve got to try and do our best to keep him out of foul trouble. Schuyler Rimmer has got to be ready. We’ve got to get Gorjok Gak healthy. We’ve got to get Keith Stone back healthy. Justin Leon will get a couple of reps today at the five just in case we need to go there with foul trouble or other things like that.”

Hayes is obviously the biggest factor out of those players who will take Egbunu’s place. It is not a role he hasn’t taken on before, as he finished last season in the same situation and started seven games for the Gators during their previous seven-game win streak, but he will carry a much heavier load now.

He will have to play more minutes, and to do that, he must stay out of foul trouble. He is prone to getting into trouble early, so that is something he will need to control. White, however, is not concerned with how the sophomore center will respond to the challenge.

“I don’t expect him to be any different,” he said. “We haven’t even had the conversation. He was the same yesterday. He’s going to be the same today. That might be a good thing. The fact that Kevarrius is so consistent, he’s not going to make it a bigger deal than it is. The positive of that is he probably won’t put too much pressure on himself, as other guys in this situation might do. Again, we’ve talked to him about fouls and being solid and stuff like that. He’s started before. We use that word consistent with him all the time. He’s going to be the same guy.”

Before going down with the injury, Egbunu averaged 7.8 points per game and led the team with 6.6 rebounds per game. His inside presence is what will be missed the most, more than his production in the stats.

The game coming up against Mississippi State will test that loss, as the Bulldogs bring in a huge lineup that includes Schnider Herard (6-10, 250 pounds) at center and Aric Holman (6-10, 222 pounds), who can move inside and out. Egbunu’s injury did not come with great timing with the teams the Gators will face in the coming games, but it happened.

Now, it is time to move on. One player does not make the team, as Florida has proven over and over again this season with different guys stepping up every night. That is the mentality Florida must have moving forward.

“As I told the guys, it’s part of the game of basketball,” White said. “It’s part of life. It’s not the only adversity we’re going to face this season, next season. It’s not the only adversity John’s going to face the rest of his life. You have to deal with it. There’s a game to be played tomorrow. We’ve got to play the game tomorrow. Mississippi State doesn’t feel bad for us. Ben Howland doesn’t feel bad for us. I’m sure they’ve had their injuries, and other teams have had their injuries. We just have to make do. We have to find a way.”

 

Bailiegh Carlton
A lifelong sports fan, Bailiegh Carlton knew from a young age that she wanted to work in sports in some capacity. Before transferring to the University of Florida to study journalism, she played softball at Gulf Coast State College. She then interned for Gator Country for three years as she worked toward her degree. After graduation, Bailiegh decided to explore other opportunities in the world of sports, but all roads led her right back here. In her time away, she and her husband welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world. When she isn't working, she can almost always be found snuggled up with sweet baby Ridley, Cody and her four fur babies.