The Florida Gators basketball team isn’t ranked in the Pre-season AP Poll, or the USA Today Coaches Poll either for that matter.
Not only are the Gators not on either list of 25, but also if you scroll down to the bottom to see other teams that received votes, you’ll read through a list of 30 more different teams names; the Florida Gators aren’t one of them.
It’s quite a swing from this time a year ago when the Gators were coming off of a Final Four appearance and were ranked 7th in the Preseason AP Poll and Coaches Poll.
In fact this is the first time since the 2009-2010 season that Florida has found itself on the outside looking in during preseason rankings.
For all of the outrage this causes on social media and the endless fodder it provides for fans and pundits though, this may (read: most likely will) be the best thing for this team.
When the Gators clocked in at No. 7 last season it came with immediate skepticism from then head coach Billy Donovan. He’d been around college basketball enough by then, you’d think more people would have heeded his persistent warnings that that was not the No. 7 team in the country, the guys weren’t ready and that he was worried the entitlement would go to their heads.
It did end up going to their heads, it seems, with the team not only faltering, but more aptly tripping over their own feet to a 16-17, 8-10 SEC record.
Some people perform better when all eyes are upon them, knowing they’re being watched. But as Donovan predicted, that 2014-2015 squad was young, riding a wave built by four seniors in the previous year and not ready for the spotlight.
Now with the skeleton of that team returning, new head coach Mike White—who brings a 101-40 career record to Gainesville—has a chance to grow his team without the college basketball world constantly checking in to see how it’s going. Granted, this is Florida and a reputation has been built—albeit not one big enough to receive preseason votes—but enough of a reputation is there that there will be interest in the job Coach White does with this team.
But in almost a backhanded gift, Donovan left White a team that he can tinker with and adjust till he get’s it right without as much pressure.
It’s not going to happen over night, but that means there is plenty of room to grow, something White acknowledges and is excited about.
“I think this team has more of an opportunity to grow during the season than most other teams,” says White, “because of this staff transition and because of having seven new guys, plus DeVon Walker coming off a redshirt. There will be things we can draw from Thursday night, perhaps the biggest being we have room for improvement in different areas but potential. This team has that scary word. We’re definitely not there, and we’re far from it, but we have the potential to get there and be competitive in this league.”
Dorian Finney-Smith, Kasey Hill, Chris Chiozza, Devin Robinson, Alex Murphy and DeVon Walker all return to the lineup to give White some experience; although Walker is returning from a long injury recovery. There will also be walk-on’s Zach Hodskins and Lexx Edwards to provide some bench depth.
John Egbunu, Brandone Francis-Ramirez and Schuyler Rimmer (following the Fall semester) will be new faces that have at least had a year in the system while sitting out per NCAA rules.
And then there’s the new faces—Justin Leon, KeVaughn Allen, Keith Stone and Kevarrius Hayes.
This group of guys has a chance to make their own names though, and consequently Mike White’s as well, but if the word underdog is attached to that name doesn’t matter as they find their identity.
“I mean right now we just taking it one day at a time,” says center John Egbunu. “We’re focused on the moment and we’re worried about getting better every eingle day The things, like the turnovers that we have to rectify before the season hits us. And that’s kind of what we focused on. We’re not really focused on like the underdog and all that stuff.”
As each day passes they’ll learn more and more about themselves but until then Egbunu says fans can be comfortable with what they’ll see to start the season.
“A fast paced team. Kind of similar to the same scheme we had last year, but just a little bit more up-tempo. But kind of what you would expect, but kind of sticking to the same schemes and methods from last year.”
What this team will bring to the Stephen C. O’ Connell Center for the Florida Gators this year? Well no one seems to know yet, including voters. But coaches say it all the time; preseason rankings don’t matter. All that matters is you’re one of the best 64 teams in the country come March.
For now, the tempered expectations though give Mike White and the Florida Gators some breathing room and time to figure it out themselves first.
The Florida Gators basketball team isn’t ranked in the Pre-season AP Poll, or the USA Today Coaches Poll either for that matter.
And that’s the best thing that could happen for this team.
The Florida Gators will take on Palm Beach Atlantic in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center at 7pm on Thursday November 5 for an exhibition game.