Mike seems like a great guy, and I wouldn't be upset if he were given a few more years. That said, I'd love to try to throw 4mil/year at Shaka Smart. Pipe dream though.
Sure, it could be made better just with improved play and greater success. But it would still be lacking, imo. For example, we canceled Midnight Madness during the peak of Billy’s tenure because the event simply didn’t draw interest. And in the 20 years I’ve been attending the SECt, Florida has been among the least represented. There are many other examples... and of course, some counter points... but the general premise remains. Florida has enjoyed some incredible success and has established strong expectations for its program. But the commitment to the program and the passion for the sport has lagged behind. And again- that is NOT an indictment on Florida fans. It’s just a reality largely based on regional interests. Basketball just isn’t that important. Heck- I’ve gone to sports bars and asked for NCAA tourney games to be put on the television. It was odd enough I had to ask, but the confusion that followed my request was beyond belief.
I’m not going to argue your suggestion, but I will point out that it would have been considered laughably insane just a few months ago. Texas fans would’ve started a GoFundMe to help us raise the needed $4mil.
Hall, I feel you but we’ve been down this road with White over and over and it isn’t going to change. He is what he is, great guy but only decent at his profession.
Through his 5th year, Coach White has a 0.624 winning percentage. For comparison, look at how they laud Leonard Hamilton - he didn't eclipse White's cumulative winning percentage until his 18th season at f$u, where he sits at 0.633. That's counting Hamilton's 22 wins in 2006-7, which were vacated. White was able to turn Hill's game around & he developed Chiozza. Both of those guards could run the offense the way White wants. What's perplexing is why hasn't he recruited the same type of guard. Maybe Appleby can be that guy, but he needs to watch his turnovers.
they tried like hell to get Devon Dotson, before finally giving up and pulling Nembhard on the re-classify.
Guards who can run this offense effectively are rated 5*s. Dotson was our best hope at building something special post-Chiozza and I firmly believe he was White's missing ingredient. I also firmly believe we'll never be able to attract a guard of this caliber. With that said, we were 21-13 even with Chiozza. Even if we have an elite PG again, we still have a big man issue that needs to be dealt with.
I think so. I would say their performance lately far exceeds their level of fan support. It's still much easier to get a ticket for our game against them in Tallahassee than it is when we play them in GAINESVILLE. Go GATORS! ,WESGATORS
Your last sentence nails it and is usually the first anecdotal example I give when challenged by someone about our lack of fan interest/passion. Not sure if you are referring to Gainesville or So. Fla regarding asking them to put NCAA tourney games, but I can personally vouch that this has happened to me on more than one occasion IN GAINESVILLE where I have to ask the bartender or hostess to put the Gator basketball game on (tourney games no less). Hell, I remember a Sat. night home game vs. Tenn (2010 or 2011 I think - UT was really good) when my wife and I went to Gainesville Ale House (literally 100's of TV's everywhere) and I had to beg them to put the basketball game on since there were football games on every TV. Hostess was genuinely thrown off by our request and nobody else sitting around us seemed to care. That was the ultimate epiphany for my wife and I that UF was just a flat-out lousy basketball school (despite back-to-back titles just a couple years prior). And unlike you, I do see it as an indictment of UF fans. They talk a big game about how great Gator fans are in all sports, but ultimately football and only football reflects that level of passion with any consistency. Even Gator baseball has lagged considerably in attendance relative to our rivals (fsu, lsu, etc.). Yes, our stadium was awful, but still.
It's infuriating is what it is. I've given up on our fanbase as it relates to my hopes for fan interest improving. If it didn't happen under Billy (and again, we know UAA missed a lot of opportunities to cultivate a fanbase in the aftermath of 06/07) it's never gonna happen.
Teams who built early program success, as in when there weren’t color TVs, are reaping the benefits even to this day. More early success meant those programs got a big head start as far as diehard fans go. Alabama was winning national titles in football in the 1920s. Likewise with Kentucky basketball winning in the 40s. Families spent their evenings gathering around watching games as opposed to our fans who, let’s face it, probably opted for the drive-in movie theaters or the nearest beach. That’s a few generations head start and they developed true diehard tendencies because they’ll travel anywhere to games much more often than us to no surprise.... it’s just what they were born into. How can we expect to compete against that? Things are what they are and after the 04s left it was like people went back to doing whatever they do since there are more distractions available.
The main issue is not fans as UF proved that with back to back championships...you want to win you have to recruit. So many programs became national powers not due to fans but by recruiting elite players like UNLV, DePaul, St. Johns, Memphis, UCLA, Indiana, Arkansas and so on...all of these programs have had lean years not because of fans but because the players aren't good enough.
