Egbunu in middle of Gators' reboot
Thursday, April 2, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Football, Chris Harry
Center John Egbunu (orange jersey during a practice last October) sat out the 2014-15 season per NCAA rules after transferring from USF, but figures prominently in the team's plans next season.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- For Florida, the 2014-15 basketball season ended nearly three weeks ago, but for a handful of players the 2015-16 season -- the preparation thereof -- has begun.
NCAA rules allow teams eliminated from postseason competition to convene eight hours per week until the start of final exams, two hours of which can be spent on the floor. Don't think for a second Billy Donovan wouldn't take advantage of that rule, especially coming off a 16-17 record. The Gators who are in the mix for next season had a couple hour-long practices last week, then another on Tuesday.
And John Egbunu is now a center of attention. 
Egbunu transferred from South Florida last summer and sat out the season per NCAA rules. The 6-foot-10, 255-pound post player would have been a welcomed sight in a Florida uniform the last few months, given the Gators struggles for production in the paint, but now his preparation and repetition -- even here in April -- are for real.
Although Egbunu must wait another eight months to make his UF debut, he's no longer a player-in-waiting.
“A sit-out year is a year for getting better, so I made every single day like a game day for me,” Egbunu said Tuesday. “Just come in and work and try to help the guys get better and get ready for the teams we were playing. That's what helped me stay focused.”
It's natural for players in that “sit-out” year to grow frustrated without the reward of the games. Egbunu, though, swears that was never the case with him. The UF coaches and support staff love the kid and rave about his work ethic, willingness to be coached and his locker room presence as a teammate.
Egbunu, in turn, felt for the Gators during their struggle through the program's toughest season in years; their biggest, most physical player could only watch -- behind the bench during home games, on television during road games -- unable to do a thing about it.
“Anytime you're sitting down you wonder how you could contribute in any way. We worked so hard and didn't get the results we wanted, so it was tough,” he said. “But I guess that was just part of the obstacles we had to overcome and understand going forward next season and learning how we have to handle some things.”
When he arrived from USF, Egbunu checked in at 265 pounds. He not only lost 10 pounds of body fat, but sculpted his frame under the direction of strength and conditioning coordinator Preston Greene, further honing an athletic build that already was armed with a 40-inch vertical jump.
Though far from a polished offensive player, the native of Nigeria by way of both Atlanta and Fort Walton has only been playing the game for five years. A year ago, his minimal experience was good enough to average 7.4 points on 58.9-percent shooting, plus 6.2 rebounds and nearly 25 minutes per game as a USF freshman and American Athletic Conference All-Rookie selection. When Bulls coach Stan Heath was fired, Egbunu looked to transfer and eventually chose UF over Michigan State, Georgetown, Virginia Tech and Arizona.
Then came a year of banging bodies at practice and devoting extra time with coaches in individual instruction, working on post moves and fundamentals. Like all of his current teammates, he'll need to work on his free-throw shooting too (54.5 percent at USF).
But make no mistake, Egbunu will be a factor in the Southeastern Conference next season.
A big, physical factor.
