Doe-Doe's Commitment to Return was to Teammates, too
Wednesday, July 15, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Dorian Finney-Smith was not allowed to take part in individual instruction drills this offseason until he made up his mind about his future. Was he coming back to Florida for a fifth-year senior season or was he headed for the NBA Draft?
Billy Donovan wanted an answer.
On April 2, Finney-Smith walked into the UF basketball complex. He was all in.
And said so.
“Coach D is a mentor to me. I trust him and I'm happy and anxious to have another year with him.”
A month later, Donovan was head coach of the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder.
Now, it's July and the Gators are 10 weeks into the Mike White era. White, by way of Louisiana Tech, has held dozens of individual instruction sessions, including one each the last two weeks involving the entire roster, along the way introducing his players to just how things are going to be done the White way.
Finney-Smith, who led UF in both scoring (13.1 points) and rebounding (6.2 per game) while shooting career highs of 47.2 percent from the floor and 42.2 percent from the 3-point line, has been at the forefront of the transition in terms of example-setting for the rest of the Gators.
“When I made the commitment to come back, it wasn't just a commitment to Coach D, but to all these guys; my teammates,” Finney-Smith said Tuesday. “Some things you can't control. I would have loved it if Coach Donovan was still here, but he's not. He made a decision and I wish him the best. Now, I'm excited to play for these coaches. And I love these [players]. A lot of them are the same guys I played with last year.”
Yes and no. Finney-Smith may have played with Devin Robinson and Kasey Hill and Chris Chiozza, but he only practiced with the likes of John Egbunu (transfer from USF), Brandone Francis-Ramirez (ineligible) and DeVon Walker (missed season with knee injury). Of the 13 players ticketed for the 2015-16 roster, seven did not play in games last season, including a trio of freshmen (led by guard KeVaughn Allen) and junior-college transfer Justin Leon, the first signee by White's staff who is due to report in August.
New UF coach Mike White and his staff have set high bars for production and leadership from fifth-senior Dorian Finney-Smith.
Finney-Smith will be the centerpiece of it all. White told him so when the two first sat down together for a one-on-one meeting.
“He said we were going to have fun, that we were going to get up and down the floor and that we were going to win,” Finney-Smith said. “He said the [coaches] were going to be in-the-locker-room coaches, meaning they basically were going to work out with the players -- and that's what they do. There's more interaction from all of them. They're all in tune with the players and on the court with us.”
Just as the coaches have made good on their pledges, Finney-Smith has done everything they've asked of him. He could not control the circumstances or their timing. Instead, he's focused on making the best of both.
“He's been incredible,” White said. “He's been as hard a worker as we've had and provided leadership to this crew, which is something he'll continue to do. This is his last opportunity, his last go-around, and he's doing everything he needs to put himself in position to finish his career strong.”
Added assistant coach Dusty May: “He's been good every single day, and that's one thing we're really looking for from him as a leader -- to be an everyday guy. When you're walking the walk, you can talk the talk and these guys see that. They see him bring it every day at individuals, shooting after practice, communicating and going hard every drill.”
When Finney-Smith's group lost a live-game mini-scrimmage Tuesday and had to run -- four full-court sprints immediately after the clock hit zero -- the one known as “Doe-Doe” let his teammates know (rather colorfully) what they were doing wasn't good enough.
This time last year, expectations on UF were immense. Despite losing four senior starters off a Final Four squad, the team still entered the season ranked in the Top 10. Good on paper, Finney-Smith recalled, but unable to finish out games.
That's the baseline, the reference point, the team's elder statesman and best player will work from entering his final season.
“We couldn't win last year with a Hall-of-Famer, so we have to be better, it's that simple. But it's going to be a tough journey with some hard battles,” Finney-Smith said of last season's 16-17 record that was the program's first losing mark in 17 years. “I know what a good team looks like and what a bad team looks like. We have work to do.”
