A Lot Is New About Florida Basketball This Season
Wednesday, September 30, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The sight of Mike White (or anybody, for that matter) at the podium previewing the upcoming Florida basketball season Tuesday was something countless Gators fans never would have expected to see. That was Billy Donovan's podium where Billy Donovan talked about his team. Heck, the atrium of the UF practice facility still has a bigger-than-life image of Billy D emblazoned on the wall.
“I point it out anytime we have a recruit on campus,” White said of the giant Donovan graphic that measures about the size of a free-throw lane. “Not that I need to.”
White knew exactly the kind of shadow he was stepping into when he bolted Louisiana Tech to become the coach to succeed The Coach. Not only did White accept the challenge, he embraced it and spent the last five months transitioning to replace one of the greatest in the history of the college game.
Replacing the irreplaceable. Think about that.
White did, but that's old news. The start of the 2015-16 season -- and a very different era -- is here and there's a lot more different about the Gators than the coach and the staff that will be on the sidelines.
“It's a very, very new team,” White said during UF's media day event to preview the upcoming season “We're going to have a bunch of new ways of doing things.” 
UF returns five regulars, including standout forward and fifth-year senior Dorian Finney-Smith (right), from a team that went 16-17, making the program's first losing record in 17 years. Forwards Devin Robinson and Alex Murphy, plus guards Kasey Hill and Chris Chiozza make up the quintet of returnees.
But after those come eight guys who did not play one minute in a Florida uniform last season.
That number may seem daunting, but for a group looking to rebound from an uncharacteristic display there's a refreshing sense about the unknown.
"I feel like a kid again, I'm excited,” said fourth-year junior swingman DeVon Walker, who was a 12-minute-per-game reserve on the 2014 Final Four team, but missed all last season with a knee injury. “It's a new look, it's going to be fresh and it's going to be fun."
Just what that means for the Gators remains to be seen, but the combination of five players who experienced a massively disappointing season joining forces with a heavy dose of new blood makes for quite the intrigue as to where this squad just might be headed.
“I definitely think there's a newness to this team,” Hill said.
It may show up in subtle ways woven within the style White intends to play. It'll be up-tempo. He'll want to extend the floor on defense and maintain the program's 94-foot reputation, but also the one Donovan's teams carved out defensively the last few years. Even during last season, the Gators ranked 11th nationally in defensive efficiency, but White will be looking for defense to create turnovers and that become offensive opportunities in transition. That's how he won 101 games in four seasons at Louisiana Tech. And now with a trio of guards in Hill, Chiozza and impact freshman KeVaughn Allen, out of Little Rock, Ark., there is lightning-fast potential in the open floor.
The Gators need to shoot the ball a lot better than they did a year ago when only Finney-Smith hit career-bests of 47 percent from the floor and 42 percent from 3-point range on his way to All-Southeastern Conference honors. Of the other four returners, only Murphy shot better than 41 percent from the floor for the season, none were better than 32 percent from distance, and Hill and Chiozza, the two guys with their hands on the ball at the end of games, went 52.6 and 47.7 from the free-throw line, respectively.
How much did Florida's struggles to score hurt last season? The Gators lost seven games by two points or less.
“Offensively, we've talked about our shooting percentage needs to go up,” said White, who explained the tact his staff tracked in reviewing last season and applying it to this one. “ 'Let's not question how good we are. We know we're better than this, and these are the areas that we need to fix, that we can improve upon.' That's more the approach that we've taken. Challenging our guys rather than questioning our abilities.”
Some of the offensive woes traced to the Gators having very little inside presence on that end of the floor, thus allowing defenses to cheat out on the perimeter.
The addition of 6-foot-11, 245-pound center John Egbunu, the transfer from South Florida who sat out last season per NCAA rules, instantly changes that dynamic.
“I think I fit in nicely,” Egbunu said.
He will be an instant rebounding and shot-blocking threat. He averaged 7.4 points and 6.2 rebounds as a freshman at USF two years ago, but has shed nearly 25 pounds since arriving at UF and is now a beastly hard body, courtesy of strength and conditioning coordinator Preston Greene.
“A man child,” Robinson said.
Third-year sophomore center John Egbunu, the transfer from South Florida who sat out last season per NCAA rules, will give the Gators a physical inside presence that was missing last season. (Photo: Ashley Jolicoeur)
Speaking of Robinson, he's been challenged to make better use of his 6-9 wingspan than the 2.8 rebounds per game he carded in starting 17 games and averaging 19 minutes as a freshman. Robinson spent too much time floating around the 3-point line and worried too much about scoring. White believe Robinson has a lot more to contribute and will demand it.
He will demand a lot from all his players and one thing he wants to see more of is toughness.
Maybe some of Brandone Francis-Ramirez will rub off on all of them.
The 6-5, 205-pound Francis-Ramirez, a second-year freshman out of Arlington (Fla.) Country Day, was ruled academically ineligible after signing with UF was not allowed to participate in any team activities last fall. He joined the team for the spring, but still was not eligible to compete; only practice.
He has some flair to his game, along with size and strength in the backcourt to go with some want-to. And definite dose of attitude, as well.
“I think we're hungry,” Francis-Ramirez said. “Last year, we saw how easy it is to lose a game by one or two points, but also how hard it is [emotionally] to lose games like that. So we have no expectations, especially myself. I just want to come out and be the best guy for my teammates and coaches, try to win games and be remembered.”
The season definitely will be remembered as the first one without Donovan in 20 years, but UF fans may want to start remembering some of these new guys, too. Much of their roles -- and that includes center Schuyler Rimmer (Stanford transfer), freshmen Kevarrius Hayes and Keith Stone, plus junior college product Justin Leon -- will be honed in the preseason, then defined once the games begin.
The 2015-16 Gators basketball squad poses for its team photo during media day Tuesday. (Photo: Madison Schultz)
The Donovan era is over and, frankly, it ended on a sour note. For the Gators, it's truly time to move on. A year ago, UF entered the season ranked seventh in the country and exited with its worst record since 1998.
“There's nothing we're taking for granted,” Robinson said. “We're just looking at the next practice.”
The first real one is Friday.
