Wednesday, April 27, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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D-Rob, New Kid and '16-17 Schedule stuff
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
Harry Fodder
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — It may be the offseason for the Florida basketball team, but there's been plenty going on the last week or so for Mike Whiteand his crew.
So, to get you caught up and flush out some things.
Upon putting his name in the underclassmen pool for the 2016 NBA Draft, sophomore forward Devin Robinson barely had time to picture himself in a future uniform before learning he had a stress fracture in his right foot that would require surgery. That procedure was done last week and on Tuesday Robinson, looking at a rehab of 4-6 months, pulled his name out of the pool and will return for his junior season. The 6-foot-9, 200-pounder won't be on the practice court anytime soon, but that frame of his — though it may look lanky, it's stronger than you think — will get another offseason under strength and conditioning coordinator Preston Greene. Robinson made some really nice strides in his offensive game this season, upping his average to 9.0 points and increasing his rebounding to 5.6 per game. Late in the season, he became one of the best 3-point shooters on the team, at one point hitting 17 of 31 from deep over a 10-game stretch. What the scouts will be looking for next year is more consistency on the glass and better ability to get his own shot. The former comes down to desire. The latter, however, will require some work that will be put on hold while he works back from surgery. Right now, he projects as the Gators' heir to the "stretch-4" spot vacated by Dorian Finney-Smith, where he figures to share minutes with senior Justin Leon and 6-8 redshirt freshman Keith Stone.
Gorjok Gak, the 6-11 center from Victory Rock Prep, became a late addition to UF's incoming freshman class.
The Gators added a third player to their freshman class in 6-foot-11, 205-pound center Gorjok Gak, by way of Bradenton (Fla.) Victory Rock Prep. He enrolled for the summer on Monday after picking UF over Arizona State and will be on campus next month. Gak, who hails from Australia, signed last fall with Oklahoma State, but was released from his national letter of intent when the Cowboys fired coach Travis Ford after the season. This kid, rated a four-star prospect by Scout.com, is not a project. He averaged 13.8 points, 9.3 rebounds, has a 7-foot-4 wingspan, good hands, a nice handle for a long and rangy guy, plus a decent feel and basketball IQ. Think "Doe-Doe" minus the ability to shoot. He can put the ball down and find open teammates at the top of the key and on the block, which is something the Gators lacked from their post players last season. The Florida coaches are counting on him to play next season. How much, obviously, is something that will sort itself out when preseason practice (then games) roll around.
ESPN made official Wednesday that Florida will face Duke on Dec. 6 in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden, with the Gators and Blue Devils getting the 9:30 p.m. nightcap of a double-header that will lead off with Purdue vs. Arizona State. The date will mark UF's first meeting against Duke since upsetting the No. 1-ranked Blue Devils in the 2000 NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 on the way to the national title game. It also will be the first trip to the Garden since beating Memphis there in December 2013 in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. The announcement takes a small step toward piecing together the scrambled early season 2016-17 schedule situation as the O'Connell Center undergoes its $64.5 million renovation that will force the Gators to play away from home until the facility is ready in time for the start of the Southeastern Conference play in January. Florida will play its home games at various venues around the state -- Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, South Florida -- but now the date with Duke in New York can be Sharpied in along with three games in the Advocare Invitational at ESPN's Wide World of Sports Nov. 24-27. The Gators will play a to-be-announced trio of games there against a field that includes MIami, Gonzaga, Iowa State, Seton Hall, Stanford, Indiana State and Quinnipiac.
