Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Their college basketball careers had been over for maybe 30 minutes; hardly long enough to process the moment and the reality of it all. That Kevarrius Hayes and Jalen Hudson were asked and answered about their final Florida season while seated at an NCAA Tournament podium Saturday night made their final day in a Gators uniform perhaps a tad less bitter sweet. 

"The season had a lot of highs and lows, and there was a time when even being in the NCAA Tournament was a question for us," Hayes said after UF's 64-49 loss to 10th-ranked and No. 2-seed Michigan in the NCAA West Region's second round in Des Moines, Iowa. "But we managed to find a way." 

Indeed, two thirds of the way through the 2018-19 grind, the Gators were just one game over .500 and had won only four of 10 in Southeastern Conference play. The team was at a crossroads as far as which direction the season would go. Then came a five-game winning streak — with big road triumphs at Alabama and LSU — followed by a late three-game skid to close out the regular season, then two resume-boosting victories in the SEC Tournament that ultimately sealed a third straight NCAA at-large berth.

UF, the No. 10 seed in the West, upset No. 7-seed and 14th-ranked Nevada in first-round play, but had few answers for the Wolverines, the reigning tournament runners-up and one of the best defensive teams in the country.  

"We fought. At one point in the season there was a lot of uncertainty, but we never laid down," Hudson said. "I'll never forget how we came together and how we were able to fight, how we maxed out when we decided to and made it back to this tournament. That was important to me."
 
Hayes, the team's unquestioned leader and vocal traffic cop on defense, played the best basketball of his four UF years over the final weeks. Hudson, who arrived as a transfer from Virginia Tech three offseason ago, managed to redirect an inexplicably difficult first half to his fifth-year senior season and find some offensive punch that was critical in carrying the Gators over the postseason hump. Shooting guard and four-year starter KeVaughn Allen, like this final UF team, had his ups and downs, but will leave as the program's No. 6 all-time scorer with career 1,723 points. 

Their last go-around ended with a 20-16 record against a brutal schedule that included — get this — 12 games (or one-third) against opponents still alive in the tournament's "Sweet 16" round. 

"All three of these guys have had absolutely zero issues off the floor," Florida coach Mike White said. "They have represented the University of Florida in a first-class manner and I hate to see their careers come to end."

But all careers eventually do. 
 

On Monday, the UF coaches were back in their offices at the basketball facility for individual exit meetings with players, thus starting the process of looking to the 2019-20 season, and the task of replacing Hayes' elite defense inside, not to mention the trio's combined 352 games, 249 starts, 8,619 minutes and 3,362 points. They'll do so with a core of players already here and collection of others — some known, some to be determined— on the way. UF already has signed a star-studded incoming freshman class that includes two players, New Jersey forward Scottie Lewis and homegrown Gainesville guard Tre Mann, who will be showcased Wednesday night in the McDonald's All-America Game at Atlanta. Florida still has one scholarship opening to fill, courtesy of the midseason transfer of oft-injured forward Chase Johnson to Dayton. Given the loss of Hayes and dearth of a proven scoring big on the roster, that spot could be filled by a graduate-transfer, with White having had great success going that route with Canyon Barry in 2016 and Egor Koulechov in 2017. Further attrition, as some current UF players evaluate where they fit into future plans, is a possibility, as well. 

Whoever is here come Summer B or the start of preseason workouts, they'll do so as part of a revamped White culture with a unified single emphasis on the team. As far as the on-court part of the equation, White intends to make the moves necessary to become a more balanced offensive team, inside and out, and one able to play at a variety of speeds after finishing next to last among SEC teams in scoring at 67.8 points per game and 345th nationally (out of 353) in adjusted tempo of play. 

The returning nucleus of the next Florida team will be headlined by three current freshmen in point guard Andrew Nembhard, who started all 36 games, plus forward Keyontae Johnson, who started the last 19, and shooting guard Noah Locke, who had 29 starts before his minutes were peeled back due to a lingering groin and hip issue. 
 
Nembhard played with a poise and maturity beyond his years in averaging 8.0 points and significantly improved his shot and all-around offense over the course of the season. As a playmaker, he was terrific in dishing the second-most assists (194) by a freshman in UF history. Johnson, though undersized at the "4" position at 6-foot-5, averaged 8.1 points and a team-best 6.4 rebounds, posting double-doubles in three of the team's five postseason games, and got better just by playing harder. Locke finished second on the team in scoring at 9.4 points, with a season-high of 27 in a win over Ole Miss, on his way to setting a UF record for most 3-pointers by a freshman in a season with 81 (breaking the previous mark of 74 held by Anthony Roberson). Locke's nagging groin and hip soreness, however, hindered him as the season wore on, however, and his productivity was impacted. He's expected to undergo surgery soon, with a complete recovery well in advance of the summer. 

The only other regular member of the shortened, late-season rotation due back is forward Dontay Bassett, who will be a fourth-year junior after proving to be a reliable backup in the low post. Bassett averaged 2.7 points and 2.3 rebounds over 11.3 minutes per game. 

The loss of Hayes will create quite a void in the post, an area the Gators have struggled to find offensive production the last two seasons, be it due to injuries and other circumstances. On that front, this offseason will be pivotal for the development of forward Isaiah Stokes, the redshirt freshman who has dropped more than 60 pounds, including 30 during the season. The 6-8, 255-pounder and flashed some eye-opening scoring skills in limited minutes on the block, but was a liability when it came to rebounding, defense and the transition game. How Stokes improves his conditioning and maintains discipline with his diet, while continuing to work with big man coach Al Pinkins, will determine the size of his role as a third-year sophomore. 

Another X-factor in the post is 6-11 Gorjok Gak, who took a medical redshirt during the season after undergoing surgery last April to correct a knee injury that impacted his entire '17-18 season and limited him to less than nine minutes per game. Gak was unable to run and gained a bunch of weight while sidelines for good portion of his rehab, but has since lost close to 25 pounds, was cleared for full-contact work a month ago and has been a regular with individual instruction sessions. 

Worth noting. Both Stokes and Gak were in the gym Monday afternoon for individual workouts.

The status of fourth-year junior forward Keith Stone is more complicated. The 6-8 Stone was averaging 6.1 points and 3.9 rebounds in starting the first 13 games when he suffered a season-ending knee injury Jan. 19 at Georgia. Stone is still months away from being cleared for even light basketball activities. His timetable for a return to game action would probably be December (at best) or January (more realistic), but Stone is also on schedule to graduate this summer, which means he could have a decision to make with regard to where he wants to resume his basketball; here, perhaps at another place as a grad-transfer, or chase a professional dream.

 

The other two returnees, guards Mike Okauru and Deaundrae Ballard saw their minutes cut drastically as the season wore on. Okauru averaged just 6.6 minutes per game, while Ballard, though at 11.8 per game for the season, totaled six minutes over the final nine games, with five DNPs. What Okauru and Ballard hear about their future roles, especially with two talented perimeter players arriving as freshmen, may dictate whether they want to stay.  

And what about that next wave of freshmen?

The class of Lewis, Mann and 6-9 power forward Omar Payne, out of prestigious Montverde (Fla.) Academy, ranks among the top five in the country, with potentially another signee to come. 

Lewis is rated as the No. 12 overall prospect in the country, according to ESPN. He's a 6-6 athletic, high-flying wing with a relentless motor and great defensive skills. Mann, who checks in at No. 32 on that ESPN list, is a combo guard and volume shooter/scorer with deep range who also provides the Gators with a proven ball-handler and backup point guard option to Nembhard, something they did not have this season. Payne is another lengthy, defensive type and the 43rd-ranked player on the ESPN national board. 

Florida is one of just 10 teams in the country to win at least one NCAA Tournament game each of the last three seasons, and one of only two SEC teams to reach the tournament all three of those years. The goal, of course, is to make a deep run.

White and his coaches set out Monday to be better equipped to do so in 2020.