Fourth-year junior guard Kiara "Kiki" Smith takes her turn with the microphones and cameras Thursday during UF women's basketball media day, as the Gators officially began fall practice in advance of the 2019-20 season.
A 'Mindset of Change'
Thursday, September 26, 2019 | Women's Basketball, Chris Harry
Share:
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — On Aug. 19, on the eve of the start of fall classes, the University Athletic Association hosted an event for student-athletes in the north concourse of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Food, fun, games and a hearty "Welcome back, Gators" greeting from Athletic Director Scott Stricklin.
Women's basketball coach Cam Newbauer and his players were there. Newbauer didn't stick around long. He had recruiting calls to make, so back to the practice facility he went.
A couple hours later, he heard some noise in the building. He popped out of his second-floor office, opened the door to the gym and saw his entire team on the floor playing pickup. At night.
"That hasn't happened before," he said.
Neither did a similar — and even more stunning scene — that played out exactly two weeks later. It was Sept. 2. Labor Day, as in the actual Monday holiday. Newbauer was in the building at 9:30 a.m. for a workout in the weight room. About 30 minutes later, he heard those sounds again. He peered out the weight room window and saw his players gathering again for pickup.
That they came in on Labor Day at all was something of a surprise
"But they didn't come Monday night, they came Monday morning," Newbauer said. "This group is serious about basketball; serious about this program."
Gators coach Cam Newbauer is set to lead the program for a third season with a roster, for the first time, made of players he signed.
Two seasons under Newbauer has netted just 19 victories versus 42 losses, including a 6-26 mark in the Southeastern Conference. When he came here in the spring of 2017, after going 51-15 with two NCAA Tournament berths his last two (of four) seasons at Belmont, Newbauer was well aware of the massive rebuilding process in front of him. Last year, after going 11-19 his first season, the Gators rolled nine new players into the program and went 8-23.
"We didn't have the season we wanted, but we learned," said fourth-year point guard Kiara "Kiki" Smith, who was one of seven transfers on the team in '18-19. "It was a starting period for a lot of us, as far as this level and playing in the SEC. Some of us had not seen that type of competition before. Now we think we know what to expect, know what we have to do."
Florida 2019-20 is still in makeover mode, what with four promising freshmen, plus a transfer, 6-foot-5 center Emer Nichols, who sat out last season and will be eligible to compete. Those newbies will pair with a couple returning starters in Smith (7.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists per game) and sophomore forward Kristina Moore (4.9 ppg, 2.3 rpg before suffering a season-ending broken arm), as well as four other letter winners.
The Gators held their annual preseason media day Thursday afternoon, then cleared the gym floor and started full-blown official practices. For the first time since taking over for predecessor Amanda Butler, the UF roster is made up of handpicked Newbauer players, which means, in turn, this is Newbauer's culture. Period.
Just what that means in wins and losses won't start being quantified until the season opener Nov. 5 at Grambling State.
So far, a lot of encouraging things have manifested themselves through intangibles.
"The energy in the gym. The amount of communication. The togetherness," Newbauer said. "Everything about our team right now is great."
Redshirt junior guard Danielle Rainey (8.2 ppg in 22 games last season) seconded that.
"I just think we're way more connected than last year," she said. "It's an atmosphere that is comfortable, but also forces everyone to rise up. We're way more centered, but also enjoying it all more because the chemistry of the team has really, really, really leveled up."
The UF staff believes the talent has leveled up too. Much of it, though, will be young.
Freshman guard/forward Lavender Briggs and assistant Erika Lang during a summer workout.
Examples:
* Freshman Lavender Briggs, a 6-foot-1 wing from Provo, Utah, averaged a state-record 32.2 points and 12.5 rebounds per game last season on her way to becoming the first UF signee in program history to be selected to play in the Jordan Brand Classic.
* Freshman Faith Dut, a 6-4 forward from Vancouver, British Columbia, competed with the U19 Canadian National team at the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup this summer in Thailand.
Brylee Bartram* Freshman guard Brylee Bartram hit 533 career 3-pointers for Seffner (Fla.), a national record — for boys and girls — including 151 as a senior when she shot 48 percent from distance.
"There is a lot of opportunity here and I was excited about the idea of coming here and helping turn this program around," Bartram said. "We want to start building a legacy. All the sports at Florida are extremely successful, and we want to be a part of that."
Bartram's decision only took her two hours up Interstate-75. Briggs, recruited by a slew of Pac-12 schools, came more than 2,000 miles to take a chance on what Newbauer and his staff were selling.
A chance to make a difference, a chance to build something from scratch.
"We all have a mindset of change," Briggs said. "We're not happy with the old results. We want to make a new statement in the upcoming season."
The goal is to make their and all of Gator Nation point to UF women's basketball and think what Newbauer thought last month.
