Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — First, some context. 

This will be my 10th season chronicling the Florida men's basketball team from the inside. It took nine seasons for me to learn a pretty valuable lesson as it relates to expectations. 

August and September workouts don't always tell the truth. 

This time last year, the Gators were in the midst of a preseason that seemed to justify everything being said about them externally. The three returning sophomore starters, led by point guard Andrew Nembhard, were a year better and meshing magnificently — on and off the floor — with graduate-transfer low-post gem Kerry Blackshear Jr., alongside the program's most heralded freshman class of Coach Mike White's five seasons. They daily eye tests suggested as much. The players verbalized as much, daring to invoke talk of championships. UF debuted at No. 6 in the Associated Press poll and was a fashionable pick to reach the Final Four. 

Then came the season. And some early losses. And some personal agendas. And some chemistry issues. Eventually, the Gators experienced some good times, like winning the Charleston Classic, blowing out No. 4 Auburn, historic comebacks against Alabama and Georgia, and reveling (along with the fans) in the feel-good "Billy Donovan Court" dedication (and lopsided victory over Vanderbilt) in February. Ah, but were bad times, namely some deflating defeats (Florida State, Butler, Missouri, Mississippi State), with none more disappointing than the blown 18-point lead over the final 12 minutes against sixth-ranked Kentucky at home in what turned out to be the season finale. 

COVID hit four days later. 

Translation: You just never really know until the bullets start flying. Here we are again. Two of the three aforementioned starting sophomores are now battle-tested and proven juniors. Two former McDonald's All Americans are back and armed with a year of institutional college basketball knowledge. White and his coaches have committed to resetting not only the style of play (the Gators will run and press more this season), but the overall culture. There's an intriguing feel about it all.

Probably. 

We still have the specter of COVID, but also a clean slate. The Gators, with three starters and four more rotational players back from a team that finished 19-12 (11-7 in Southeastern Conference play) and was a lock for a fourth straight NCAA Tournament berth, officially tipped off their preseason practice Wednesday morning. They did so (and this is weird) without a 2020-21 schedule in the books, but likely looking to a Nov. 25 season-opening date in a mini-tournament. If the rough-draft slate floating around comes to fruition, Florida (again), will play once of the toughest schedules in the country. 

The following breakdown of the roster is based on observations made during pandemic-precaution practices and conversations with staff members. 

Please don't hold me to any of it. 


INCUMBENT STAR: Keyontae Johnson  Two seasons ago, three true freshmen were starting by the third week of the SEC season. The last to join the No. 1 unit was Johnson, the small forward from Norfolk, Va. Twenty months later, the 6-foot-5, 229-pounder is UF's best player and coming off a first-team All-SEC campaign as a sophomore after averaging a team-best 14.0 points per game on 54-percent shooting from the floor and 38 from the 3-point line, plus 7.1 rebounds and a team-best 38 steals. Johnson not only made huge gains in his statistical numbers last season, but also took his coaches' talks about conditioning to heart, allowing him to go from 23 minutes a game to 31.3 (second on the team). Now a junior (and a bona fide NBA prospect), Johnson's strength has always been his athleticism, but it now may just be his ... well ... strength. When catching the ball on the perimeter, defenders have to guess whether he's shooting (much improved from his freshman year) or driving downhill with a head of steam, something he did last season as well as anyone in the league. Good luck. His ability to put the ball on the deck will allow Johnson to play at the "2" spot this season, with some free reign to snare a rebound and go. With regard to his aggressiveness, only Blackshear got to the free-throw line last season more than Johnson, who upgraded from 64 percent as a freshman to nearly 77 as a sophomore. He's also morphed into a respected leader who is willing now to pull teammates to the side for mentoring. If Johnson was 6-8, he'd be a lottery pick. Then again, if he was 6-8, he'd probably be in the NBA already. 


NEXT-LEVEL TIME: Scottie Lewis  He arrived last summer as the most decorated UF signee in six seasons, with most figuring he'd be just the third one-and-done Gator in school history. Lewis, though, didn't have a lights-out freshman season, and that's not to say he wasn't really good (he was), especially late in the year when he practically never left the floor (seven of the last eight games, he logged 30-plus minutes). The 6-5, 189-pounder and McDonald's All American from New Jersey could have opted to turn pro, but a sense of unfulfilment, both personal and team-wise, plus the COVID clock of uncertainty hovering over the NBA, brought Lewis back to Gainesville. Obviously, the Gators will be better for it. So will Lewis, who was playing his best basketball late in the season by playing the best version of his game; one where his elite athleticism and defensive intensity shined, without forcing the issue. Lewis was not known as a shooter in high school, but he worked on that facet of his game as a collegiate rookie and popped a surprising 43.6 percent from long distance in SEC play, mostly because he took the kind of jumpshots he can make (as in catch-and-shoot). If he can hover around that same shooting number, marry it to his ability to slash the paint and finish, continue to crash the offensive glass, and embrace a high standard of accountability with his teammates, a big year could be in the offing. Nothing wrong with two-and-done, right?
 

MOST IMPROVED: Tre Mann  Like Lewis, his classmate, Mann had some of his better moments late in his freshman season. Unlike Lewis, Mann did not have very many of those moments, which belied his pedigree as (like Lewis) a McDonald's All American. He came to UF as a 6-4 combo guard with a reputation as a gifted, creative scorer. That version (one that flashed daily during the preseason a year ago) never materialized. Now a sophomore, Mann stands nearly 6-6 and has put on about 15 pounds of muscle. If the season began today, Mann would be the Gators' starting point guard. Yes, you read correctly. As the Gators look to speed up their offense and allow multiple players freedom to bring the ball up against transition defense, Mann is the leader in the clubhouse to play the "1" when possessions fan out in the halfcourt. He's earned the opportunity. Despite weathering a bout with COVID in June, Mann reported in July in tip-top shape and immediately wrested control of the point guard spot. The UF coaches are confident his assist-to-turnover number (20/32) will improve (it has in practice), but even more certain his offensive output (5.3 points, 36 percent floor, 27.5 from 3) are in for serious upticks. Mann showed up last year with some rookie swagger, but that faded early when shot wouldn't fall and he lost his starting spot four games into the season after suffering a concussion at Connecticut. That swag appears to be back, only this time he has a year of experience (both good and bad) for context. 


GET WELL SOON: Noah Locke  The 6-3 junior and sharp-shooting 3-point specialist underwent hip surgery May 13 and did not return to campus until the last weekend in August, just in time for fall classes. Locke, whose 55 career UF starts rank first on the roster, will not be cleared for full-contact for a few more weeks. He's been limited to some light running and lifting to date, slowly catching up on his conditioning, while maintaining that long-distance touch that has hit at 40.3 percent his first two seasons and led the SEC at 48.1 percent in league play during '20-21. Locke, who averaged 10.6 points per game last season, is as tough, reliable and vocal as anyone on the team. His voice (both in and out of the locker room) will be as constant and consistent as his long-range shooting. He'll definitely miss Nembhard, his best friend and wingman, but in an up-tempo offense he should get plenty of opportunities to run the floor, find the open area and get locked and loaded. Again, he's expected to be ready when the season starts, but he's not there yet. Without him (like they are now), the Gators are a just an average outside shooting team. 


PORTAL PIPELINE:  
Anthony Duruji, Tyree Appleby and Colin Castleton  The addition of Blackshear dominated the preseason storylines a year ago, and rightfully so. A case can be made he was the most heralded grad transfer to come available since the grad transfer rule was introduced by the NCAA in 2013. Blackshear had a really good year, just not the great one (sort of like his team) that everybody anticipated, what with foul trouble, an ill-timed injury (that Kentucky debacle) and, of course, COVID. This year, the Gators don't have one, or two, but three transfers that figure to make an impact, and it's anyone's guess which one will make the biggest splash because each figures to play key roles in the rotation. It might be a different one each night. First comes Duruji, who at 6-7 and 220 pounds is an athlete (a former nationally ranked triple-jumper in high school) along the lines of Johnson and Lewis. Duruji sat out last season, per NCAA rules, after transferring from Louisiana Tech, where he started 52 of 65 games, was named 2018 Conference USA Freshman of the Year, and averaged nearly 10 points and more than five rebounds over two seasons, including 12.2 points and 6.2 rebounds during his 2018-19 sophomore year. Though he projects as a true small forward, Duruji will play a bunch at the "4" and even some "5" when the Gators go small to go fast. The staff loves his effort on the glass, which definitely buys guys minutes. Appleby, who also sat out last season, came from Cleveland State, where he started all but one of 55 games and earned first-team All-Horizon League honors in '18-19 after averaging 17.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists. The 6-1, 165-pound junior twice hit seven 3-pointers in games, including a 37-point barrage of Bowling Green, and posted the only triple-double in program history with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists against Wisconsin-Milwaukee as a sophomore when he shot nearly 39 percent from distance for the year. This ain't the Horizon League, however, but Appleby is a super-grounded kid, exemplary teammate, and figures to go into the season with his eyes wide open. Appleby, as opposed to Mann, had to play catchup on the conditioning front when he got back to school, but once the season rolls around the two will provide different looks at the point, and also will play together a bunch. Castleton is a 6-11, 235-pound center who the Gators had some interest in during his Daytona Beach Father Lopez prep days. He went to Michigan, though, where he played behind 7-1, 265-pound walking redwood Jon Teske the last two seasons and likely was in for more of the same with the Wolverines' arrival of 7-1, 255-pound Hunter Dickinson, a top-35 prospect. Castleton, who averaged 3.4 points and 2.7 rebounds in 7.9 minutes over 25 games (no starts) last season, has worked hard on the floor and in the weight room to put him in position to be in the starting "5" spot conversation. He comes to practice every day with great energy, competitiveness and attitude. At the very least, he'll be an oft-used rotational reserve, pending how things shake out in the post. 


JUCO JUMP: Osayi Osifo

Get to know more on our guy, @osayiosifo23.#GatorsHoop pic.twitter.com/eUejkmwSw2

— Florida Gators Men's Basketball (@GatorsMBK) September 29, 2020

In speaking about Osifo, the UF staff makes the quick and easy comparison to the last junior college player to enter the program: Justin Leon. The similarities are not in their skill sets, but in their mindsets. Read: work ethic. The path taken by the 6-7, 225-pound Osifo certainly is one less traveled. Bedworth Park, South Africa, to McKinney, Texas, to Eastern Florida State College in Cocoa, Florida, then to Gainesville. The kid who goes by "O" did not start as a JuCo freshman, tallying just 4.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, but last season those numbers jumped to 10.6 points (on 54 percent from the floor) and 7.5 rebounds. What struck scouts the most, though, was Osifo's uncompromising effort. The Gators saw it over and over again on tape and wanted it for their culture. What happens next is anyone's guess, but Osifo (yes, it's early) is very much in the mix to play significant minutes. That said, a learning curve relative to the SEC speed of the game, size of the players and all-around athleticism is a given. White and his staff believe Osifo will follow the track Leon laid down — he's been a dedicated pupil during individual instruction, as well as a gym rat for voluntary time — and blossom into an everyday player; one who has the potential even to start in the post one day, but also one who will appreciate whatever time he gets. Reminder: Leon, from Conway, Arkansas, by way Shawnee (Ill.) Community College, thought he'd landed in heaven when he got to UF and was eternally thankful to start 11 games (and make just 46 percent o this free throws) his first year at Florida. He continued to work, however, and started all 36 during the Elite Eight run the next year on the way to shooting just shy of 40 percent from the 3-point line and 79 percent from the free-throw line. Leon made and willed himself into a player. "O" will be afforded the same O-pportunity. 


TWO SOPHOMORE BIGS: 
Omar Payne and Jason Jitoboh  If the 6-10 Payne had Osifo's motor he would not be in this discussion; he'd be preparing for the NBA Draft. In discussing Payne, the 6-10, 230-pounder, it's easy to go right to the Auburn game to make the case he should be the Florida's man in the middle — and he might be. UF dismantled the fourth-ranked Tigers last season, 69-47, with Payne going 9-for-9 from the floor on his way to 19-point, 11-rebound masterpiece that seemingly announced the freshman's arrival. As it turned out, Payne scored 27 points the rest

of the season (over 13 games), with both his play and passion uneven at times. When the Gators needed him most, Payne struggled mightily in battling and boxing out Nick Richards and Kentucky's bigs in what turned out to be the final game of the season, with Blackshear sidelined in the second half with a fractured finger. Payne, who averaged 3.8 points and 3.6 rebounds over 15.1 minutes per game, returned this summer in very good shape and immediately showed gains in the weight room. If he's able to run with the new uptempo style and demonstrate more of a passion for the game (especially on the defensive end), Payne has a chance to make a far bigger and more consistent impact in his second season. If Payne competes, those two other low-post options (Castleton and Osifo) should bring out the fight in him. As for the 6-11 Jitoboh, what he did last year in dropping 40 pounds (330 to 290) was remarkable and got him in the rotation in what the staff thought, at least going in, would be a redshirt season. Jitoboh (1.3 points, 1.7 rebounds, 6.0 minutes per game) has the kind of frame that needs constant attention and maintenance, so the pandemic came at a bad time. He gained back some weight (not all of it) and has since lost some, but he's also dealt with some nagging injuries and/or soreness in the run-up to the preseason that has limited his court time. His role will depend on how long he can stay on the floor, especially with the faster pace. With three other "5" men in the mix, a developmental season could be an option.


BACKCOURT DEPTH: 
Ques Glover and Niels Lane Glover, the 5-11 sophomore, played up-and-down basketball during his freshman season. The fact he played at all, though, was a testament to what he showed the coaches in the run-up to the start of fall practice, given he was signed the previous April as insurance in the event Nembhard stayed in the NBA underclassmen pool. A day didn't go by last year Glover didn't do something at practice that made you go "Whoa!" He's a terrific athlete for his size, with the speed of, say, Erving Walker, which would seem to play into the Gators' transition to breakneck offense and pressing defense. Glover, though, needs to improve his shooting — 43 percent from the floor, 24 percent from the arc, 53 from the free-throw line — and, frankly, drastically improve an assist-to-turnover ratio that showed 19-to-40. He's constantly being reminded that valuing the basketball will buy him more minutes, as will defending without fouling. Lane, one of three New Jersey products on the roster, is a solidly built, 6-5, 205-pound off-guard whose best attributes, for now, are on the defensive side of the ball. The coaches really like how he competes. Offensively, he can penetrate and get in the lane much better than he can shoot, but he's working on the latter. Just how his role plays out is something of a wild card and may depend more on the performances and health of others in the backcourt, but the 94-foot brand of basketball figures to suit him, especially when it comes to guarding the passing lanes.


RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE — Samson Ruzhentsev   Ask the UF coaches how to pronounce Ruzhentsev's last name and the answer is almost always the same. "We just call him 'Sam.' " His real name, actually, is Samson and he hails from Moscow, making him the second Russian to find his way to Gainesville the last three seasons. A top-50 prospect out Chattanooga (Tenn.) Hamilton Heights, Ruzhentsiz has a similar set-jaw and workmanlike demeanor as Egor Koulechov, a tremendous grad-transfer addition in '17-18, but his skill set is different. For starters, Ruzhentsev is every bit of 6-7 (and likely growing) and has a bouncier element to his game. He's not the deadly elite shooter Koulechov was (not even close), but it's a good-looking stroke that certainly will improve. Ruzhentsev definitely is longer and more athletic than Koulechov and has no problem crashing the glass to chase rebounds. He'll get time at one of the two wing spots, but like Lane his role will figure itself out. 

WALK-ONS:
Alex Klatsky and Jack May 
Klatsky is back for a second season after sitting out '19-20 and taking a redshirt year. The 6-3 guard proved to be a prototype redshirt last season for a program that for several years gave walk-on, dress-out spots to managers. Klatsky, a pretty good shooter and really good competitor, has eyes on one day being a coach. Same with May, whose father actually is a coach — as in Dusty May, the former UF assistant who now is head coach at Florida Atlantic. May played two years of prep ball in Gainesville and the last two at Boca Raton (Fla.) St. Andrew's, which he helped capture the 3A state title last season.