Florida head coach Mike White is already well-aware as to what could be the biggest key to his team’s success this season.
The key? Staying healthy.
Unfortunately for White, injuries have been a common theme during his first three seasons in Gainesville, with that unlucky trend on full display last season.
The Gators were successful in winning 21 games and making the NCAA Tournament, but dealt with numerous injury situations along the way.
Former starting center John Egbunu played just one minute the entire season after suffering an ACL tear during the 2016-17 campaign. Freshman forward Chase Johnson, a top-100 recruit, appeared in only four games due to concussion issues. Isaiah Stokes had to redshirt, and Gorjok Gak was limited to 8.9 minutes per game in dealing with his own injury problems.
Luckily for White, the latter three seem to be in a good spot as the team moves through its summer workouts.
“Isiaiah has been cleared to play in the half court,” White said on Thursday’s SEC coaches teleconference. “He’s done a lot of competing, but he’s gotta get in much better condition before we allow him to play in the full court.”
“Chase has been terrific physically, so no questions with him right now. Gorjok had successful surgery, and the medical people are optimistic about his return, potentially a little quicker than we thought. We’re hoping by early September he’ll be 100%.”
Getting those three back will certainly give Florida a huge boost heading into next season, as it’ll add more depth to what could be one of the SEC’s most intriguing rosters.
Leading scorer Jalen Hudson returns after withdrawing from the 2018 NBA draft, which according to White, was extremely beneficial for the 6-6 guard.
“It was big for our program, but more importantly, for Jalen to get the feedback that he got,” White said. “He feels like he’s in a good place having learned through the process.”
Hudson averaged 15.5 points per game last season and shot 40.4 percent from 3-point range. He finished seventh in the SEC in 3-point field-goal percentage, and 11th in the league in scoring.
However, White knows that Hudson’s ability to expand his game will be crucial the Gators’ success.
“I’m sure he heard a lot of the same things he gets from his current staff,” White said. “He’s gotta become a better defender and rebounder. He’s gotta play with a better edge. He’s very talented and very intelligent, but he’s gotta be able to dig a little deeper and play with more intensity. And offensively, it’s not being so sporadic and being more consistent.”
In addition to Hudson, the team welcomes back players like KeVaughn Allen, Keith Stone, and Kevarrius Hayes, as well as the talented freshman class from a year ago.
Of course, White will also have the luxury of bringing in a top-20 class for 2018, which includes 5-star point guard Andrew Nembhard and 4-stars Noah Locke and Keyontae Johnson.
That mixture of impact returners and highly-coveted newcomers should keep the Gators firmly involved in what could be one of the most exciting SEC regular season title races in recent years.
Kentucky could potentially enter the season as the No. 1 team in the country, while the ’17-18 co-champions – Auburn and Tennessee – return the bulk of their rotations. Then there’s teams like LSU and Mississippi State, who both continue to garner plenty of praise during the offseason.
But again, it all goes back to Florida’s ability to stay healthy over the course of an entire season.
If that happens, the Gators’ depth and flexibility should be on full display.
“I don’t know that we’ve got five or six guys that really separate themselves,” White said.
“Hopefully this is a team where we can play a couple different ways and really utilize some depth, which we were not capable of doing last year and at other times as well over the past three years.”
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