[gatortalk] Fwd: [gatornews] Mike Bianchi: Bludgeoning of No. 9 West Virginia gives new Gators coach some credibility in post-Donovan era

"Bludgeoning" That's a good word. Nice article. 

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "John Bowers" <jbowers4@cfl.rr.com>
Date: January 31, 2016 at 4:27:36 PM CST
To: "Gator News" <gatornews@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [gatornews] Mike Bianchi: Bludgeoning of No. 9 West Virginia gives new Gators coach some credibility in post-Donovan era
Reply-To: gatornews+owners@googlegroups.com

Bludgeoning of No. 9 West Virginia gives new Gators coach some credibility in post-Donovan era

Mike Bianchi

 

GAINESVILLE — Ron Zook had it tough following Steve Spurrier.

Will Muschamp had it tough following Urban Meyer.

But make no mistake about it, Mike White has the toughest job in University of Florida history following Billy Donovan.

This is why Gator historians need to mark down this date as the 30th of January in the Year 1 A.D. (After Donovan) and annotate it as the day White began to emerge from beneath the enormous, eclipsing shadow of his legendary predecessor.

This wasn't just a dominating 88-71 victory over No. 9 West Virginia on Saturday in front a full house at the rowdy reptilian pavilion otherwise known as the O'Connell Center, this might very well go down as the program-propelling victory White needs to make himself and his team relevant in the post-Billy era of Florida basketball.

"I think this is huge for Coach White as far as his credibility," said Schuyler Rimmer, the 6-foot-10 Boone High product who came off the bench and gave Florida a jolt of emotion and physicality in the victory over a West Virginia team known for pressuring, badgering and intimidating opponents. "This shows people what he's capable of."

People like Gator fans, star recruits and members of the NCAA selection committee who all sit in judgment waiting to see what becomes of the program Billy built. That's why this victory was so big for White: Because it might just be the victory — Florida's first against a team with a top 25 RPI rating — that ends up getting the Gators (14-7, 5-3 in the SEC) into the NCAA Tournament.

And, don't kid yourself, Mike White needs to be in the NCAA Tournament so national recruits can begin to know who he is. Right now, they don't know Mike White from his brother Danny White, the new athletics director at UCF.

They don't know he is a young, charismatic, exciting coach whose team plays basketball like Kyle Busch drives a stock car — with the pedal to the metal and his hair on fire. They don't know he was lauded for his four years at Louisiana Tech, where he won the regular-season conference title his final three seasons.

The reason they don't know is because White has never coached a team to the NCAA Tournament. And if you haven't been to the NCAA Tournament, you are invisible in college basketball.

"This is a really big win," White said. "This is a step [toward getting into the NCAA Tournament] for sure, but this doesn't guarantee anything."

When Donovan left after last season to become the head coach of theNBA's Oklahoma City Thunder, he took the guarantees with him. The Gators could pretty much punch their ticket for the NCAA Tournament most every year during Donovan's 19 seasons. And all Donovan had to do was express interest in a big-time recruit like Jabari Parker or Julius Randle and the Gators would immediately be on the player's list of top five schools.

This is why I say White has it much tougher than Zook or Muschamp. In football, the Gators have the fan support, resources, commitment and recruiting base to stay relevant —-- or at least get back to relevance very quickly.

In football, the program is bigger than the coach. In basketball, Donovan was bigger than the program. Donovan was an elite coach at UF, but did he leave an elite program behind?

The Gators finished 16-17 and didn't make the tournament in Donovan's final season. White's challenge is to make sure Gator basketball doesn't sink back to what it was before Donovan arrived two decades ago; back to the days when NCAA Tournament appearances were rare and NIT victories were celebrated.

His first significant victory on Saturday was a nice start. The Gators shot West Virginia out of the gym, hitting 12-of-20 treys and scoring more points than West Virginia has given up all season. West Virginia had been beating opponents by an average of 18 points per game and, yet, the Gators blew out the Mountaineers by 17.

"We needed a big win," said Florida's Dorian Finney-Smith, who led all scorers with 24 points.

This wasn't just a big win; it was Mike White's signature win at a program that still has Billy Donovan's name all over it.

mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter at BianchiWrites. Listen to his radio show every weekday from 6 to 9 a.m. on FM 96.9 and AM 740.

 

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GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions |
Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007)
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