While Florida entered the year ranked No. 7 in the country, there were always questions about how they would replace the experience and leadership of departed seniors Patrick Young and Scottie Wilbekin from a year ago. After all, last year’s Florida team steamrolled their SEC competition on their way to yet another Final Four.
Most gave Billy Donovan the benefit of the doubt with this year’s group, given that the raw talent of Chris Walker, Kasey Hill and Michael Frazier II. Oh, how things have gone wrong.
It isn’t just that this group hasn’t lived up to expectations, the likes of which were partially inflated due to the SEC being perceived as perhaps the weakest Power 5 conference coming into the season. The real problems in Gainesville are much harder to diagnose and treat. Many times, Florida looks less like a basketball team than a collection of athletes being thrown a ball and being told to go play with it however they choose.
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Coach Donovan is one of the most respected coaches in the country, and none of this is to say that UF’s program is crashing down around him. Even the best in the business have down years. It happens.
Still, the lack of development that we have seen out of Florida’s prized recruits of the last few cycles is puzzling, and actually sets the program up for more struggles in the future. As it is said, recruiting is the lifeblood of any program, and Florida has some work to do if they want to bring in the kind of talent and character that can turn things around.
