With the departure of former Florida coach Billy Donovan, who built the Gators into a perennial contender in not just the Southeastern Conference but the entire country, one would think incoming UF coach Mike White would attempt to emulate Donovan’s methods to be successful.
Not so fast, White says.
"All of my mentors and people who I respect in the business have all given pretty similar advice, and that’s including Jeremy Foley and Billy Donovan" White said, "Just be yourself."
Doing things his own way has gotten White this far, at least.
It’s something he learned from a mentor, former Jacksonville State head coach Mike LaPlante, while working under the coach at the Alabama-based university.
"You know we’re all different. There’s hundreds of different ways to do this," White said.
"Every coach has his own unique approaches and I have tons of respect and admiration for the last era, but I’m going to do what I know."
Entering his fifth year as a head coach, White has developed his own methods for developing and running a basketball team.
But that doesn’t mean he won’t listen to those around the program who, for the time being at least, know more about success in Gainesville.
"As we continue to learn from other coaches, especially coach Donovan and what has gone on here on and off the court as we’ve had the privilege to study games and practices, we’ll take a ton of that, trust me," White said.
"At the same time we’ll need to coach with our own personality."
New Faces: Monday marked the start of Summer B at UF, and among those to arrive on campus were the three incoming freshmen hoping to make an impact during White’s first season: KeVaughn Allen, Kevarrius Hayes and Keith Stone.
"We’ll get back to workouts today and continue to evaluate where we’re at, especially with regard to our three freshmen," White said.
"Coach Donovan and his staff obviously recruited them and signed them. So we just look forward to the fall where we can get into a full-swing of practices and learn more about our team."
Along with the freshmen, the Gators will get contributions from three transfers and Brandone Francis, who sat out last season with academic issues.
Redshirt sophomore John Egbunu, who transferred from USF and sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules, started 31 games for the Bulls as a freshman, earning a place on the American Athletic Conference All-Rookie team.
Schuyler Rimmer announced on Dec. 30, 2014 that he would walk-on at Florida from Stanford after initially committing to Donovan and the Gators in 2013.
He won’t be eligible until after the fall semester, due to the same NCAA transfer rules that kept Alex Murphy from the court until late December.
The final addition comes from JUCO transfer Justin Leon, who originally signed for White at Louisiana Tech.
He’s eligible to play immediately, but won’t be on campus until the Fall.
Leon may hold a special place in the mind and heart of White, as he’s the first official UF commit for the 38-year-old Dunedin native.
For White, he's eager to find out who will be his first Gators.
The uncertainty is invigorating, the potential to develop is enthralling and the drive to find out is energizing for White.
"Evaluating them in terms of their strengths and weaknesses, and the best ways to help this program, will be first and foremost," White said. "I’m just excited to watch them.
"This first week or so will be more of sitting back. Obviously pushing them to work very, very hard and pay attention to detail.
"But more than anything evaluating exactly who they are as players."
Follow Graham Hall on Twitter @Graham311.
UF men's basketball coach Mike White speaks at his introductory press conference on May 11 in the Gator Room at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
