One year and five days ago, Justin Leon led Shawnee Community College with 18 points and 10 rebounds, finishing second in field goal attempts for the Saints in their loss to Southwestern Illinois.
This year, as a junior college transfer for Florida, Leon is averaging just under three shot attempts per game.
His scoring average (3.9 points per game) has dwindled from last season, and he’s playing the sixth-fewest minutes on the team at 10.4 per game.
So, the day after Leon broke out against LSU on Saturday, scoring 14 points and grabbing nine rebounds in just his third start at UF, one of Florida’s staff members advised coach Mike White to look for any signs of laziness from Leon in practice and to make sure success wasn't getting to the junior’s head.
White smiled.
"Yesterday, he’s out there winning wind-sprints," the coach said.
Leon played the fourth-most minutes of any Florida player in the win over the Tigers on Saturday and frequently found himself guarding LSU’s star freshman Ben Simmons.
Leon held his own, playing solid perimeter defense, diving after loose balls and fighting for rebounds in the paint.
The coaching staff has been impressed with Leon’s work ethic ever since he was promoted to the starting lineup on Jan. 2 against Georgia.
"(He’s) competing at the highest level," White said. "That’s what he is... I'll be surprised if (he) gets out of character."
Hill's move a mixed bag:
After UF’s 66-55 loss to Miami on Dec. 8, Kasey Hill needed a change.
The junior point guard spoke to White and asked if he could be removed from the starting lineup and instead come off the bench.
In Florida’s next game against then-No.1 Michigan State, Hill tallied his highest point total in nearly three weeks, finishing with 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting and a season-high four steals.
His next two games were similar, as the guard shot 50 percent with eight assists in the Gators’ win over Oklahoma State and then made 60 percent of his attempts along with six assists in an 89-65 drubbing of Jacksonville.
"I don’t know if it took pressure off of him, if it allowed him to see the game from a front row seat before he got into the game, watch the flow of the game before he experienced the flow," White said of Hill’s move to the bench.
"Whatever factors led to that, he definitely played better there."
But in Florida’s last few games, Hill has fallen off.
The best he has shot from the field since UF’s win over Jacksonville has been a 42.9 percent performance against Florida State.
Since then, the junior has made just three of his last 20 shots.
"We hope we can get him back to playing well (tonight)," White said.
White hoping effort no longer an issue:
After its poor performance against Tennessee, White was more than pleased with UF’s effort against LSU.
Following the win, the coach said the Gators played the hardest he’s seen them play all season.
But White still isn’t sure if Florida has learned its lesson: It must sustain that level of effort every game if it hopes to have a chance of winning.
"I think we’re asking them to play at such a high level of intensity because we’re masking some offensive deficiencies," White said. "We can’t afford to have a C game defensively and on the glass because we’re not good enough offensively right now."
White said the Gators fell into complacency early in the season after making 15 of their 29 three-pointers against North Carolina A&T on Nov. 16.
With their shots falling, not much defense was required in Florida’s 104-54 rout of the Bulldogs.
"It would be insane for us to think that we can count on that happening (every game)," White said.
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UF forward Justin Leon corrals a rebound during Florida’s 68-62 win over LSU on Jan. 9, 2016, in the O’Connell Center.
