I recently heard Reneau is a bit oversold. I'm not saying he is a bad player or should not have been recruited. Mainly his 5 star status is probably overdone. The feeling I got was don't think he is going to come in here and be an immediate impact starter. That said I haven't seen MVA play much this year myself so I'm getting it second hand.
Yep, great guy and all, but just not doing what needs to be done as the coach. Disappointing, I've been really impressed with how he handles himself and represents the university, and that EE run at the beginning made me think we had a bright future. Even this year, I was telling a friend that I was getting 04 vibes from the team on the floor the first few games. A bunch of guys we didn't know a whole lot about (this time because of transfers rather than they were all sophomores), but were playing way above expectations. Then the wheels fell off. Again.
I'm piling on a bit here but the Texas Southern game should be the nail in the coffin given how the season has played out so far. People like to criticize fan support but we have too many inexplicable home performances to expect fans to keep paying for that product. First 3 years sure. You support your team and school through a program change and some struggles. 7 years is a pattern and people have accepted what we are right now. This was a make ir break season for White. Texas Southern should have been a near impossibility let alone a blow out loss. The only way to rid the stench of that performance would be to have played so well the rest of the season so that people chalk it up to a fluke. Can anyone really call that a fluke now?
NO, and he is not going to get a break from the school this year either. He built this roster, he now has to own it. Every year it is the same thing over and over. Now it is even worse because Colin is hurt. We may end up under 500 when all is said and done
great post and I agree 100%. Yes, Billy was a great coach and built our program into a national power, but it wouldn't take another Billy to make us successful again. Hell if we just had a guy who recruited at White's level but knew how to coach offense, develop players and get out of his own way on the sidelines, we'd have done a whole lot better the last seven years with the players we've had. at this point in time, there is absolutely no reason that the University of Florida basketball program can't be a perennial SEC title contender and top 25 program in the country. now that said, I don't really expect those kinds of results every year - every coach and program has down seasons - but we should be doing that stuff more often than not, and with White at the helm we're not even close. and to the OP's question, no - I'm not giving him any passes. The 19-20 season was the last straw for me when our preseason #6-ranked team got punked by FSU in their second game, fell completely out of the polls by the fourth week of the season at the start of December and probably would have missed the tournament if COVID had not interrupted the season. That was the point where the writing was on the wall for me with Mike White and unfortunately it's just been more of the same every year since with this guy.
Oh for the days when Billy and Urban were playing one on one at Billy's house, comparing National Championship trophies!
I'll post the same thoughts I posted in the other forum. No. It's nice White has got us in the tournament, but to me that's a low rung goal and can't be the reason to hold on to him. To me that should be a given in most years, but getting to the second weekend shouldn't be a rare occurrence and neither should consistently making the top 3 in the SEC. He's had 7 years and for the most part, a lot of "ifs, ands, and buts" for why we aren't there. I do think you give someone a few years to achieve the goals for the program, but don't be afraid to keep pulling the trigger until you find your guy.
This is me and I've been one of his biggest supporters. If we are one injury away from disaster every season, we are doing it wrong. No question we might have been a S16 or E8 team with Key last year. But we should beat teams like Ole Miss without CC. The problem is deeper than i had hoped
There is no certainty that we would have been much better with KJ last season. Castleton was a single digit scorer before KJ’s injury. That would not necessarily have changed if KJ hadn’t gone down. Also, we weren’t very good the immediately prior year when KJ had a great year and was surrounded by excellent talent. Don’t forget that Nembhard had also left along with Blackshear, and the offense was headed towards Mann and Appleby dribble driving all over the place.
It’s a similar situation to other areas and issues in the world around us. It has all had to play out so that enough people could come to see the light. White has lost all but his most loyal supporters. He is done.
If you compare basketball to football, squeaking into the tournament every year is equivalent to 7-6 or 8-5 in football, which gets you into a bowl game but not a good one. So basically, we never compete for an SEC title. In fact, over the last 4 years (when Billy's players were gone) including this year, White's SEC record is 32-27 or a winning % of 54%. After tonight's game that will be 32-28 or a winning % of 53%. Is this acceptable to be basically a slightly better than 500 team in conference? Meanwhile other SEC programs are passing us, so we might soon be a below 500 SEC team as we are so far this season. While recruiting has been decent under White, he decided to bring in transfers this year over signing freshman (other than Reeves and the late take of Kennedy). In fact, at least if there were freshman, you can see us building something. Instead we'll have to reload again next year. He completely whiffed with the pg position. Per 247 rankings for the 21 class, in the state of Florida, White signed 0 of the top 35 players. For the 22 class, White has signed 2 Florida high-school players ranked in Florida's Top 25 players, but at pg White missed on some big time pg's out of the state of Florida. - Jaden Bradley from IMG: #1 ranked pg in the county and 17 overall signed with Alabama. - Skyy Clark from Montverde: #5 pg in the county and 27 overall signed with UK. - Tre Donaldson out of Tallahassee: #18 pg in the country and 130 overall signed with Auburn. White did sign Denzel Aberdeen: 187 overall but listed as a combo guard. Think he's been playing some point so he may be able to help in that area. Still, that's a lot of talent going to other SEC schools from your own backyard. Being a 500 SEC team and getting out recruited by other SEC schools in your own state should be enough evidence for SS to have seen enough.
Agree with all. Our biggest issue is the lack of commitment to the program and the unwillingness to up the ante when it comes to going after the very best. That's why Cal and Pearl are doing what they are and we are struggling with a mid major coach and players. The next hire has to be a splash hire. One who has instant credibility with elite HS players. One that can get down and dirty with Cal and Pearl. Short of that, we'll replace White with another White and be in the same situation or worse.
I doubt that there are many other Whites out there. I generally agree with you, but I’m not certain what you mean by a splash hire. Coach K was not a splash hire. Bobby Knight was not a splash hire. Billy Donovan was not a splash hire. Chances are that the next great college basketball coach will be someone who is not a splash hire. If White does get let go, UF needs to be assisted by advisors who have the ability to determine who is likely to be a great coach at UF.
Looking at his offer list led me to the same conclusion unfortunately. Still probably a very good player, but a 5* with offers from none of KU, UK, UNC, Duke, Michigan State, Michigan, OR UCLA leaves me wondering thinking his rating is too high.
This got me thinking about where championship coaches come from. I flipped through the last ten years of championship coaches (winning or losing, these were all coaches who got their teams to the national championship game). Drew Scott- won a championship at his first big job Mark Few- two championship appearances at his first big job Tony Bennett- three years at Washington State before Virginia Chris Beard- championship appearance at his first big job Jay Wright- championship at his first big job (7 years HC at Hofstra before Villanova) John Beilein- Richmond and West Virginia for 10 years before Michigan Roy Williams- two championship appearances at his first big job Coach K- Duke was his first big job Bo Ryan- championship appearance at his first big job Kevin Ollie- championship at his first big job John Calipari- didn't appear in a championship game until his third big job Rick Pitino- championship at his first big job Bill Self- no championship appearances until his third job (took Tulsa and Illinois to the EE before getting to Kansas) Jim Calhoun- three championships at his first big job Brad Stevens- two championship appearances at his first big job Tom Izzo- championship at his first big job Championship coaches have to be found, you can't just hire away a championship coach from someone else on your level.
