South Carolina is going to finish last in the conference even though they have my favorite assistant coach in Eddie Shannon. They just don't have much talent although they have an outstanding incoming freshman in G.G. Jackson and a great Southern Conference player in Hayden Brown whose game might or might not work in the SEC. Hayden averaged 18.8 PPG last season at The Citadel. Vandy, Georgia, Ole Miss, Miss. St., LSU, and Missouri will all be scrapping to get into the top of the bottom half of the conference. They all have pretty solid rosters, so coaching is going to be a huge factor. Texas A&M sits around 7th with another solid roster and a dynamite coach. Whether they keep up their hot play from the end of last season remains to be seen. I am predicting Auburn and Alabama to be just outside of the top 4. I don't think that Alabama has much of an inside game, and I don't like Auburn's guards along with Bruce Pearl's tendency to play them the way Mike White played Tyree Appleby. They do have some good big men coming in, but they need to replace Walker Kessler and Jabari Smith. Tennessee loses a really good guard in Kennedy Chandler, but they bring back some great guards and add a stud in Julian Phillips. Arkansas only brings back 2 players and they were bench players. However, they bring in the #2 rated freshmen class in the country, including pre-season 1st-team All-SEC guard, Nick Smith., and they add some solid transfers. They will get better and better as the season rolls on. Kentucky brings back what likely is considered the best center/point guard combo in the country in Tshiebwe and Wheeler along with 4 other solid returnees. They also add 2 of the best freshmen in the country in Livingston and Wallace along with an outstanding transfer in Antonio Reeves, who averaged 20.1ppg at Illinois State last season. Finally, the Gators. UF is flying under the radar, but they appear to have a great coaching staff, and their center/point guard combo in CC and Lofton backed up by JJ and Bonham could be the equal of Kentucky's center/point guard combo. At the other 3 positions, they have several legitimate NBA prospects in Kugel, Reeves, Richard and Fudge. Kugel, who has really been under the radar, outplayed Nick Smith head-to-head at the City of Palms last Christmas. At crunch time, the Gators should be able to put on the floor a dominant group of defenders in CC, Fudge, Reeves, Kugel and Lofton, plus these guys can score. If Fudge can't make his free throws, Felder can take his spot. The Gators go 11 deep with excellent players, and I expect Golden to play all 11 of them. I am going to go with the Gators to finish 2nd in the SEC behind Kentucky and to be a significant factor in the NCAA tournament.
Agree with your top 4 and optimism about UF but I’ll go with Arkansas at 2 and us 3 for now just cause Muss has that program rolling
The Gators have pieces but the pieces have to mesh. I have no idea about the team culture, but if it is good and all about winning and not individual stats we might be fine. The only stat that really matters is W-L. One bad thing is that Golden is the new kid on the block and might not get the respect he deserves from the zebras.
Glad to know that my buying a second 40-0 shirt will be money well spent. I imagine at least a ten-fold return on my investment. Cha CHING! It is been a LONG time to have this kind of optimism. Not that we are "Kentucky-esque", just that we seem to have a lot better mix of players. That to me is WAY good. After that it is gravy.
I know that it is only the pre-season. However, this year‘s roster appears to me to be the deepest roster that the Gators have had since the 1999–2000 season. It looks like we have 11 players who are starter-level SEC players. Golden typically only plays about nine guys and shortens that during the conference schedule. However, he has never had a team this deep. I expect him to use 11 players on a regular basis, with Denzel Aberdeen and the German kid being the only players who are not in the rotation. For example, how do you tell a kid like Niels Lane that he is not good enough to play for the Gators. I have high expectations with the caveat that the season has yet to start.
I am excited as well, but fully expect a rough early journey and a few bumps after. Really looking forward to see how we develop through the year.
tampa Jack is orange and blue died in the wool. I believe we are going to have and up down journey throughout the season. By early January we will be dealing with injuries and players getting acclimated to the CTG system. With still a few few tweaks to come Jan/feb. By tournament time we will be dangerous. So SEC brothers you better take your shots early, because we are going to scrap for a tournament bid. When we get in, we are going to show the nation, we are going to be reckoned with.. This from seeing college basketball at Florida since 1960. Maravich, where LSU hired his father to get the son recruited, Sir Charles, Chris Jackson, Neil Walk, Florida’s greatest center ever. Livingston Chatman, the greatest forward Florida ever signed, Mad Max, the greatest athlete Florida ever had, Long NBA career, and Udonis Haslim, a one tough hombre, as evidence by his NBA career that only a handful of players in the USA have ever had! Two many players at Florida that were not mentioned, Andrew DeClerc, The Meat Hook, Demetrie, Chandler Parsons, Mike Miller, Teddy Dupay, a scoring freak, White Chocolate, greatest PG Florida has ever seen, Noah and Big Al, Corey Brewer, Patrick Young, Adonis. not to forget Bradly Beal! I am sure I left some out, I apologize. When I say I think this is going to happen, I have seen a lot of Gator basketball. Our schedule is tough, we are going to compete, but lumps are coming. I am good with that and know, it will make our resolve stronger and our team tougher. Here’s to getting to the 2023 NCAA tournament and blasting a few teams into Orbit!………..
great recollection of some former great players, one that gets left out when talking about former players who achieved much is one of few that averaged a double/double for his career at UF (16 pts/10 rebounds) and made one of the All-SEC teams every year was Chip Williams. Consistent, reliable and one of the nicest people I've ever known!
Chip was a great big man for the gators as was his teammate, Bob Smyth. I believe that Chip’s brother, Tom Williams, is still the academic advisor to the Florida men’s basketball team. Also, I believe that former basketball player for the gators under Billy Donovan, Dan Williams, is Chip’s nephew.
