Mike White was good, but you have to remember…. Billy accomplished what he did - WITHOUT Ques Glover! I mean, Billy didn’t even benefit from the aura Glover has brought to our planet… which we know is hugely impactful. Billy coached during that inconceivably dark period we now know as B.Q. Incredible!
I was expecting you to come back with a Gloverism. Mike was certainly an innovator. I can’t think of another coach who would have had the balls or the foresight to play Ques at power forward.
I can’t talk about Mike Anderson while his lawsuit against St. John’s is going on. It does trouble me that the Red Storm decided to downgrade by firing Mike and hiring Rick Pitino, but I will have to live with the Final Fours that could follow.
Impossible to argue that he's not the all-time greatest Gator men's basketball coach, and it's not close. Behind him, I'm curious as to where everyone ranks the past head coaches. I'll go with: 1) Billy ... no explanations needed. 2) Lon Kruger ... very good at Xs and Os, but a bland personality made him a bland recruiter. Laid the foundation for Billy to succeed with his Final Four team, which was an unthinkable thing for Gator basketball before that. 3) Mike White ... an okay coach, but not good enough to follow BD. Lon Kruger without the Xs and Os. Except for his in-bounds plays, which were the best I've ever seen, anywhere. 4) Norm Sloan ... good recruiter, good motivator, good Xs and Os, but high-strung and crazy, and more than a little corrupt. Brought us our first NIT appearance and followed it up with our first NCAAT appearances, including first Sweet 16. 5) John Lotz ... solid coach, not so hot at recruiting. He lobbied hard for a new venue and was the driving force behind getting the O'Connell Center built, which he felt would elevate the program in the SEC...but got fired before he could set foot in it. His last team was woeful. 197) Don Devoe... unmitigated disaster, on the order of the Hindenberg. Oh, the humanity. As I said, PAST coaches. I feel confident that in a few years everyone will rank Todd Golden as our 2nd-best. I have no personal knowledge of coaches beyond that, except for Ed Visscher, who filled in a while for John Lotz.
In no universe is Mike White a better basketball coach than Norm Sloan. I know there were shenanigans, but Sloan took a program that never made the big dance and made us relevant. Not to mention he won a title and had an undefeated season at NC State between stints at UF. White inherited a top 10 program and turned it into a top 40 program. Moving on to our most hated rival loses points in my book too. I agree with you on Golden's potential trajectory.
In my universe, which is the only one that counts, CMW was a better GATOR coach than Sloan. What Stormin' Norman did at NCSU has no bearing on what he did as a Gator. And he was perilously close to getting us the Death Penalty, from what I heard.
