Florida's Biggest Concern Under Mike White: The Lack of Frontcourt Production

Florida has neglected to recruit the frontcourt at his time at Florida, and it may end up costing him moving forward.

With the recent news of big men Dontay Bassett and Gorjak Gak entering the transfer portal, Florida has once again been left out to dry at the 4 and 5 positions. With the duo of Bassett and Gak entering the portal, the Gators are left with only Omar Payne and Jason Jitoboh as experienced players heading into the 2020-21 season. 

Florida will also add JUCO standout 6-8 forward, Osayi Osifo. The East Florida State College product can turn out to be an impressive prospect, but there is still a need for depth in the frontcourt. Florida will have the scholarship numbers to make a play at a transfer this offseason. 

Since his introduction at Florida, Mike White has recruited fairly well, including additions of Andrew Nembhard, Keyontae Johnson, Tre Mann, Scottie Lewis, and others. Although White has continued to reel in top classes at Florida, his avoidance of recruiting a true star in the frontcourt is a concern. 

White has tried and come up short in his evaluations of these players, as his most recent addition in Kerry Blackshear Jr. left much to be desired. Blackshear was still a solid contributor, but this was the same Blackshear that was being built up to be the biggest transfer in college basketball prior to the games being played. Blackshear was brought in to sew up some holes in Florida's frontcourt, but Blackshear did not perform the way many thought he would. 

This begs the question if Florida is missing a key coach to develop these players, as White has consistently looked for JUCO guys or transfers to fill in his roster, especially at the power forward and center positions. This can work for or against you, but it appears as if no matter who the Gators bring in, they aren't being developed to their highest potential.  

Looking back to the start of White's tenure through the 2018 class, the Gators brought in five players in the frontcourt in Kevarrius Hayes (graduated), Bassett (portal), Gak (portal), Chase Johnson (transferred), Isaiah Stokes (transferred). 

Out of all these players, only Hayes proved to be a serious contributor to the Gators, whose production came on the defensive side of the ball. Hayes was also a factor in the pick and roll game and was a tenacious rebounder, thanks to his relentless effort while he was on the floor. 

Gak was brought into the program in the 2016 class but struggled to get in the rotation due to nagging injuries. 

Bassett only saw 10+ minutes of action in four games in the 2019-20 season, due to the addition of Blackshear and Jitoboh, which ultimately led him to the transfer portal. Bassett was with the Gators for three seasons and showed flashes throughout the 2018-19 season, but it did not last in the long term. 

Chase Johnson was a promising high school prospect but only sparingly at Florida due to prior health issues. Johnson transferred from Florida to Dayton but is now medically retired from basketball due to his battle with post-concussive stress syndrome. 

Isaiah Stokes was another forward that looked to be an option for Florida, but Stokes failed to stay in shape throughout the 2018-19 season, resulting in his minutes being cut. Stokes also suffered from an injury in his freshman season and decided to transfer away from the Florida program before the beginning of the 2019-20 season. 

In the 2019 class, Florida brought in high four-star Omar Payne and three-star Jason Jitoboh. Both Payne and Jitoboh could work out to be significant contributors, but both have a long way to go in their development, as they just finished their freshmen seasons. Both players have shown promise, but Florida is still missing that outstanding big man that can take them to the next level.

With the scouting misses of Bassett, Stokes, and Gak, White has failed to have a productive big outside of Hayes., who was committed before White even took the job. White must establish his top frontcourt targets early in the recruiting cycle and pursue them as hard as he can, because the depth at power forward and center is concerning, to say the least. As mentioned earlier, using the portal wouldn't be a bad idea, but that addition would need to be developed at Florida.

White is a really good recruiter, but only when it comes to the backcourt. White tends to neglect to recruit the frontcourt, which is an issue that has been apparent throughout his five years in Gainesville. Heading into the 2021 class, it is absolutely vital that White lands two solid prospects at power forward and center, as he tends to take two bigs per class, after years where he doesn't take one at all (2020). 

And if White doesn't find frontcourt players to fill that void, the Gators will continue to be thrashed in the paint on both ends of the floor.