NCAA remains Gators’ top goal
Even though Dan Werner won a national title as a freshman at Florida, he never felt part of that team.
He hardly played, rarely scored and ended up with a championship ring that seemed awkward to wear.
He’s felt even more out of sorts the last two years. The Gators ended a second straight season in the NIT, losing to Penn State in the quarterfinals Tuesday night and falling short of their goal of making the NCAA tournament.
“Coach built it as one of the top programs in the country, and unfortunately these last two years we took it down a couple of steps,” Werner said.
Werner and his teammates would like to get Florida back on track. They might have a realistic chance, too.
If point guard Nick Calathes returns for his junior season, the Gators could have four starters and most of their reserves back. Throw in the return of Adam Allen, the debut of Georgetown transfer Vernon Macklin and a signing class that includes dynamic guard Kenny Boynton, and the Gators will, at the very least, be deeper and more athletic than the team that finished 25-11 this season, but will it be enough to get Florida back in the NCAA field?
“I think we have a long way to go to get there,” coach Billy Donovan said. “We really do. That’s kind of the reality of it. I think there’s a lot of aspects that go into getting to that point, but I still think that we’ve got a ways to go in terms of development, getting better, adding more pieces.”
Donovan believes his team overachieved this season, pointing to the loss of center Marreese Speights (NBA draft), the unexpected departure of guard Jai Lucas (transferred to Texas) just before the opener and injuries to Allen (knee) and big men Eloy Vargas (ankle) and Allan Chaney (heel).
The Gators had depth issues and were forced to play Werner, Alex Tyus and Chandler Parsons out of position much of the season. The result was they were overmatched down low, especially in Southeastern Conference play, and were forced to trap, press and play zone defense to try to hide their deficiencies.
“You’ve got to play with what you’ve got,” Werner said. “You can’t complain because guys are undersized or playing out of position. We are what we are. We just tried to make the best out of it.”