Tired of mediocrity, Florida begins anew

Florida junior forward Chandler Parsons is adapting to different surroundings and a new look.

Nick Calathes, his teammate since he was a freshman in high school and his college roommate for the past two years, is playing pro basketball in Greece. Calathes’ absence means Parsons’ role with the Gators will change substantially. And Parsons no longer has his trademark buzz cut, which he had sported since high school.

The Gators hope that’s not the only reinvention in Gainesville this season.

The Gators won back-to-back national titles in 2006 and ’07, but they have slipped to the middle of the pack in the SEC. Florida has been to the NIT in each of the past two seasons. If the SEC’s preseason poll is any indication, the Gators will finish this season there, too.

Florida - which opens its season Sunday against Stetson - finished third in the SEC East last season. But Kentucky, which finished a game behind the Gators, hired a superstar coach who brought in a superstar recruiting class. Tennessee returns all five starters from an NCAA tournament team. South Carolina, which tied for the division title with Tennessee, returns four starters, including star guard Devan Downey. Vanderbilt added freshman Josh Jenkins to a team that returns all five starters and should challenge for an NCAA berth.

That left Florida as the No. 5 team in the SEC East in the preseason poll.

“When you win two national championships and don’t make the NCAA tournament the next two years, it’s rough,” Parsons said. “You’ve got to thank fans that have stuck around.”

Florida is the first defending national champion to miss the next two tournaments since Michigan State missed five consecutive tournaments after winning the 1979 championship. Florida hadn’t missed the NCAA tournament in consecutive seasons since the Gators missed three in a row from 1996-98, a stretch that included coach Billy Donovan’s first two seasons in Gainesville.

Calathes was Florida’s leading scorer the past two seasons. Calathes’ early departure is untimely, but it wasn’t unexpected. Donovan had expected Calathes to go pro after the end of last season, either to the NBA or Greece, where he has dual citizenship.

Still, his departure was another roster change that caused upheaval. Sophomore center Marreese Speights surprised Donovan by leaving for the NBA draft after the 2007-08 season; he was the 16th overall pick and was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers. Sophomore point guard Jai Lucas transferred to Texas at the beginning of last season. Two signees from last season’s five-man recruiting class elected to transfer, too. Junior forward Alex Tyus announced plans to transfer, but he changed his mind and will be a key player this season.

Perhaps Tyus’ return means Florida’s roster is showing signs of stabilizing. The Gators signed the No. 15 recruiting class in the country, headed by five-star guard Kenny Boynton and four-star forward Erik Murphy. Georgetown transfer Vernon Macklin is eligible after redshirting last season. And Donovan is hopeful sophomores Kenny Kadji and Ray Shipman will become reliable contributors off the bench.

Donovan said this season’s team has “a maturity level that’s been missing the last two years. I think there’s an understanding about what this is about. I do see a chemistry and a work ethic and a bonding going on that’s a little bit different.”

But will the personnel be able to hold up in a tougher SEC this season?

Macklin’s play is important. With a true center now on the roster, Tyus, Dan Werner and Parsons can move to their more natural positions.

With Tyus (6 feet 8/220 pounds) and Werner (6-8/230) having to play down low last season, Florida was outrebounded by nearly three boards per game in conference play. At 6-10 and 240 pounds, Macklin will allow Tyus to move to power forward and Werner and Parsons to play more on the perimeter.

Donovan hopes Macklin’s addition also will give Florida more freedom to play man-to-man, instead of hiding the Gators’ defensive deficiencies in a zone. Rebounding and defense is what Donovan needs from Macklin this season.

“The different [expectations] I’ve heard have been unrealistic,” Donovan said. “I told him if he was as good as people think he’s going to be, he would never have transferred and would have stayed at Georgetown. … My expectation is not for him to score 20 points and grab 15 rebounds. We need him to defend and rebound and lead and provide great energy. Anything he provides in scoring is a bonus for us.”

While Florida doesn’t expect much scoring from Macklin, the Gators need it from Boynton. Florida would have been thin in the backcourt had Calathes returned. Without Calathes, the situation is dire.

The No. 12 recruit in the 2009 class, Boynton (full story on Boynton) can play both guards spots and likely will see time at the point. Sophomore Erving Walker will start at the point, but he played mostly shooting guard last season. The 5-8 Walker was a spark plug off the bench last season, finishing third on the team in scoring at 10.1 points per game.

“Obviously, adding those pieces will help us a lot and is going to push everyone else,” Werner said. “Last year, we only had so many guys. And now with so many bodies, if you are not producing, you might not be playing. I think that is one thing that is going to be pushing everyone.”

Though Donovan has questioned this core group’s commitment and passion in the past, the early returns have been positive. Perhaps the experience of watching the NCAA tournament the past two seasons has made a lasting impression.

“There was a naivete that they had,” Donovan said. “They thought it was going to be a lot easier than it was. I think maybe our non-conference schedule and getting off to a good start in our league has created a false sense of where we were at.”

Florida started 13-2 in 2007-08 but landed in the NIT after losing its last four conference games. The Gators got off to another hot start (16-2) last season and were on the tournament bubble in February. But the Gators went 2-4 down the stretch to wind up in the NIT again.

After playing soft non-conference schedules the past two seasons, Florida changed things this season. The Gators will play Michigan State, Syracuse and Richmond in neutral-site games, N.C. State on the road and Florida State at home before the SEC schedule begins. The Gators also face Xavier in February.

By then, Florida hopes to have answered some of its key questions. Can Tyus and Parsons thrive at forward with Macklin at center? Can Walker be a full-time point guard? Most important, has the team matured enough to put together a complete season and play in the NCAA tournament?

Parsons never entertained missing the NCAA tournament after signing with a team that had won back-to-back national championships, but he’s had to live through it the past two seasons.

“I never really had the thought process that I wasn’t going to be there,” Parsons said. “After not going the last two years, I’m dying to get there.”

David Fox is a national writer for Rivals.com. He can be reached at dfox@rivals.com.

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