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UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 25, 2018

Mike White

Gainesville, Florida

MIKE WHITE: What's up. Nice to see you guys. It's been a while.

Q. Can you just talk about having some of the older guys?
MIKE WHITE: Well, we'll miss Kevin. Welcome Pat.

Q. But as far as the interior?
MIKE WHITE: Yeah, I don't think we're overly experienced. I've had more experienced teams. We'll be playing a bunch of young guys. We'll be depending upon, I want to say eight underclassmen that will play, that will compete for minutes. Who knows. All eight of them may play.

But we do have a decent mix of some older guys as well, which is really important, of course, especially in the state that this league is in, and especially with the non-conference slate that we have.

So the contributions from our senior wings, from Kevarrius Hayes, and then a couple of the other older front court guys, Keith Stone, and Gorjok Gak will be very important for this team.

Q. Obviously you're replacing a presence in the locker room like Chris Chiozza. How do you do that, and where does that start from your side?
MIKE WHITE: Yeah, it's something that we can attempt to cultivate. You'd like to see it happen somewhat organically, and it remains to be seen who will step up in some of those leadership roles.

I think from what we've seen, we haven't spent a lot of time in the locker room to this point. It's such a long season that I try to avoid a bunch of meetings, and I try to avoid long meetings, and long film sessions in the fall, because (no audio) capacity.

Kevarrius, I think, it started a little bit more so last year, and it's carried over. And Jalen has made a big jump in that regard. I think he's feeling good about himself and his physical and mental output stemming back from some of the feedback that he got from the NBA last spring. He's playing well and he's trying to lead by example. He's been more vocal than he was a year ago.

Q. You mentioned the non-conference slate being pretty tough. When you have a team that's a little less experienced, does that maybe offer some benefit in terms of finding out who you are a little quicker?
MIKE WHITE: Yeah, maybe so. I think you could look at our non-conference and talk about all of the negatives that it could present. But you also could find a lot of positives that it could present, and I think that's one of them. To find out early who you are and who you can count on and who needs to get better at what, and offensive identity and defensive, and your rotation and so on and so forth.

Throughout every year just about we've made, like every staff, we've made some changes. You find out what puts your guys in the best position to be successful, and I don't think that you can find that out as easy by playing inferior opponents.

Q. How often have you had to rely heavily on a first-year point guard?
MIKE WHITE: Oh, good question. I guess this would be my second time assuming that either Andrew Nembhard or Mike Okauru wins that spot, and Mike not being a first-year guy, but it would be his first year really playing exclusively the point. First year starting, I guess.

Q. I'm more talking about Andrew. There is a good chance he's going to play a good bit, I would think and you're going to rely on him, for sure?
MIKE WHITE: Yeah, he'll play. We'll rely on him. It would be my first year as a head coach, kid named Speedy Smith, who is a big reason I'm at Florida today.

Q. So what is the challenge, and how do you kind of bring a guy along quickly enough that he's going to be ready by conference?
MIKE WHITE: There are a lot of challenges. I guess it would probably start with, as it did where speedy, with Andrew trying to simplify the game for him as much as possible. Simplify his role, through film, trying to help him become as comfortable as possible as soon as possible. We won't be relying upon him to be a huge vocal leader, to be an emotional leader for us, but we will be relying on him to direct some traffic and to lead in that regard, then also allowing young guards to play through mistakes.

He's going to have to play through mistakes, and Mike Okauru is as well, and continue to breed confidence as much as possible, and, of course have an open line of communication, not only with staff, but with myself on a daily basis. At the same time, ride him. Let him do what he does, because it's not like he's a huge work in progress.

Andrew is a very talented young man, and he's a high-level passer, he's a very high-level IQ guy, and he's going to be a really good player.

Q. You talk about how Andrew is a high-level passer, high IQ; do you expect him to be one of the best passers in the SEC?
MIKE WHITE: Absolutely.

Q. Is he touted as such?
MIKE WHITE: Definitely. He'll be one of the better passers that we play all year. He'll have a chance to be in the conversation to be one of the better passers in college basketball. Who knows how many assists that means, how many highlights he produces, how many minutes he'll play. I'm not sure. But that is his gift.

He sees the game at a high level. He's a split-second thinker. Again, he's very intelligent. Not only is he an elite passer, he's an elite passer with size, which makes it even a little bit easier for him to deliver some passes that other guys with equal vision can't deliver.

Q. Do you have a time line of when you'll have the starting lineup?
MIKE WHITE: No. I tell our guys, and I've told you guys, I don't care. I don't care who starts. I just want to win. It might be the day before our first game, which is six weeks from today, which Denver just reminded me of. Put a little bit of a pit in my stomach. We've got to get to work.

Q. Obviously a guy like Keith Stone who has seemingly improved every single year he's been here, what is the next step for him, and how much have you talked to him about kind of taking that vocal leadership role that you touched on?
MIKE WHITE: I want Keith to worry about Keith. And I don't mean to undervalue leadership. I really don't. I just think that, again, I'd like for some of it to happen naturally. I don't -- I want Keith to continue to evolve his versatility, and to improve on his consistency both offensively and defensively before he worries about those type things.

Without asking though, he has been a little bit more vocal this fall, but his efforts have been good, but he's still a guy that is striving to be a high-effort guy at all times, especially defensively. Offensively, he can be -- very talented offensively. I think Keith's playing with a lot of confidence right now. He knows he's a little older and he's feeling pretty good about himself, and I expect him to have a big year.

Q. Can you speak to the impact Al Pinkins has had with the staff, how he's meshed up to date, and his impact with the bigs on the floor?
MIKE WHITE: Yeah, sure, Coach Pink, yeah, very smooth transition, for those of you that know Coach Pinkins, it's not very difficult to get along with Al. Very laid back, really, really works, very experienced, great person. So it's been seamless with him and our other two full-time assistants. And those three guys, I think it's very, very important for your three assistant coaches to work well together, not only from a basketball standpoint, but to a mentorship standpoint, to a recruiting standpoint. Those guys have hit it off unexpectedly.

Al's got a lot of experience with front Court guys, and Darius did a good job with our front Court guys. This gives our guys just a different look, a different voice. And it frees Darius up in some other areas as well. So Darius and Jordan will have a little bit more responsibility offensively and defensively, and they're doing as terrific a job as Al is.

Q. Also, if I may, you mentioned Andrew, the other two freshmen, how have they hit the floor running since it all started for them?
MIKE WHITE: Yeah, Keyontae, he's a big-time athlete. He's got a chance to be a really high-level defender, rebounder from the wing spot. We've got to get his motor going. He's got to play with that athleticism all the time and utilize it. A great kid, working hard, I think he's going to be a good player.

Of course, Noah Locke's had a really good fall to this point. Not a guy that we've had to question effort one day. Takes good shots, high-level shooter. Understands the game, probably was an underrated defender coming out, and we've been very pleased with his work ethic and toughness to this point. All three of our freshmen will play.

Q. Kind of looking big picture going into year four, where's the program and where do you envision building it, and what is the next step you guys need to make?
MIKE WHITE: First off, I didn't build anything. There was a guy here named Billy Donovan that was pretty good, won a few games. But we did talk about in year one trying to recapture some of that incredible culture we've had here, of course. We've had glimpses of it, and we've got to have more consistency.

You know, we've got to finish. We were very close, of course, a couple years ago. Last year we had some highlights and some deficiencies and some lulls. In terms of what I expected, I guess I just didn't go into it envisioning an end result for a particular season, and that's not going to start now either.

The way we look at it, again, is just the growth mindset. Just enjoying the process, getting better every day. That's going to start Friday full-time, but we have a two-hour workout tonight where it will be about, hey, let's not set goals on winning this game and being competitive in this game, hoping this guy starts or that guy plays. Let's all get better and see where it goes.

Q. Can you take us through where you first saw Andrew, and how you identified him as a talented kid, and how you got him here?
MIKE WHITE: Sure. First saw Andrew, I believe it was in July, two or three Julys ago. It was a long time ago. In August at that, at the Peach Jam. That's the first time I saw him live. I've seen him on film probably a couple times between then and the next few times that I saw him live. Saw him a bunch in AAU, and developed a good relationship, of course, his family did with our staff.

You know, this was a situation where he was very familiar with because he went to high school right down the road. In fact, he took a visit here on the way down to that high school. I guess a few days before he enrolled, he took an unofficial visit here with his family. He knew that -- he knew how much we wanted him, of course. He followed us very closely, and he knew there was an opportunity for him to come in and make an impact, and we're very excited to have him.

Q. Obviously last year you had the waiting game with Egbunu and Stokes, Chase went out early, and you lost so much there in the front court. Does it feel better just to start this year with what you have and you know you have?
MIKE WHITE: A little bit. I think we're close to that right now. It's pretty similar. I guess Chase has had one practice where he was released whenever we practiced last with these rules. You know, you're splitting up four hours a week. I want to say it was mid-last week. Chase was good. He was good. He looked healthy. So today will be practice number two for him as he gets more into the flow as Gorjok gets released here, hopefully, within the next month to two. Who knows.

As Isaiah gets in better shape where he can change ends consistently, yeah, I'll feel much better, much better about our front court than we did a year ago. Although a year ago we thought we were close to having John Egbunu back, and you knew you had a fifth-year potential All-Conference guy sitting there, which obviously didn't happen. So it's different.

But I do expect to be deeper. And us leaving out Kevarrius and Dontay Bassett, they're good. They're character guys, they're toughness guys, got a chance to be deep in the front court.

Q. So toughness, or lack there of, was kind of something you brought up a number of times last year. How did you tailer the off-season to kind of develop that?
MIKE WHITE: Yeah, I beat our guys up a lot last year with questioning their toughness. And in their defense, we didn't make the run that we would have liked to make in the NCAA tournament, but in league play we ended up being in league games only, the number one defensive efficiency team in a in the SEC in a big-time SEC year. So our guys really sold out late in the year to defending at a high level. And we had some big-time defensive performances down the stretch.

I just feel like, again, in our guy's defense, when we were so banged up and when you knew you wanted to play Chris Chiozza, and Egor Koulechov till their tongues fell out, my mistake was a lack of physicality and a lack of intensity and aggression early on in these type practices that will start over the next couple weeks.

So how have we tried to combat that for this year's team? We've done way more physicality while holding our breath tightly this summer and this fall. We've competed, for the most part, I would say half of the time. Though we haven't done a lot of full court stuff. We've tried to keep stuff in the half court to deal with some of the stuff that we just talked about, getting healthy. But also promoting somewhat of an atmosphere of physicality and intensity so we're not reaching those levels, those desired levels in February. Hopefully we're reaching them in November.

Q. I was going to ask you on that note, how would you now, reflecting on last season, kind of evaluate it?
MIKE WHITE: Sure. You know, I still don't know if I can answer the question, would you have promoted a lot more physicality early in the fall? Because I don't know. We could have had another guy or two out. We could have really --

Q. I just kind of mean the whole season. You had a lot of quality wins, but just didn't go as far as --
MIKE WHITE: I think when I did get away from it, I thought it was more rewarding than I thought it was in the present. The way our team evolved defensively. And in terms of last year's teams, toughness and resiliency, and having overcome the injuries throughout the year, our guys never made it a topic of discussion in the locker room. They just came to work every day.

John Egbunu obviously didn't have a chance to help that team. Chris Chiozza and Egor Koulechov were phenomenal as seniors. You knew exactly what you were getting every single day. And we need a couple guys to step into that mold this year.

But so rewarding from those aspects, the defensive progression that we made. The fact that I want to say we were first or second in the country in top 25 wins. We were first or second in the country in tier 1 wins. Did a lot of really good things.

If you take away a couple tough losses and you advance a little bit further, you found a way to beat Texas Tech, and we might have been having a much different conversation.

Q. What do you think Isaiah Stokes is going to bring you this year? He seems like he's progressed from last year?
MIKE WHITE: He's not up to par with the rest of the team in conditioning. He's trying. He's battling. He's in way better shape than he was two months ago. I don't know what the number is as of today, but he has lost a lot of weight -- I'll have it for you next time -- a lot of weight. So there is a lot to be proud of.

He's cleared. He's competing in the half court at a hundred percent. But I know that when we start going full court consistently he'll be able to just play in spurts, of course, and we don't want to risk anything, of course, when he's not in great shape either.

So it's a work in progress. When he does get to the point when he's in as good of shape, he's still going to have to go through the learning curve that all of these young guys go through in terms of what we're asking offensively and defensively, his responsibilities on the glass, ball screen defense, transition defense. Just understanding what we're trying to do. I think he did have a year to sit and listen and learn, but it's different when you're going through it live. But the positives that he could bring us immediately are his hands, his girth, his skill level, and not only shooting it, but passing it, decisions. He's a very talented offensive player.

Q. Is that a product of having to sit out, the fact that you can't help but get a little heavier, can't help but lose some wind from being out?
MIKE WHITE: I don't know. I don't want to discredit guys that maybe handled it a little bit better. I do think it's tough on guys to sit. He didn't only just sit for a year, he sat for a year and a half. It was his second half of his high school year, of his senior season, that he sat as well.

I think he's always been a guy that's just been a big guy, and he's always battled it. He's played overweight at times as a kid, and he's gotten himself in great shape at times as well. He's working toward that again.

Q. Can you talk us through Jalen's decision-making process in terms of coming back and what led him to make that decision?
MIKE WHITE: Yeah, Jalen was very open. He was transparent with myself and my staff. What he wanted to do, he did. I thought he went through it with a lot of maturity. He wanted to -- he wanted some NBA teams to work him out. He wanted to get as much feedback as possible. He's utilizing that feedback now to help him be the best player he can be. And he understands his deficiencies have become a little bit more clear to him coming from the NBA guys.

You know, although a lot of that feedback, he had been talked to about before. But I do think that he's locked in on the motor stuff, the consistency stuff, the being good defensively all the time, not at times. Yeah, so I was proud of the way he handled the process, and he's had a good off-season.

Q. What is your take on the new rule in terms of players being able to, I guess, go through the draft and then to sign?
MIKE WHITE: Yeah, I just, I'm not overly familiar with all that stuff, just because it hadn't gotten here yet and I haven't had to deal with it on a large basis yet. I do. I think anything that gives student-athletes more choices, more of a voice, those are all good things.

Q. You made it pretty clear that all three freshmen were going to play?
MIKE WHITE: Yeah, they'll play.

Q. So I mean you're not playing eight or nine guys here.
MIKE WHITE: I think we could be deep.

Q. Do you see ten or 12?
MIKE WHITE: I'd love to play, yeah, 17. Oh, yeah, get more minutes than the rest of the guys. If we get everybody healthy, we could have really healthy competition out there in practice, which helps you become a better team. Right now, assuming we have 13 healthy guys, I'm not saying we're going to be a great team by any stretch, but I can't tell you one of the 13 that I just know is not going to play, and I think that's a good problem to have.

Q. Have you ever played 13 before?
MIKE WHITE: I don't think I've played 13 consistently. We had a couple teams at LA Tech. We had one year at Louisiana Tech where in league play our bench outscored our starters, which is not going to happen, of course, especially at this level and with this team.

You know, we all know we've got a couple high-level scorers. We've got a proven mismatch four. We've got one of our fives has way more experience than our other fives. We've got a battle with young guards. So there is some discrepancy there. It's not like we have 13 even guys.

But I do feel like after, I don't know, somewhere in that four, five, six range to 13, there is a ton of parity, and I'm going to give these guys an opportunity every day to fight it out.

Q. We're going to ask you more about this in three months, but how strong is the SEC this year?
MIKE WHITE: Ridiculous. It's just ridiculous. Our league is -- the state of the SEC in terms of basketball is off the charts right now. Our non-conference is a bear, and it gets even more difficult as we move into league play. Yeah, I think we're going to have a ton of teams that have a chance to get in the NCAA tournament.

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