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UF's Goal: Get Into NCAA

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By MICK ELLIOTT

melliott@tampatrib.com

Published: November 14, 2008

GAINESVILLE - College basketball season, believe it or not, is here for the Florida Gators, the team that last year followed up back-to-back national championships by failing to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 10 years.

The Gators start play tonight at 6 at the O'Connell Center against Toledo.

Where they stop, nobody knows.

It appears to be a hard team to judge. The national preseason poll puts the Gators 19th. The SEC coaches picked them No. 2 in the SEC East behind Tennessee. Florida coach Billy Donovan only predicts improvement from last year. But, considering what Florida had become accustomed to, just showing improvement is not guaranteed to produce any smiley faces.

Florida finished 24-12 overall and 8-8 in the SEC last season. What really hurt, however, was that the Gators lost Donovan's love.

Florida started last season 18-3 - many of those victories coming against overmatched opponents - before faltering down the stretch.

On the way to losing seven of their final 10 regular-season games and settling for an NIT bid, Donovan became so frustrated by what the coach considered less-than-full effort, he banned players from the plush facilities, insisting the benefits had to be earned.

They are back with a fresh slate, but with many of the same hurdles, namely youth and (at least for now) a slim roster.

"I feel totally different," Donovan said. "I don't know how much better we are, but I feel better in terms of focus on understanding and at least being a little bit bought into what we need to do to put ourselves in a position to win."

Three of last year's starters return, chief among them 6-foot-6 sophomore guard Nick Calathes and 6-8, 230-pound junior forward Dan Werner.

Calathes led the team with averages of 15.3 points, 6.1 assists and 5.2 rebounds, while hitting 36.7 percent from 3-point range. He is a preseason first-team All-SEC pick.

Werner is the team's leading returning rebounder after averaging 6.4 per game. He is a solid passer and can also hit the 3-point shot that Donovan loves.

"Everybody from last year really wants it, including me," Calathes said of a return to the NCAA Tournament. "We know what it feels like to go into the NIT and not be in the NCAA. This year, we are going to have our heads straight and take each game one at a time."

The early season should help provide a running start.

With the exception of a Nov. 24-25 tournament meeting in Kansas City with Syracuse and then either Washington or Kansas, the Gators' only real notable opponent before the New Year will be Florida State.

While the schedule may not be battle-hardening, it could be helpful in that sophomore forward Adam Allen is not fully recovered from a sprained meniscus and freshman forward Eloy Vargas still is slowed after June surgery to remove bone spurs in his ankle.

Reporter Mick Elliott can be reached at (813) 281-2534.

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