GAINESVILLE,
Fla. -- Amanda Butler and her Florida program took a huge step last season in
posting a break-even mark in the rugged Southeastern Conference, then winning
an NCAA Tournament first-round game before falling to eventual national
champion Baylor in Round 2.
In
concept, the Gators collective advances laid a nice foundation for the
immediate future.
Now,
if only those building blocks were still around.
“We
may have a lot of newcomers, but we’re still expecting to get back to the
NCAAs,” 6-foot senior power forward Jennifer George said. “They may be new, but
we’re instilling an aggressiveness and an attitude.”
That’s
how things are built and Butler will have a ton of new materials to work with
during the 2012-13 season, her sixth since returning to her alma mater in
2006.
George
led the Gators in scoring last season at 12.8 points per game, but she’s the
lone senior on the squad, with junior point guard Jaterra Bonds (8.1 ppg) the
only other starter back from a team that finished 20-15, capped by an upset
defeat of Ohio State in UF’s first trip to the NCAAs in three years.
After
George and Bonds, there are two juniors (one of them a transfer), one sophomore
and seven -- count ‘em, seven -- freshmen on the roster.
That’s
a lot of inexperience to put up against so much expectation.
“We
may be new, we may be young, but as Coach Butler has told us multiple times
those are not excuses for anything,” said freshman forward Chandler Cooper, a
sharp-shooter from Tennessee who hit 42.3 percent from three-point range as a
senior at Clarksville High. “We have high expectations for ourselves,
period.”
The
’12-13 freshman class -- which does not include medical redshirts Carlie
Needles (point guard), Viktorija Dimaite (a 6-4 center) and Texas transfer
Cassie Peoples (guard) -- looks to be Butler’s best group of newcomers to
date.
“From
top to bottom, it’s a group that every day we discover something different
about,” Butler said during Wednesday’s media day session.
Something
else she’s discovered?
Every
one of them figures to get a chance to contribute this season.
Swing
player Sydney Moss was “Miss Basketball” in the state of Kentucky last season.
Forward Christin Mercer averaged a double-double (to go with 3 blocks, 3.7
steals and making 55.3 percent of her shots) as a Georgia prep. January Miller
poured in nearly 2,200 points during her career at Orlando University
High.
“It’s
going to be quite different because we have new pieces; different people who
can do different things,” Bonds said. “It’s going to be interesting to see what
these freshmen can come out here and do because they’re going to have to
play. I mean, there are seven of them and only five of us.”
But
the bonding to come together as one unit started months ago.
“I
think this is the closest team we’ve ever had,” George said.
Butler
is shooting for the best team she ever had. It’s the next logical step after a
nice springboard from last season.
After
all, you can’t go to two straight NCAA tournaments without going to the first.
Those few Gators who are back liked how that tasted and now want more.
The
new ones have fallen in line.
“I
think that’s motivation,” Butler said. “Coaches can deliver messages and issue
challenges, but having that experience. Having gone through that. How that
felt. How eager that made them to get started this season. That’s something we
can’t really create as coaches. There’s a different level of expectation and a
new standard.”
