Florida’s White set to fill hole on résumé
NCAA tourney bid will be coach’s first
It’s a wild enough statement that Mike White himself had to be consulted for confirmation.
Is it really true that the second-year head coach at Florida had never coached in an NCAA men’s basketball tournament game — not as a head coach and not as an assistant?
“Absolutely,” White told USA TODAY Sports. “I can’t dodge that. This has been a long time coming, because I’ve been a part of teams that have been really close on several occasions and have never been able to bust through that wall — like this team has been able to do.”
There’s no doubt about that, and there will be no stress on Selection Sunday. White’s Florida team is projected as a No. 4 seed in the latest USA TODAY Sports bracketology, and the Gators are in either way — whether they win the Southeastern Conference tournament or nab an at-large bid. That’s a luxury White didn’t have at Louisiana Tech, his first head coaching stop. There, he was in the Western Athletic Conference and then Conference USA, both one-bid leagues. But White’s moment is coming. “We won three straight (regular-season) championships at Louisiana Tech when I was the head coach, and we couldn’t find a way into the NCAA tournament,” said White, 39. “So this will be extremely gratifying.
“Absolutely, it’ll be very much a highlight; it’ll be very exciting. We’re in a profession to mold young men, to educate, to win championships. Playing the NCAA tournament is something that we all strive to do — as players and coaches as well.”
White’s only NCAA tournament experience to date was as a player at Mississippi in the late 1990s. His teams reached the Big Dance three times and, as a No. 9 seed, beat Villanova 72-70 in the 1999 NCAA tournament to claim Ole Miss’ first tournament win in program history.
White then began his coaching career, first as an assistant at Jacksonville State and then at his alma mater. From 2004 to 2011, White was part of a staff and team that won two SEC West championships but didn’t have a strong enough résumé to make the NCAA tournament.
“Then, of course, at Louisiana Tech we had to be perfect in the non-conference, and, with the strength of schedule, we were still kind of in bubble conversation there a couple different years,” White said. “But it was more about trying to get the automatic bid, and we just couldn’t win the tournament.”
Last year, his first at Florida, was a transition year, both in terms of the roster but also the program’s identity, which had long been tied to Billy Donovan, who left to coach the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder. Florida went 21-15, tied for eighth in the SEC and reached the National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals.
But this past fall felt different. A couple of weeks into practice, White realized this group had a really good chance to be an NCAA tournament team. There was enough talent and maturity on the roster — and players who genuinely enjoyed being around each other and working together.
Last month, the Gators lost center John Egbunu for the rest of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, a devastating injury for a team at that point atop the SEC in the stretch run of the season. White said a significant injury this time of the year was tough.
“We don’t have time to reinvent how we’re playing,” White said. “The only thing we can do is try to get guys who weren’t getting quite as many reps at a new position more reps.”
The SEC tournament and — finally — NCAA tournament will give White a little more flexibility to make changes based on opponents’ style of play, he thinks. But he’s excited for the challenge and for the ability to coach on the sport’s biggest stage.