With 10 minutes until tip-off, Mike White walked onto the O’Connell Center floor for the first time as the new head coach of Florida’s men’s basketball team.
His smile — warm, welcoming and contagious — was directed towards the student section that had filled up for an exhibition.
It wasn’t just the first chance for the Gators to play a competitive game in nearly eight months. It was the beginning of a new era, a realization that ‘this is actually happening’ for White.
Immediately after the tip, the heat of the moment may have understandably gotten to White, causing him to take off his suit jacket. As the game went on, White grew louder and more comfortable on the court.
This isn’t just the team former coach Billy Donovan left behind.
This is his team now.
With his hire in May, White is back in Florida, but not at the vacation home his parents own in Indian Harbor.
On Thursday, White officially began the arduous process of replacing a future Hall of Famer in Donovan, who left Gainesville after 19 seasons as head coach to make the professional leap to coaching the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder.
He’s been preparing his entire life for this opportunity, even if he didn’t know it.
• • •
In 1981, 4-year-old Mike moved with his family to Missouri. His father, Kevin, had just taken a job as the head track and field coach at Southeast Missouri State University.
Kevin raised his five kids to be athletes, which pushed Mike to compete with his brothers.
"Really competitive household to say the least," he said. "We were all athletes. There were five of us cramped up together as we were moving across the country several different times. We’d battle in football, soccer, basketball, what have you, but we had a lot of fun."
In 1988, the White family moved to New Orleans, and Mike became comfortable at Jesuit High.
Describing himself as just an "athlete," White had yet to decide whether he wanted to make the endeavor into basketball.
After little advice from his father, who seemingly only warned him not to get into coaching, White decided he wanted to be a basketball player.
A point guard, to be more specific.
"I would say I’m a little harder on the point guard than the other four positions on the floor," White said.
"I would also say how crucial it is to have good point guard play."
White had realized the importance in having a strong ball handler, and it showed in his game.
After starring on the Jesuit High varsity team as the team’s starting point guard, White received an athletic scholarship offer from the University of Mississippi.
He said he never envisioned playing college basketball, and although he still ranks 6th all-time in assists at Ole Miss, he wasn't a stand-out for the Rebels.
He averaged 5.2 points a game in his senior season — modest numbers considering he played and started all but one game that season.
Upon graduation in 1999, and after a brief stint playing professionally in Europe, White returned to Oxford, Mississippi, to finish his degree in business administration.
• • •
The point guard in Mike tends to favor guards, but according to members of the team he’s inherited, White pays equal attention to all positions on the floor.
"He’s always honest with you, he’s always observant of every player, every aspect of the game," forward DeVon Walker said. "He’s always trying to critique something and give encouragement."
Walker said one of the notable differences between his former coach and White is that his new coach will scrimmage against the team -- competitively.
"‘I’ve seen him play pickup," Walker said. "That was the most surprising thing. I’ve never seen a head coach play pick up. He’s actually pretty good. Don’t tell him I said that. He’s a ballhog, though."
The Gators plan to unveil a more up-tempo offense this season, and White is leading by example to motivate the players to compete with intensity.
Although it admittedly is tough to play for a coach who the players didn’t initially sign with, redshirt senior Alex Murphy, whose older brother, Erik, played four seasons under Donovan, said White’s attitude and personable approach have made the transition seamless.
"From the first day he got here, he’s been great. He’s a very likeable person," Murphy said. "Right off the bat, he was really cool with all of us and he took the time to get to know a lot of us on a deeper level. The first couple of weeks, he really tried to get to know us. And obviously, we’ve been in the gym with him a lot. The transition has been really smooth."
When it comes to remaining focused, redshirt senior Dorian Finney-Smith, the unquestioned leader of the Gators, said his experience with White so far has been nothing but positive. Finney-Smith said he talked to Donovan and that talk made him trust the hire.
"I trust Coach D and he told me they were going to find a great coach," Finney-Smith said.
"He’s going to help me with my dreams."
• • •
Mike has followed in his father’s footsteps, despite the paternal advice he received in his youth: Don’t get into coaching.
"My dad tried to talk me out of coaching early on, but it really, as a lot of coaches will tell you, it’s not work to me. It’s a passion," White said.
"I love the game, I love being around it, and to be paid for what we do, it’s like stealing."
Despite being the latest coach of the Gators, Mike’s father is still more renowned in NCAA Division I athletics.
After completing his Ph.D. in higher education administration at Southern Illinois University, Kevin did postdoctoral work at Harvard, but still had a passion for athletics.
He worked his way through the ranks before he earned the job of a lifetime: athletics director at Notre Dame University.
Now at Duke University in the same position, the White family has made it a priority to visit the state of Florida once a year. It’s the only place White has felt entirely at home.
It’s arguably why his wife Kira and their five children implored Mike to "hold out" until a job close to home opened up. It’s part of his family-first approach.
"He’s really a family-oriented person," redshirt sophomore center John Egbunu said. "He’s down to earth, he cares about us, he cares the program, he cares about the team and getting us better."
And now, his family includes 16 players and a coaching staff, many of whom remained loyal and followed him to Gainesville.
With the first game under his belt, an 89-42 win in Thursday's exhibition, White’s dream has become a reality.
"I’ve dodged committing to talking to certain institutions in particular, but we have had interest, my wife and I, because of the success that we’ve had," White said.
"Us being patient for the right one, it’s ended up that we’re in a place we’ve been dreaming about for a long, long time."
Follow Graham Hall on Twitter @Graham311
UF men's basketball coach Mike White reacts after a play during the first half of Florida's 89-42 win against Palm Beach Atlantic in an exhibition game Nov. 5, 2015, in the O'Connell Center.
UF men's basketball coach Mike White talks with redshirt freshman guard Brandone Francis-Ramirez during the first half of Florida's 89-42 win against Palm Beach Atlantic in an exhibition game Nov. 5, 2015, in the O'Connell Center.
