Since arriving on campus three years ago, coach Amanda Butler has made no secret of her expectations for the women’s basketball program: win a national championship.
With only two returning starters from last year’s team that finished 15-17, Butler and the Gators will have to rely heavily on newcomers and young players if they are to play in Indianapolis when March Madness rolls around.
“Our team knows how I feel about it and what my expectation is,” Butler said. “We don’t have goals that change every year. We’re trying to be the best — that’s what we’re trying to be every year and that’s not going to change.”
UF will feature six new players this season, including four freshmen from the nation’s No. 21 recruiting class and two junior college transfers.
Butler is excited about the energy they have shown in practice thus far and said the team has a completely different vibe from a year ago.
“The freshmen have done a great job of acclimating themselves to our expectations,” Butler said. “Their eagerness, just little sponges wanting to be coached and learn and figure out how to contribute to us winning a championship, has been very encouraging.”
Butler said some of the new players, especially the guards, will be mixed into the rotation early and often. Jordan Jones, whose 9.1 points per game is best among returning players, is the only holdover at guard.
But what appeared to be a position of weakness is now a strength as Butler and her staff brought in four players who provide a different dynamic than what UF played with last season.
Jones said last year’s guards were mainly shooters, but the newcomers provide a more all-around game featuring aggressive defense and an ability to penetrate to the basket.
“It’s exciting,” Jones said. “This brand of basketball is going to be different than what people have seen in the last couple years for Florida. We’re going to play up and down. We’re going to put a lot of points on the board. We want people to hate playing against Florida.”
Gainesville native Jaterra Bonds and Jacksonville transfer Lanita Bartley are competing for the point guard position in practice and figure to make an impact in their first seasons.
“Lanita did a great job of coming right in and showing everyone that she was capable of leading the team from the point guard position,” Butler said. “Her speed with the ball is really unmatched. She is a really, really intense competitor.”
2010 Miss Georgia Basketball recipient, Kayla Lewis, and Sacramento, Calif., standout Brittany Shine will provide even more depth at guard. Both were ranked in the top-100 overall prospects by ESPN’s HoopGurlz.
The experience of Jones, sophomore forward Jennifer George — an All-Southeastern Conference freshman last year — and the rest of the upperclassmen will be an integral part in leading a young team.
But the freshmen are already on the same page as their coach.
Shine, Bonds, Lewis, Deaundra Young and redshirt freshman Lily Svete have donned themselves the “Futuristic Five” and share the same championship aspirations as their head coach.
“That’s always been my dream, my goal,” Shine said. “I’ll do whatever it takes.”
