Florida enters the upcoming season having lost more than half of its scoring output from 2012-13, but coach Billy Donovan is not looking for one player to be the savior on the offensive end.
Guards Kenny Boynton, Mike Rosario and forward Erik Murphy — UF’s three top scorers last season — have graduated.
Thanks largely to that trio’s success, Florida finished last season as the seventh-most efficient offensive squad in the country, according to KenPom.com, en route to a third consecutive trip to the Elite Eight.
Despite several key departures, Donovan does not plan on altering his team’s offensive philosophy.
“I’m not comparing this team to the same team, but we’re in the similar situation as years ago with (Matt) Walsh, (Anthony) Roberson and David Lee leaving. (Corey) Brewer was our leading scorer coming back with [7.5] points per game (in 2004-05),” Donovan said.
“Obviously, that team turned out to be a whole lot better than everyone thought they would be with the departure of those guys. We’re in the same situation offensively. It’s not about looking for one guy.
“We have to be a team that’s balanced. We have to be an unselfish team, an extra-pass team. We have to be really great at moving and passing the basketball.”
Last season, the Gators had four players who averaged double-figure scoring.
Center Patric Young, who averaged 10.1 points per game on 58.6 percent shooting, is UF’s only returning double-digit scorer.
UF also brings back guard Michael Frazier II, its best three-point shooter with a 46.8-percent clip.
The Gators will look to newcomers, such as freshman point guard Kasey Hill, Rutgers transfer guard Eli Carter — after he returns from injury — and Virginia Tech transfer Dorian Finney-Smith to pick up where the offense left off.
Prior to fracturing his right fibula in February, Carter averaged a team-high 14.9 points on 38.4 percent shooting for the Scarlet Knights last season.
Hill, who showed a knack for finding the open man in high school, should help from a distribution standpoint as one of Florida’s floor generals.
“I do think — and really believe — that we have to be a team that has five or six guys in double-digit scoring,” Donovan said.
“There are just so many unknowns on our team right now. As a coach, because there are the unknowns, you can’t just say, ‘OK, you’re that guy for us right now.’ It has to be done collectively as a group.”
Yeguete progressing: Will Yeguete is questionable for the start of the season and will not be cleared to practice on Friday, but the senior forward’s right knee is beginning to feel better, he said during Florida’s media day on Wednesday.
On May 22, Yeguete underwent arthroscopic debridement on his knee — his second knee procedure in a four-month span — to remove loose cartilage. Although he currently does not feel any soreness in his knee, he still feels he needs to regain strength in his leg.
“I feel good right now,” Yeguete said. “[The team doctors are] just kind of afraid that they’d put me out there too fast. I’m able to run around and doing non-contact. So we’ll see in the next few weeks.”
Yeguete said he has not tried dunking yet but thinks he could.
Last season, Yeguete averaged 5.5 points and 5.8 rebounds as one of Florida’s key reserves off the bench.
He missed six games during the latter stretch of the Southeastern Conference schedule after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery in February to remove bone chips in his knee.
Follow Landon Watnick on Twitter @LandonWatnick.
Senior forward Will Yeguete attempts a layup over Marquette guard Vander Blue during Florida’s 82-49 victory against the Golden Eagles on Nov. 29 at the O’Connell Center. Yeguete averaged 5.5 points per game last season.
