In its first year under Mike White, the men’s basketball team went 21-15, falling in the quarterfinals of both the Southeastern Conference Tournament and the National Invitation Tournament.
Meanwhile, Amanda Butler led the women’s basketball team to a 22-9 record in her ninth year at UF but lost in the opening rounds of both the SEC and NCAA Tournaments.
In this week’s rally, alligatorSports editors Ian Cohen and Ethan Bauer debate which coach had a better 2015-16 season.
Cohen:
KeVaughn Allen stayed.
That may have been the first sign of Mike White’s success in his rookie season at UF — convincing the No. 1-rated high school player in Arkansas to remain committed to Florida, even after the departure of Billy Donovan.
So Allen — a young, electric guard who could score almost on command — stayed.
Forward Dorian Finney-Smith returned, foregoing the NBA Draft to lead an inexperienced team in points, rebounds and into the postseason.
John Egbunu became eligible after enduring a sit-out year, learning the in’s and out’s of the post while establishing himself as an athletic and improving rim protector.
Chris Chiozza progressed as a decision maker, Devin Robinson developed a slightly more consistent jump shot and even Kasey Hill made a leap, showing maturity when he willingly forked over his starting spot to Chiozza in the early part of the season to help the team grow.
In other words, through so much turnover and turmoil, as a program that was synonymous with stability was suddenly greeted with a summer of change, White righted the ship.
He inherited a team he didn’t hand-pick and was tasked with implementing a new system to fit his personnel.
He had to ingratiate himself with his entire roster, convincing them that somehow, someway, if they stayed at Florida, he could provide a substantial substitute of what they would’ve gotten under Donovan.
All in a matter of months, and all before the season started.
And still, Florida won 21 games.
You can thank Mike White.
Bauer:
Amanda Butler did more with less.
While she and White found themselves in similar situations at the beginning of the season, coming off disappointing 13-17 and 16-17 records, respectively, Butler orchestrated one of the most unlikely turnarounds in recent UF athletics history.
And she did it with most of the same pieces.
The only significant loss the Gators suffered from the previous season was Kayla Lewis, who was the team’s third-best scorer in her final campaign.
Butler replaced Lewis with a trio of newcomers starting with Greek guard Eleanna Christinaki.
The European import ranked second on the team with 10.6 points per game and was first in assists with 102.
Butler also brought in junior college transfers Simone Westbrook and Tyshara Fleming, who also made an immediate impact.
But perhaps the biggest impact was made by the team’s two new assistant coaches, Bill Ferrara and Shimmy Gray-Miller. With their hirings, Butler said she intended to build a new, high-energy culture around a program that has historically been one of UF’s worst.
Their hirings accomplished that.
The Gators bounced back to win nine more games and earned the No. 4 seed in the SEC Tournament.
Granted, they lost their first game in the tournament and followed it up by being ousted in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by severe underdog Albany.
But take away the late-season failings and this was a team that, thanks to an improved roster and smart coaching hires, was taken from disappointment to serious competitor — which the men’s team wasn’t — in one offseason.
And for those decisions, thank Amanda Butler.
Cohen:
You said it yourself — the Florida women’s basketball program has been historically one of the school’s worst teams.
Butler has been at Florida since the start of the 2007-08 season, when UF tied for seventh in the Southeastern Conference.
Since then, the Gators have never finished higher than fourth in the SEC.
That’s nine seasons of never making it past the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Nine seasons without a conference title. Nine seasons where a run at an WNIT Championship was more than acceptable to the coaches, players and fan base.
So where was the pressure?
Look, my point isn’t that Butler is a bad coach. She’s a good one, and with the right players, Florida can absolutely position itself for an NCAA Tournament run next year.
But there’s a big difference between trying to lead a program that has never won a SEC regular season title and trying to lead one that has won seven.
That was the situation White found himself in, all in his first year as coach. Plus, he managed to come within one win of Butler’s 22 victories last season.
Factoring in all the pressure White was under in trying to replace Donovan, it seems obvious that his accomplishment was the more impressive feat.
Bauer:
White’s 21 wins may be one away from Butler’s 22, but White also suffered six more losses.
In addition, it sounds like you’re saying White's season was better because of the circumstances he inherited. But Butler's circumstances were just as difficult. If White didn't win, it would've been chalked up to his rookie struggles. If Butler didn't, she might be unemployed.
And look, I’m not saying White didn’t have a respectable first year at the helm of an admittedly superior program, which certainly brings certain pressures. But let’s take your example to the extreme.
You claim it was more difficult for White to succeed in his first season because of the lofty expectations of UF’s men’s basketball program. Meanwhile, Butler’s program has been fairly middle-of-the-road, not just during her tenure but before she arrived. And somehow, it’s easier to lead a team with low expectations to success.
To disprove that, just ask yourself what’s more impressive: A new coach taking the Nick Saban-less Alabama Crimson Tide to an appearance (and loss) in the 2016 SEC Championship Game or Derek Mason, in his third year at Vanderbilt, leading the Commodores to an unprecedented appearance in the same game.
Both are impressive, but Mason is unquestionably the more impressive of the two.
Just like Butler is the more impressive of two good options.
Which coach do you think had the more impressive season? Vote in our poll.
Amanda Butler calls out instructions during Florida's 92-69 loss to Kentucky at the SEC Tournament on March 4, 2016.
Florida head coach Mike White speaks during a time out in an NCAA college basketball game against UNF in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Fla., Tuesday, March 15, 2016. (Gary Lloyd McCullough/The Florida Times-Union via AP)
