With the season less than a month away, coach Amanda Butler has been busy.
The first full schedule of practices begins this week and Butler is wasting no time in readying her squad.
Teaching has been at the forefront as six new players join the program this season. Butler stressed the importance of having a foundation to build on and said she’s impressed by the progress so far.
“With competition right around the corner — but yet, it seems so far away — we’ve just got to focus on getting better every day,” she said.
Butler added that the returning players have done a good job of setting an example for the freshmen in practice, which has translated into growth as a team. The players are starting to learn her scheme and become acclimated to the system.
“There are some things that we have in now that are no longer ‘new,’” Butler said. “That’s exciting. Every day’s not completely brand new.”
Freshman Deaundra Young is one of the new players making strides in practice, despite her limitations. Young has not fully recovered from offseason surgery. Painful growths under her arms forced the removal of sweat glands, and Young’s range of motion is still limited.
“For a kid to not be able to lift her arms over her head but still getting rebounds and scoring is really weird looking,” Butler joked. “But it kind of gives you an idea of how good Deaundra is.”
Young joins the Gators rated as the No. 8 power forward and the No. 48 player overall by ESPN’s HoopGurlz and will compete with returning sophomore and Southeastern Conference All-Freshman Team member Jennifer George for playing time — something the two are familiar with.
George’s Orlando Bishop Moore High took on Young’s Titusville Astronaut High in the 2009 Class 4A State Championship, with Young’s team getting the win. But the two are now teammates instead of rivals, working together for a common goal.
“It speaks to both of their passion, for wanting to be winners and the type of competitors that they are,” Butler said.
On how the two are meshing, Butler said, “They’re great teammates right now. And the history they had, the battles in high school, they’ve kind of set that aside and are more focused on winning championships together.”
George had one of the best debuts in school history last year scoring 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting in only 16 minutes of action in the season opener. Her minutes increased at the end of the season due to an injury to center Azania Stewart.
But Butler said she is still determining who the best players are and who will be in the starting lineup when UF opens play Nov. 13 against UCF in Gainesville.
Although starting positions are up in the air and much is yet to be determined about this year’s team, one thing is certain: these Gators won’t lack passion.
“We want to be thinking and talking and living as much as we can as champions, to the point that it really does become an obsession,” Butler said. “It’s really got to be a way we live here as student-athletes — with an obsession of making history and doing things that have never been done.”
