Gator Boys Stayed Hot

By Sam Federman

The great irony of Florida's national championship was that none of it would've happened had its former head coach jumped ship for a soft landing at the Gators' longtime rival.

Mike White was tapped as the successor to Billy Donovan in 2015-16, and led Florida to four NCAA Tournaments and five 20-win seasons. Sure, he wasn't quite Billy, but he was still probably a year away from truly being on the hot seat. Then, he left, and the domino effect led to Monday night.

Florida hired San Francisco head coach Todd Golden shortly after, and he brought along a talented staff groomed by years under Kyle Smith at Columbia and even at USF and Washington State. Then, the first player he signed was Belmont transfer Will Richard.

At the end of Richard's third and final season, the Gators were on the biggest stage in the sport, and he stepped up to the task. Richard scored 14 points in the first half to buoy Florida against Houston. The Gators couldn't find any rhythm, and superstar Walter Clayton Jr. wasn't able to break through Houston's blitz, but he did an excellent job passing the ball, finding Richard and UF's rim-running bigs.

It was always going to be a Kyle Smith disciple to be the first coach to win a national championship without a top 100 recruit in the modern era. Nobody in the sport is better at evaluating unheralded talent than Smith and his tree, and even Smith's mentor, Randy Bennett.

Thomas Haugh and Alex Condon were diamonds in the rough last year that turned into key contributors for the national champions in the frontcourt. And it felt like every single transfer was a hit. Clayton, Richard, Alijah Martin, Rueben Chinyelu, all fit like a glove for Florida, and are now national champions.

Smith's (and Golden's) analytical approach has been finding these diamonds in the rough for years. Jamaree Bouyea was going to play Division II, but turned into an NBA player under Smith and Golden's watches. They're the only staff to turn Columbia into a competitive program in many years -- and will have the chance to do it again when assistant coach Kevin Hovde takes the reigns. They turned San Francisco into a winner, Smith turned Washington State into a winner. And now, Golden has a national championship at Florida, the top caliber program to give nerdball a chance.

And none of it would've happened if Mike White didn't bolt to Athens.