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Florida basketball is undergoing many transitions this off-season. After making two assistant coaching hires, head coach Mike White still has plenty of work to do. He sat down to talk about changes he plans to make on the court this upcoming season.
New faces 🐊🏀#GatorsHoop // #GoGators pic.twitter.com/qewoCERKz2
— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) June 11, 2021
White talks rounding out coaching staff
Players are returning to campus for summer workouts as they begin preparing for the 2021-2022 season. Meanwhile, White has stayed busy in the off-season making some adjustments to the staff. With new assistant coach hires Akeem Miskdeen and Erik Pastrana, White is ready to start picking up the pace as he said that some normalcy is kicking in.
He touched on the hiring process and what factors he took into consideration.
In addition, White elaborated on Miskdeen and Pastrana.
“Being a mentor, being a recruiter, game-time decisions, player development. I could go on and on but ultimately it’s about being a great human-being first and foremost. I feel like that’s where we hit the target with Akeem Miskdeen and Erik Pastrana,” he said.
Miskdeen comes to the Gators from Florida Atlantic University where he has acted as an assistant coach for the past three seasons. He helped the Owls to a 47-41 record and served as acting head coach for two games this past season.
Pastrana is coming in from Oklahoma State where he spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. During his time with the Cowboys, the team posted a 39-23 record.
https://twitter.com/ErikPastrana/status/1407751180478865413
Transfer portal
After the NCAA announced in April that student athletes can now transfer once without needing to sit out a year, numbers can be expected to remain relatively high. The Gators record four players who are departing via the NCAA transfer portal. However, White is planning to replenish the roster with four incoming transfers.
Here is what White had to say about assessing where the program currently stands
He finished by adding how adapting to the transfer portal will be a huge transition for most teams. However, he remains optimistic for the upcoming season and influx of talent. Looking ahead, White’s goals for the offseason are to build more efficiency both offensively and defensively and he anticipates an older team going into the season.
Break it down, keep getting better 😤#GoGators // #GatorsHoop
— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) June 25, 2021
