Florida basketball has backed itself into a corner at the point guard position

The Gators have done well for themselves in the transfer portal, but they still need to figure out how to manage their guard rotation.

Florida Gators head coach Mike White was in an unenviable position when the team’s lengthy offseason process began. Given the hand he was dealt, it’s hard to argue that he could have done much better in the time that has elapsed.

In short order, has snagged commitments from players with nearly unimpeachable playing resumés from weaker conferences, which is exactly the kind of player he thrives on recruiting from the portal. The Gators’ roster – which had been depleted both of its depth and of the star power brought by Tre Mann – looks much more seaworthy now than it did three weeks ago.

That’s not to say everything is peachy in Gainesville. Once Florida addressed their need to reestablish a corps of shooting guards, the largest issue on their platter was the lack of a real backup point guard. That problem still remains with the roster in its current iteration, and there are no clear answers in sight.

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Tyree Appleby has the starting job firmly in hand, and there’s no problem with that. He’s an explosive player who is tough to control in the paint and can shoot adequately from three-point land. Because he’s so small, though, he gets beat up when the Gators lean on him too heavily and he cannot realistically be relied on for 35 minutes every night.

Among the players who Florida is bringing into the system, there isn’t a primary ball handler in sight. Myreon Jones was forced to play the point at Penn State, but he and fellow transfer Brandon McKissic are both better off as a secondary handler than the primary creator on offense. The other incoming guards, Kowacie Reeves, Jr. and Phlandrous Fleming, Jr. are both big-bodied and strong and there is a definite reason to believe they will be contributors. However, they, too, are not cut out for a role as a facilitator.

What about players the Gators already have in-house? To be frank, we don’t know much about Jack May or Alex Klatsky, and there’s a chance that one surprises behind closed doors. Niels Lane seems like a much more likely candidate and could earn minutes on the merit of his ability to defend three positions. However, none carry the billing of a potential lead guard.

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With a single vacancy open on the roster, there’s still a chance for White to bring in an outside player as the solution. No such luck there, though. Players Florida has been connected to continue to fall into a similar mold of the ones already in the system. For example, Alfonso Plummer is an efficient scorer, but he’s never been tested as a point guard at Utah and Rocket Watts’ struggles at Michigan State were often blamed on his being forced to learn how to play the point on the fly.

All this is to say the Gators have done well for themselves so far this offseason, but there are still questions about how this roster will function when the rubber meets the road. Few present concerns are greater than figuring out who will lead the second team on offense. As things stand now, that answer is about as clear as mud.

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