GAINESVILLE, Fla.– Gators freshman forward Keyontae Johnson earned his first career start this past Saturday against Georgia.

With Johnson's move to the starting lineup means that Florida is starting three freshmen for the first time in 20 years.

“They’re playing like veterans, so I’m not going got sit here and whine about us playing, having to play with freshmen,” White said Monday.

Five-star point guard Andrew Nembhard was well known coming into the season. The 6-foot-5 and former Montverde product has been starting since game one.

The other two freshmen though were not expected to be starting players this early. Noah Locke secured a starting role in late November and Johnson just supplanted Jalen Hudson this weekend.

White acknowledged that starting the three freshmen, in particular his backcourt is not what he was expecting this season, but he was also expecting his veterans in Hudson and KeVaughn Allen to have a bigger impact as well.

“It’s not ideal but those two freshmen guards have been extremely accountable, and they have earned it,” White said.

“We’ve chosen to play with those two guys and Keyontae Johnson got the nod the other day, and he was competing with some other guys. He has earned it to this point and obviously now he will be needed and relied upon even more with Keith being out.”

Although Allen has stepped up the last couple of weeks, averaging 16.5 points a game in conference play, it isn’t enough to overcome the lack of production from the rest of the cast.

Florida’s production has come from their young guys. In their first start together, Nembhard, Locke and Johnson combined for 23 points, seven assists, 13 rebounds, three steals and two blocks in the 62-52 victory over the Bulldogs.

They have been good, and unlike other programs that play a lot of freshmen, such as Kentucky and Duke, they are expected to be around for more than a year as well.

“Who knows if one of these guys leaves after a year, after two years. I'll support them in whatever they want to pursue,” White said.

“Young guys getting productive minutes and experience I think always bodes well for the future if they maintain the correct mentality and approach relative to culture, winning and development, and not resting on their laurels.”

As the Gators near the halfway point in their season, they are on the outside looking in for a spot in the tournament. They will have to play catch up and secure some big wins while not allowing any bad losses through the rest of conference play.

With three freshmen now in the lineup it won’t be easy and they will have to continue to grow as they gain experience.

“We’ve got to learn on the fly, and we got to continue to infuse confidence in these guys,” White said. “I think we’ve got to practice differently now. We got to be sharper mentally.

“I don’t think we can be as physical for the rest of this season as we’ve planned on being and as we had been up to this point because our numbers are such that… and now we are starting three freshmen.

“I say that and if one of them isn’t very good today, maybe they won’t start or two of them, I don’t know. Heavily relying on three freshmen, who at this point last year were probably starting state playoffs, and things like that, the days of three hour practices are over with this group.”