Four-star Allen remains with Florida
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New Florida basketball head coach Michael White has kept a key piece of his 2015 recruiting class in four-star signee KeVaughn Allen, as UF officially announced its three-member class Monday afternoon.
After seeing Noah Dickerson ask for a release, which UF soon granted, White has managed to keep three-fourths of Billy Donovan's 2015 recruiting class. Forwards Keith Stone (ranked 94th in the class) and Kevarrius Hayes (149th) also remained firm with their commitments despite a coaching change.
Allen's stepfather originally called into Sports Talk with Bo Mattingly about two weeks ago to say that Allen would seek a release from Florida despite signing with the school in mid-April. But after meeting with the coaching staff, Allen decided to stay the course.
Keeping Allen, a 6-foot-3, 170-pound guard and the No. 67-ranked player in the class of 2015, provides White with a scoring boost to his 2015-16 backcourt and gives him much more flexibility there as far as lineups go. Florida's common lineup from 2014-15 that featured point guards Kasey Hill and Chris Chiozza sharing the backcourt together showcased agility and worked well in the full-court press but lacked in scoring and jump-shooting.
The addition of Allen gives Florida five top rotational options in the backcourt in Hill, Chiozza, Allen, shooting guard Brandone Francis and wing DeVon Walker, depending on if White wants to run with a two- or three-guard lineup. The 6-foot-5, 205-pound Francis, the No. 35 player in the class of 2014, missed the 2014 season due to academic eligibility issues. Walker missed the 2014-15 season with a torn ACL he suffered last off-season, and the Gators could have used his perimeter defense and three-point shooting last year.
With Allen remaining in the fold, Dickerson seeking a release, Eli Carter transferring and Michael Frazier II and Chris Walker declaring for the 2015 NBA Draft, Florida has 11 scholarships on board for next season - two under the NCAA limit of 13 - and that does not include Stanford transfer and preferred walk-on Schuyler Rimmer. Per NCAA transfer rules, since Rimmer joined UF midseason last year, he is not eligible to play until the 2015 fall semester ends in mid-December.
Arguably Florida's best player and leading scorer in Dorian Finney-Smith returns for his redshirt senior season, while Devin Robinson enters his sophomore year riding momentum from a strong finish to his first season as a Gator. Alex Murphy provides nice depth at forward, while USF transfer center John Egbunu, an imposing shot-blocking presence at 6-foot-11, 266 pounds, should see a good number of minutes in the rotation. How well Egbunu can run the floor in White's game plan will be key to watch.
White certainly has some talent to work with in his first season as the Gators' head coach - especially with Allen on board. Whether that translates to an NCAA Tournament bid and success in conference play will be the big question this season.