GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- The Florida Gators basketball team is a young one, which provides head coach Mike White with both opportunities and challenges. Freshman guard Scottie Lewis has proven his potential on the defensive side of the court and is working to improve his skills on offense.

“Each and every game he's getting better at something, whether it's something outside world sees, we see it,” said senior forward Kerry Blackshear Jr. “As the game continues to come to him, he continues to work as hard as he does every day in practice and outside of practice, you guys will start to see more and more of what he can do on both ends of the floor."

In his debut season with the Gators, Lewis has been a force for Florida’s defense, Mike White even calling him a ‘maniac’ on that side of the ball.

“That was the first word that popped in my head when we were meeting,” said White. “That’s the way that he does play defensively at times. He’s got contagious energy, and he’s getting his hands on more basketballs and he’s becoming more disruptive. Got to continue to become more sound and disciplined in regard to our overall defensive system.”

As far as shooting goes, his numbers could be better.

As of right now, he’s sitting at 38.3 percent on field goals and 23.5 percent from behind the arc. As he continues to find his footing in this Florida offense, he should be able to increase those numbers.

And it’s important to remember this is his first season playing on a stage this big, and he’s not the only one. There are six freshmen on this team and White needs them for his game plan. As they get older and more experienced, they will improve.

Having such a young team gives White the unique opportunity to mold these players to his liking to fit his scheme.

Lewis’ teammates and coaches have commended his ability to change the pace of the game while he’s playing defense as well as the energy he can bring to the court.

“He helps us out a lot,” said sophomore forward Keyontae Johnson. “He gives us a lot of energy. We try to feed off his energy just to carry it over to offensive wise. This past tournament we did, so every stop we got we were all getting hyped for each other and we were just having fun and it showed.”

“He’s really active, really active on the ball,” added White. “I think he brings a really good energy on that side of the floor. I think that just, it’s contagious on the defensive side of the ball.”

He’s got the defensive thing down. Now, he just has to work at building confidence with the ball in his hands.

“When we’ve got the ball, he’s got to take a deep breath and relax,” said White. “It’s just the different paces of basketball, the different tempos, offense and defense and rebounding are all different tempos, and he’s learning that. He’s learning how to play lower to the ground. He’s been very unselfish, and I think that he’s benefitted from that. He’s taking what the defense gives him, he’s actually made some late-clock plays for us, simple plays. He’s working on his footwork, he’s working on his shot daily, learning defensively and we’ve had some games where he’s changed the game for us defensively, but he also makes some freshman plays, too, and he knows that. But his ceiling is very, very high.”