GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Isaiah Stokes made a decision. He was going to focus on living a healthier lifestyle.

"Man, I feel like that is just one of my biggest things that I’ve had to overcome," Stokes said about his weight.

Stokes wanted to weigh closer to 250 pounds.

That meant he needed to make some sacrifices.

“I love healthy foods, eating a healthy diet. But I was just eating the wrong healthy food. Too many potatoes and too many starches. And I just cut it all out. And it’s going my way now,” Stokes said. “You go to Chipotle and you can’t get rice anymore.”

The redshirt freshman stayed away from all grains in order to turn things around. According to Florida head coach Mike White, something just clicked with Stokes this winter.

"His conditioning, his ability to move at the necessary level, especially defensively, to be productive at this level, was the same in September as it was in December,” White said. "The huge jump he’s made, he’s made very recently. He’s had unbelievable focus recently. He’s shown himself and all of us what he’s capable of doing.

"I think Stokes just made a decision. In his mind, I think he simply said I want to be able to help this team and I’m going to stop waiting for next year and stop talking about," White added. "Nothing changed other than he changed. He made a grown-man, mature decision to up his commitment level. He and us are benefitting from it.”

White ″has been telling me year-round, all the time. He’s the one who sat me down and gave me the man-to-man talk and told me how it is,” Stokes said. “It was just my decision if I’m going to do it or not, and I finally bought into it.”

“I guess he was sick of sitting over there by us [coaches] and wanted to be able to help his teammates a little bit more,” White joked.

Stokes credits Florida's strength and conditioning coordinator Preston Greene with helping him change his habits.

“He just sat me down. We really looked at everything that I do, on and off, and I stopped eating past a certain time. Try to make yourself feel full, things like that,” Stokes said. “I always talk with Preston, but I would say it’s more on my part more than anybody else’s, just doing it. That’s the hardest part, just doing it.”

All his hard work led Stokes to playing the most minutes in a Gators uniform on Saturday, 18, and netting six points, two assists and a rebound in the process - ultimately becoming the difference maker he was brought in to be.

"If he doesn't do what he does today, we don't win this game," White said after the win over the Tigers.

His performance over the weekend was really night and day from his performance earlier in the year. What sparked his weight transformation? Seeing his friend Keith Stone injured in the team's win over Georgia.

"When he went down, I knew everything he was about to go through, the whole process, the same exact thing I went through," he explained. "I know it sucks. My whole motto is I'm playing for him now. Playing for Stone, no doubt.”

Now Stokes regrets that it took him this long to start this journey.

"I should have done this back in the summer," said Stokes. "This should’ve already been done, but time only tells. I’m glad I’m finally progressing now.

“I feel much better than what I used to feel like," added Stokes. "Not as much aches and pains that I used to have. That’s why I feel like I’m improving a lot."

Stokes, along with his Gator teammates, will hope to focus their attentions on the next few games. Florida cannot afford any slip ups if they wish to secure a spot in the big dance.

"I feel like the ceiling is unlimited. I feel like everybody can get better," said Stokes. "Even though my minutes are going up, I feel like I can definitely improve my game much more in all aspects of it. I definitely have a long way to go."