....this time tomorrow night, I'll be sitting at the O'Connell Center waiting for the start of MIDNIGHT MADNESS!!! Another season of Billy Ball cranks up with a very young and extremely talented team. I thought this would be a good time for a little preview of the Gator Hoops season. We have one senior, Bonnell Colas, and two juniors, David Lee, and walk-on Seth Haimovitch. That means that, other than Lee, our team will be driven by sophomores Anthony Roberson, Matt Walsh, and the phenom-to-be Christian Drejer. Christian fully expects to leave after this season for the NBA, so I suppose that means we should expect to see amazing things from him. We also have Rashid Al-Kaleem and Adrian Moss, sophomores who have been mostly bench warmers, but who have shown tiny flashes of brilliance here and there. The difference between a player's freshman and sophomore years always seems to be the biggest leap in ability of his college career. Judging by the outstanding contributions from last year's freshmen, especially Roberson and Walsh, our sophomore class should be incredible. Add to that the fact that a few of our sophomores are actually older than our one senior. I predict that, other than the expected improvement from Drejer coming off a season of injury, our biggest freshman-to-sophomore leap will be from Al-Kaleem, a deadly accurate long-range shooter. Expect to see a lot more from him this year. Then there are the much-heralded freshmen. The past few recruiting classes have produced both freshman phenoms (e.g., Roberson, Walsh, Lee) and freshman flops (e.g., Boggans, White). Hopes are high, as always, for this freshman class: -My personal fav is Chris "The Beast" Richard, on whose broad shoulders the success of our front court game will rest. Last year's Mr. Basketball in Florida from Lakeland Kathleen HS, Chris was widely regarded as one of the best power forwards in the country. Chris is said to be smooth, but deadly off the glass, and scary underneath it. -Lee Humphrey, a sharp guard from Tennessee, supposedly has an amazing three-pointer, and can hit from anywhere on the court. Lee was also a Mr. Basketball in HS and was his school's all-time point leader. Lee should can play point or shooting guard and should take some of the pressure off Peeps. -Mohamed Abukar, 6'10", who originally signed with the dawgs but was released during the Harrick mess, is a big, skinny forward with a soft touch. He is said to have an exceptional three-point shot for a big guy, which should help ease the pain of losing Bonner. Mohamed also can move up and down the court with the little guys. -Finally, Ryan Appleby, a top-rated guard from the Pacific northwest. Growing up in Washington, you wouldn't expect to have a dream of playing for the Florida Gators, but Ryan did, and now he will. He is said to have declared in seventh grade that he wanted to be a Gator--ya gotta love this kid!! Ryan is a natural point guard, which will be important if Peeps doesn't pan out as the main guy. A little position-by-position break down... Point guard: Roberson will have Justin Hamilton's shoes to fill as the main point, but freshman Appleby will be ready to step in and help out. Appleby is said to have great court vision and is a Billy Donovan-type point guard. I think Billy would like to keep Peep in at point as long as possible, but he sees Appleby as the main guy down the road. Two guard: Walsh is the primary two guard for the Gators this year, and that's fine with me. No freshman has ever jumped right in and looked so at home, even against SEC competition, as Matt Walsh. That boy has the moves! Roberson will spend some time here when Appleby's in at point (Peep hates to sit!). Drejer will also spend some time at two guard, but he'll likely be more of a three guard/small forward. Small forward: This is Drejer's natural spot, and this is his chance to shine. He had horrendous problems last year with his ankle sprain and infection, and he is said to be just now returning to full speed. Billy has called Drejer "the best player ever to put on a Gator uniform." We saw flashes of that last year, but we're still waiting to agree. Backing up Drejer at SF will be Walsh and Abukar. All three have long threes, which will be necessary this year, as the three-point line moves back. Power forward: Lee will get a break from spending so much time at center to play at PF, his natural spot. He'll have help from Colas and Moss, who both had a few awesome games last year but lacked consistency. Expect to see Chris Richard bully his way into the mix with his beastly physical presence. Richard and Lee are both amazing rebounders. Center: With the loss of Boggan, we won't have anyone to simply take up space under the backet, but we will have a lot of athleticism. Chris Richard is broad and not at all shy under the basket. He likes to rebound. He has been described as a very physical player and can hold his own against taller centers. Colas and Moss both continue to put on weight slowly but surely. Moss can block shots with the best of them, and he can actually shoot very well. This year could very well be a turning point for the Gators. With such a young team, one would hope that next year would be even better, but we're likely to lose Lee and Drejer (and maybe Roberson or Walsh) to the NBA after this season. That means that this group has to give it their all. With the level of talent Billy keeps bringing in, we have to expect to go all the way with mostly freshmen and sophomores. The Gators' defensive game is getting better and better, and we have more offensive firepower this year than I can ever recall. It could happen. Go Gators!!!!