Last year, as Florida marched its way to a national title, one of the key glue guys on the team was Alijah Martin. In various behind-the-scenes looks of the Gators, most Florida players seemed to have a mindset of “Man, it sure is neat we are winning,” whereas Martin had a mindset of “Why are we happy? We haven’t accomplished anything yet.” Martin’s previous Final Four experience proved invaluable as Florida had to grind out multiple razor-close finishes to ultimately cut down the nets.
Martin and the rest of Florida’s guards from last year are gone, but the frontcourt is back and the expirence they gained last year is evident in their mindset this year.