The Florida Gators basketball team has enjoyed its best season since the glory days of the Billy Donovan era and head coach Mike White has been named as one of 10 semi-finalists for the Naismith National Coach of the Year Award.
Florida (24-6 overall; 14-3 in SEC) recently had a nine-game winning streak snapped in a loss at Kentucky, but still remains in second place in the SEC standings.
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White is one of seven coaches in SEC history to win at least 45 games in his first two seasons at a school, currently tied for fifth with Andy Kennedy (Ole Miss) and Tubby Smith (Georgia) and one shy of matching Bruce Pearl's 46 at Tennessee for fourth.
White is the only coach from an SEC school on the list. Three of the 10 semi-finalists are from the Big 12: Bill Self (Kansas), Bob Huggins (West Virginia) and Scott Drew (Baylor).
Villanova coach Jay Wright, Northwestern's Chris Collins, Mark Few of Gonzaga, Tim Jankovich of SMU, Arizona's Sean Miller and Rick Pitino of Louisville round out the list.
Four finalists will be announced on March 16.
The Gators finish the regular season at Vanderbilt Saturday at 2 p.m. and have already wrapped up the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament and will open play next Friday night.