There are four Florida basketball players on a brand-new list of the top 100 players in college basketball for the 2012-13 season published by SB Nation's Mike Rutherford today. That's also the Mike Rutherford of Card Chronicle, our outstanding Louisville blog, so he got a good look at these Gators.
Here are the four players in the top 100 and their write-ups (only the top 50 players got write-ups):
100. Mike Rosario, SR, G, Florida
33. Erik Murphy, SR, F, Florida
Murphy was a star down the stretch for Florida, helping turn the Gators from underachievers to a team that was five decent minutes of play away from a trip to the Final Four.
25. Patric Young, JR, F, Florida
The sophomore big man basically shouldered the entire load in the post for the perimeter-oriented Gators, and averaged 10.2 points and 6.4 rebounds despite battling a foot injury for much of the season. He figures to step into a heightened role next season for a Florida team which should again start the season ranked somewhere in the top 15.
22. Kenny Boynton, SR, G, Florida
Boynton has earned a reputation for being able to shoot Florida in or out of a game anytime he steps on the floor. As a veteran leader and Billy Donovan's most talented player, he needs to find more consistency in his final collegiate season.
I don't think Rosario's among the 100 best college basketball players heading into this season based on production, but I definitely think he's there based on talent; on the flip side, I think Murphy's overrated here because of his production, and Young's overrated because of his talent, which still outstrips his production. (Omitting the fact that Pat was outrebounded by Bradley Beal in 2011-12 makes his rebounding numbers look better.) (Also, you're welcome for "outstrips" there, Pat fans.)
But the point here is this: Florida's got almost as much talent as anyone. Kentucky and Missouri have five players on Rutherford's list, and Louisville, Arizona, and UCLA have four, but blue-bloods Indiana, North Carolina, Kansas and Duke have just three. This Gators team can't be as talented as last year's, because there's no replacing Beal, one of the top 15 players in college at the end of the season, but it may be close, and there's a good chance for it to be better than last year's squad, too.
All hail Billy Donovan, creator of a world in which that is possible for Florida basketball.