Entering the 2024-25 season Florida’s coaching staff was determined to drastically improve the defense from the year prior and so far we’re seeing that goal come to fruition. According to KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency metric, the gold standard for evaluating defense these days, the Gators finished the 2023-24 season at a disappointing 94th nationally.
This year, that number is all the way up to 22nd entering, dare I say–elite status. Bringing in defensive-minded players like Alijah Martin, Reuben Chinyelu, and Sam Alexis have played a big role in this but there have also been some fundamental changes in the schematics which I laid out in a previous article a few days ago here at Gator Country.