When Kerry Blackshear decided to leave Virginia Tech to join the Florida Gators, Mike White already knew he had one of the best college basketball players in the country.

Following an opening night victory on Tuesday, in which the youngster scored 20 points and grabbed 10 beastly rebounds, there was little reason for the head coach to change his opinion on the youngster.

“My goodness, he's a heck of a player,” Florida coach Mike White said. “It's hard for anyone to average 20 and 10. I don't foresee that happening. But he's a terrific player and he gives you the opportunity offensively to play in a variety of ways.

“He scores in the interior. He draws fouls. He can shoot it. And probably his most underrated asset is how well he passes the basketball. He's extremely unselfish as well.”

The Florida Gators are many people's pick to not only win the SEC this season, but make it all the way to the Final Four.

Not at all shockingly, a large reason for that is the addition of Kerry Blackshear, who should compete for numerous individual awards this season.

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