The question to freshman guard Jai Lucas was simple: What do you think about this team being ranked in the top 25?
"Who's that?" Lucas asked.
Media members had to inform Lucas on Monday afternoon that Florida, which has comfortably won its first four games against inferior opponents, was No. 25 in The Associated Press college basketball poll. It seems Lucas is not too concerned where Florida is ranked four games into the season. It's too early for all that.
"I didn't know that," Lucas said. "That's a step. We're making progress but you really don't want to look at it like that. We're not happy yet. It's a great thing to be ranked but you still have to move ahead.
"I feel we're one of the best 25 teams in the country. We work hard and it's an accomplishment but it's still nothing big…We still want to climb. Twenty-five, that's almost like being last. You always want to move up."
Florida's closest game so far was a 75-65 season-opening victory over North Dakota State. The Gators beat Rutgers by 25 points on Saturday night and also blew out Tennessee Tech and North Carolina Central. North Florida visits Florida at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the O'Connell Center. Coach Billy Donovan did not make much of Florida's ranking just yet.
"With all the upsets or teams getting knocked out or early losses, we've been a team that has gone through this portion of our season unblemished," Donovan said. "Everybody would agree the four teams we played are teams that aren't going to be ranked. Any of that stuff is maybe some writers or some people saying, 'They're the defending national champion and until someone beats them they should be ranked.'
"We've done a good job these first four games. Does it warrant being in the top 25? I don't think so. If we're in the top 25 it has a lot to do with what we've done these first four games and a lot of it has to do with what's happened the last couple years with respect to the team winning the championship."
Donovan said he has seen recent signs of slippage in execution. Part of that is because practice time is limited since the Gators are playing so much – they've played four games in nine days.
Against a gritty Rutgers team, picked toward the bottom in the Big East, Donovan said he was pleased with his players' physical effort. Sophomore forward/center Marreese Speights finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds and sophomore forward Dan Werner added 10 points and 10 boards in the win. All five of Florida's starters scored in double figures.
"Against a team that was clearly a bigger, stronger team than most of the teams we've played up to that point, we did a good job physically competing," Donovan said. "We still have a long way to go and we can get better executing. We can get better on the defensive end. It was good to see us block out and rebound the ball."
Through four games, Speights and freshman guard Nick Calathes each average 15.8 points. Speights leads the team at eight rebounds per outing. Calathes has a team-high 22 assists. Freshman forward Chandler Parsons averages 12.5 points. He and junior guard Walter Hodge have each hit eight 3-pointers. Hodge averages 11 points. Lucas is getting 10.5 points per game. Werner averages 6.8 rebounds, good for second on the team.
North Florida enters the game at 1-2. It lost to Maryland, 79-50, and was also beaten by Tulsa, 83-66. The Ospreys defeated Concordia (N.Y.), 57-41, on Friday. Junior guard/forward Tom Hammonds, a transfer from East Carolina, leads the team with 13 points and 6.3 rebounds. Justin Cecil, a 6-foot-8 freshman forward, averages 11.7 points and 5.7 boards.
Donovan unable to watch Arkansas-VCU matchup
Donovan chatted by phone with the ESPN announcers when two of his former assistants were coaching against each other Sunday. John Pelphrey is the first-year coach of the Razorbacks. Anthony Grant is in his second season at Virginia Commonwealth. But Donovan was not watching the game.
"I really wish I could have had a chance to see the game," Donovan said. "My daughter was six yesterday so I didn't get a chance to see the game at all.
"Both those guys mean a lot to me. They both did a great job while they were here. I'm sure from their perspective it wasn't the game they wanted to play against each other especially coming off losses. Both those guys are great guys and are doing great jobs."
Arkansas won, 70-60. Another former Donovan assistant, Donnie Jones, is in his first year at Marshall. The Thundering Herd beat Pikeville, 60-49, in their season opener. Marshall hosts East Tennessee on Tuesday.