It's never too early to look at what's to come. Over the next few weeks, we will give you a peek at what is ahead for teams in the Power 5 conferences and some other teams expected to be players on the national scene. Next up: Florida Gators.

One season isn't nearly enough time to win people over when you're replacing a coach as popular as Billy Donovan. So Year 2 for Mike White at Florida should be a bit smoother in that regard. Dorian Finney-Smith is the only major contributor the Gators lose off a team that went 21-15 and reached the NIT quarterfinals. Florida will try to avoid missing the NCAA tournament for three consecutive seasons for the first time since a span from 1996-98. The Gators no longer have to get acclimated to White, which is reason enough for cautious optimism for their return to the Big Dance. They weren't far off to begin with last season.

Of the three areas White said the Gators needed to improve on next season, two of them were free throw shooting. He wasn't joking either. Florida shot 64.7 percent as a team from the stripe -- which, surprisingly, wasn't the worst in the SEC, thanks to Alabama and Auburn -- but ranked 330 nationally nonetheless. Nine of their 15 losses were by two possessions or fewer. In those nine losses, they only made 70 percent of their free throws three times. So yes, free throw shooting lost games.

It hurt that two of the players who got to the line the most for the Gators -- Kasey Hill and John Egbunu -- were the worst shooters. Egbunu led the team with 173 attempts and Hill was third with 132, but both made only 53 percent of their shots.

White is hopeful that those numbers will change, especially from Hill. The 6-foot-1 senior guard finished strong last season, scoring double digits in a career-best five consecutive games. Hill is the most experienced player on the roster, and White said he's taking the leadership mantle in the offseason.

Scoring was also problematic for the Gators last season at times -- particularly from 3-point range, where they shot just 31.9 percent. That should change with the addition of graduate transfer Canyon Barry from College of Charleston. Barry, son of NBA Hall of Famer Rick Barry, is a 6-foot-6 guard who inherited his father's penchant for scoring. (And shooting free throws underhanded). With Louisville's Chinanu Onuaku turning pro, Barry might be the only Division I player in college basketball who shoots granny style. Barry shoots a career 39.6 percent from 3-point range. He began last season averaging 19.7 points through the Cougars' first 12 games before being sidelined with a shoulder injury.

Barry is actually one of three Gators recovering from surgery and not yet participating in offseason activities. White said Barry, Egbunu (thumb) and junior forward Devin Robinson (foot) will be brought along slowly with an emphasis on getting them fully healthy for the fall, not summer workouts.

Once White has his full roster, the Gators will have a solid nucleus returning. If Robinson makes similar improvements to those he made between his freshman and sophomore years, he'll hear his name called for all-SEC honors. Robinson averaged 9.0 points and 5.6 rebounds last season and improved his 3-point shooting percentage from 25.6 percent as a freshman to 34.0 percent as a sophomore.

Sophomore guard KeVaughn Allen is the leading scorer, returning after averaging 11.6 points per game last season. Allen had a prolific rookie campaign that ranked among the best scoring-wise for a Florida freshman in the past two decades. He'll need to be more than just a volume shooter -- he shot just 39.9 percent from the field -- but the potential is there, as evidenced by his career-high 32 points against Florida State.

Florida will have a few newcomers to the lineup who will have a chance to contribute. Keith Stone, a 6-foot-8 forward, sat out as a redshirt last season and slimmed down to 230 pounds. The Gators landed Gorjok Gak after the 6-foot-11 center was granted a release from Oklahoma State. Gak signed with the Cowboys but looked to reopen his recruitment after Travis Ford was fired in March. Gak will have a chance to play his way into the rotation immediately. In addition, forward Dontay Bassett and his high school teammate guard Eric Hester should mean depth will be no problem for White.

The Gators will be nomads for nearly the entire nonconference schedule while their O'Connell Center home undergoes a $64.5 million renovation. It's not scheduled for completion until late December, which means Florida's de facto home will be in Jacksonville for what would be its traditional opener. But should the season end with a trip to the NCAA, Florida will feel right at home after all.