DAVID JONES

New Gators hoops coach is a big Brevard County fan

David Jones SPORTS COLUMNIST

Michael White, the guy who was hired to replace Billy Donovan, knows Brevard County pretty well. In fact, his whole family does. His father, Kevin, is the athletics director at Duke and has owned a home in the area for years.

“We’ve been down there about 13 years, actually,” Kevin White said. “So our family is, we’ve got our five kids and four of the five are married, and we’ve got 12 grand kids. So 100 on the beach with the extended family? That’s not an exaggeration.”

We won’t get into the favorite haunts but during the recent SEC spring meetings in Destin, Michael White rattled off the names of several local restaurants and made sounds of glee in the anticipation of returning soon.

Kevin, on the other hand, jokes about the onslaught of Whites that will be invading your beach space in the coming weeks.

“We’ve got a reputation,” he joked, “and it’s not great.”

Actually both Whites have a great reputation. Florida AD Jeremy Foley quickly took a liking to Mike, who played college hoops at Ole Miss and quickly became a hot coaching prospect for him at Louisiana Tech before the Gators hired him.

Kevin actually tried to talk his son out of coaching. He talked him into trying out a couple of jobs outside of athletics but didn’t win out.

“I was hoping that our guys would look to do some other things. I thought we needed a little more professional creativity. So I did send him to Wall Street one summer, I did send him to Maine for a manufacturing experience,” Kevin said. “And he went under protest both times, and of course he would call me late at night and say ‘Dad, I just played in a league and there’s a guy with a left and he’s really good, and do you remember this?’ He didn’t learn anything at Wall Street, nor did he learn about manufacturing.’’

Kevin was actually working in the Florida gulf coast town of Dunedin when Mike was born but left soon after, both parents taking jobs as track coaches at Central Michigan.

The elder White hasn’t been thrilled to see one of his kids get into coaching, or so it seems, but things change. There are some who will no doubt ponder if Mike has a lot of success . . . would Dad possibly hire him one day to replace Mike Krzyzewski at Duke?

“I’ve been just so excited about this,’’ Kevin White said. “You know when he almost took a couple of opportunities a year ago I was pretty excited but Florida takes it to another level, and he’s not gonna come off like a sales guy to you . . . I think he thought Billy was gonna be here forever and he wouldn’t allow himself to think (the Gators job). But this would have been the spot he chose, so for him to come full circle at this point is amazing.”

Dad isn’t concerned about his son replacing any legend — be it Donovan or Krzyzewski or anyone else of major stature.

“He’s incredibly secure for who he is and he’s very comfortable in his own skin and he’s wired for that, better than most of us let’s say, better than I would be,” Kevin said. “But it’s never easy, it’s absolutely not easy.”

If White is half as successful as Donovan, he may have to be a little more careful where he roams on the Brevard beaches. For now he can tan, relax and play in the ocean with the Duke AD he calls Dad. Like he’s been doing for many years.

In fact, he likes Brevard so much that Michael also bought a home here. So if you cheer for the Gators next winter, you’re also rooting for a neighbor.

Contact Jones at djones@floridatoday.com or follow on Twitter: @DaveJonesSports.