EXCLUSIVE: The Rebuilding Period: Gainesville-Buchholz Bobcats
No matter how far your program went during a season, if you graduated seven seniors in May, you’re going to feel it, next year.
Head coach Bob Horodyski and his Buchholz Bobcats are in a rebuilding phase. He has about five guys who are coming back from last season. The rest are either fresh ninth graders or those who played on JV in 2016.
For Bob, the off-season goal is simple. It’s all about chemistry.
“The summer’s gotta be about learning how to play with each other. We’re really raw,” coach Horodyski said as he approaches his 24th year as the Buchholz head. “For us, it’s gotta be about who can contribute early, who can play.”
One of the guys he knows can play is newly-dubbed UF football commit Trent Whittemore. Although he’ll be keeping his Talents in Gainesville come fall of 2019, he’s going to be a number-one scoring option for the ‘Cats, going forth. Bob feels Trent could average at least 20 points a night at the rate he’s going, right now. He will have to be good at making others better from now until November. Bob’s aware the defense won’t make it easy on him. Trent will be a focal point on a team’s list of who to agitate.
Another guy who will need to step up is senior Jaxon Stiff. He’s a wiry player who gives the ‘Cats solid defense. Whether he starts or comes off the bench is up in the air. The biggest thing for Stiff, in Bob’s eyes, is confidence.
“I always tell our kids ‘You don’t have to score all the time. Just don’t hurt the team, and we’ll be alright.’,” Bob said.
Defensively, the team needs to elevate. Although, there are four or five players who really get after it on that end. Bob said their defensive successes will depend on positioning and making sure they don’t get lazy on that end.
“We’ve got to be really disciplined and be in the right spots—because we’re not going to out athlete people,” Bob laughed.
As far as recruiting goes for his next batch of juniors and seniors, Bob says it’s going to be a challenge for his kids to go to a Florida school. From his experience, many Division-II and Division-III schools often look to junior colleges and Division-I transfer lists for talent. JUCO’s sometimes look at the transfer lists, as well.
Schools outside of Florida are more apt to look at kids like Bob’s. Buchholz assistant coach Rick Smith, father senior wingman Victor “Rick” Smith, said a school on the Canadian border is eyeing his son.
But from an academic standpoint, they’d possibly be sacrificing a Bright Futures Scholarship opportunity. If a player doesn’t want to leave the state, it’s going to be a difficult process, in his eyes.
Still, Bob’s making no excuses. He’s continuing to fight for their future.
“We can be pissed about it and talk about it,” Bob said. “But, the thing is that we have to work harder to find our kids a place to play.”