| | By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Brett Nelson can be Bobby Hurley if he wants.
All he has to do is stay at Florida for four years.
Hurley was a regular in the NCAA Tournament, winning two national titles for Duke in four years.
Nelson could do the same.
He's starting to thinking about the possibilities.
|  | | It took a little while, but once Brett Nelson grasped the Florida system, he excelled. |
"It's possible if I stay all four years," the sophomore point guard said Friday during ESPN.com's preseason tour. "It's amazing to think about that two years ago I was playing in front of 2,000 people in my high school gym and then last year in front of 60,000 at the national title game.
"Last year we almost won the national championship, this year we've got a chance and next year we'll have a great recruiting class. It's amazing to thing about that I could have a career like that and get a couple of national championships."
But Nelson is the key component. He finally settled in as the point guard late in the season, especially in the tournament. He had a game-high 15 points in the East final victory against Duke, making 6 of 12 shots, including 3 of 5 3-pointers. Against North Carolina in the national semifinal, Nelson forced four fouls on Ed Cota and then hit three key jumpers when Cota's defense was down.
This year, he enters the season as the Gators' only true point guard. A year ago, he had to share the position with sophomore Teddy Dupay. But Dupay has moved permanently to shooting guard, and Justin Hamilton will spend more time at big guard/small forward than point.
"I'm going to be the point guard and that's all I'll do," Nelson said. "I feel comfortable with the ball in my hand."
But it wasn't that easy.
Nelson forced too many shots at the beginning of last season, trying to be the McDonald's All-American on every play. He didn't have to in Billy Donovan's system, where defense rules and transition baskets are the first option. His season seemed to reach a low point when he forced an errant overtime 3-point shot in a loss to Tennessee.
He ended the SEC season with nearly as many assists (41) as turnovers (43). But his numbers shot up in six NCAA Tournament games, cutting his turnovers down (12), while increasing his assists (21). His scoring average also went up, from seven a game in the SEC to 11.3. He improved his shooting from 40.6 percent during the season and 42.9 percent in the SEC, to 45.1 overall, and 51.9 percent behind the 3-point arc, in the NCAA Tournament.
"As the year went on, I kept my confidence up and I was just playing, not thinking about every little thing," Nelson said. "Early in the season, I wasn't making my shot or I turned the ball over. I let it bother me. I just moved on and forgot about it."
What Nelson couldn't get over earlier in the season was the team concept. He was used to doing everything at St. Albans School (W.Va.), or on Darren Matsubara's summer league team EBO, based in Fresno, Calif.
"Up here you've got to play the game so much more mentally," Nelson said. "I believe 90 percent of the game is played mentally after high school. If you lose confidence, you get burned. Coach would tell me one thing and I thought I was supposed to do the other."
It took until January before Nelson even understood the plays and the rotations on defense. The Gators start this season with Nelson already knowledgeable on every aspect of the team.
"The key for Brett is to channel his aggressiveness," said Dupay, who had offseason shoulder surgery and said he's more comfortable coming off screens for shots than being the playmaker.
"He's not a great player when he's not aggressive or attacking intelligently," Dupay said. "But he's tough to stop when he's aggressive. When he gets passive he loses confidence. When he started playing last year it was a big lift for us. Everybody saw what he can do and capable of doing, and now he can play the whole season the way he did throughout the whole NCAA Tournament."
If Nelson does that, then the Gators do have a legit shot to repeat the Final Four appearance this year.
Turn away from the lures of the NBA and they've got a better shot in 2002, with the arrival of committed players Kwame Brown, David Lee and James White.
Stay for a fourth season and, well, who knows?
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com. | |
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