Florida guard Teddy Dupay averaged 13.4 points a game and close to three assists in his junior year for the Gators' basketball team last season. That's the statistical loss the team must make up for, going into the 2001-02 season that gets under way in early November.

But the bigger question the Gators must answer, if they hope to reach the NCAA Tournament for the fourth season in a row, is how the team adjusts to suddenly losing one of its biggest emotional leaders. Dupay left the team in early September after admitting he violated NCAA rules, forfeiting his senior season.

His name was mentioned in a summer-long investigation into possible sports gambling on the UF campus.

"One guy has never defined this team," insists guard Justin Hamilton, who is coming off major knee surgery last January. "I mean, we can always survive if someone else goes down. This team has never been defined by one player, so we'll be fine."