Created: 4/17/2009 5:08:46 PM 
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Florida coach Billy Donovan believes his roster turnover might be good thing.
After all, the players he had the last two years struggled to play defense and failed to make the NCAA tournament.
So Donovan didn't seem to mind losing forward Alex Tyus, the team's second-leading scorer last season who announced Friday he will transfer.
The move leaves the Gators short-handed in the frontcourt heading into next season, because freshman Allan Chaney already decided to transfer and incoming freshman DeShawn Painter asked to be released from his scholarship.
"We lost a player or two players off two NIT teams," Donovan said.
Florida also could be without guard Nick Calathes, who declared for the NBA draft but didn't hire an agent and could return to school. Donovan said Calathes "could go either way," adding that the 6-foot-6 point guard probably won't make a decision until June.
Regardless of what happens with Calathes, Donovan made it clear that he needed to "change the culture" of his program. If it takes overhauling the roster, Donovan already has a strong start.
Considering center Marreese Speights left school early for the NBA last spring, forward Jonathan Mitchell transferred and then guard Jai Lucas left the program just a week before this past season, Donovan could lose as many as seven players in about a year.
Tyus, a sophomore from St. Louis, averaged 12.5 points and 6.2 rebounds last season. The 6-foot-8, 220-pounder played out of position all year, having to line up at center on an undersized team, and really felt like he could be more effective as a small forward.
But since Joakim Noah and Al Horford aren't walking through Donovan's door this summer, it was clear Tyus would be stuck down low for at least another season. So Tyus figured it would be better to play elsewhere, and Donovan agreed.
"Sometimes guys want something different," Donovan said. "You know there's a certain vision, a certain path and a certain commitment necessary for the team going forward that you want to have. For Alex, that's not really what he wanted to do. I respect that and understand that and wish him luck and hopefully he can get what he's looking for."
Donovan said Tyus' departure means the offseason will be an important one for Kenny Kadji, a 6-10 freshman from Cameroon who had an up-and-down first season. It also could mean more playing time for 6-10 forward Vernon Macklin, who sat out last season after transferring from Georgetown, and 6-10 incoming freshmen Erik Murphy.
Donovan does have highly touted guard Kenny Boynton coming to town this summer and has made a late recruiting push to land fellow guard John Wall.
Whatever the roster looks like this fall, Donovan expects change.
"This puts us in a situation that we've got to try to create that kind of (winning) culture and have more of that culture," he said. "We have great kids, but there's certain things on the floor that really need to be changed and guys need to be committed to trying to change those things. And I think there's certain guys that say, 'I really don't want to do that.' I understand that and that's not a problem."
