Florida Gators
2023-24 Result: 24-12 (11-7 SEC), NCAA Tournament Appearance
Key Additions
Alijah Martin (Florida Atlantic)
Sam Alexis (Chattanooga)
Rueben Chinyelu (Washington State)
Isaiah Brown
Olivier Rioux
Key Losses
Riley Kugel
Zyon Pullin
Tyrese Samuel
Projected Starting Lineup
Head Coach: Todd Golden (3rd season)
Guard: Walter Clayton Jr. (SR)
Guard: Will Richard (SR)
Guard: Alijah Martin (5th year)
Forward: Alex Condon (SO)
Center: Rueben Chinyelu (SO)
Todd Golden’s team had a nice season in 2023-2024 but fell short in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Colorado in a high scoring affair. After the season, Riley Kugel entered the transfer portal, as expected, after falling out of favor in the rotation. Tyrese Samuel and Zyon Pullin both left due to graduation, so some key contributors needed to be replaced. Alijah Martin was the biggest name Golden brought in, as he was a key member of the 2023 Final Four team at Florida Atlantic. Along with him, the Gators brought in Sam Alexis from Chattanooga, and Rueben Chinyelu, who will have to replace Micah Handlogten after he suffered a gruesome injury at the end of last season. The most intriguing player they brought in is Olivier Rioux, who is the tallest college basketball player ever at 7 ‘9. He won’t be ready to contribute this season, but he is an interesting prospect. Florida appears to be trending in the right direction under former San Francisco head coach Todd Golden. They have been able to recruit through the portal and are doing a good job with high school recruiting with the Boozer twins just having been in Gainesville at the beginning of September for their official visit.
Florida played a really fast pace last year in a guard heavy offense, so that led to some skewed numbers defensively. However, they were still not a good defensive team, as they finished 337th in points allowed per game in the country at 79.2. Tyrese Samuel was the defensive anchor, so now with him gone, they will rely on Alex Condon and transfer from Washington State, Reuben Chinyelu since Handlogten is likely out for the season. Condon is fine, but he only averaged 20 minutes per game last season since they had Samuel and Handlogten. With the rest of their frontcourt uncertain, Condon will need to play bigger minutes unless Sam Alexis and Chinyelu can help Florida keep the three-big rotation that they had last year. Otherwise, it will be much of the same from last season where Golden runs a fast-paced offense with lots of guards and lack of size and lives with giving up high point totals. They are talented at the guard position, but as seen in their tournament game last March and across all of last season, they are not fantastic defenders because they do not contain the dribble very well. Florida won’t be winning games because of their defense, but rather because they are outscoring teams.
Florida finished 6th in the country in points per game last season averaging 85.6. They did that with heavy guard lineups and fast-paced play. While losing their second leading scorer and 1st team All-SEC guard Zyon Pullin will be a major blow, they replaced him well with Alijah Martin. Clayton and Martin will run the show with Will Richard running alongside them. Sam Alexis will provide a nice scoring punch for the Gators, but outside of that, the rest of their scoring presence will depend on the interior play of Condon and Chinyelu. Condon was fine last year averaging nearly 8 points per contest, but they will likely need him to increase that with the 19.2 points per game lost from Tyrese Samuel and Handlogten not being there. Thomas Haugh will also see an increased role off the bench, but the likelihood that he provides much scoring is slim. This team is going to go as far as Walter Clayton, Alijah Martin, and Will Richard can take them, which is probably pretty far. The Gators have one of the top backcourts in the country and will depend on them mightily. If there are any injuries to the backcourt, they could be in trouble because their depth is not the same as it was last season without Kugel and Pullin. The only other backcourt name they have is 4-star Isaiah Brown, but the likelihood is that he will not be ready to contribute in the SEC right away.
Don’t get me wrong, Todd Golden’s Gators are going to be a very good team and win a bunch of games. However, they do seem to be a bit overvalued. I think that their frontcourt will be fine, but a definite downgrade from last season. They also lost depth and Pullin in the backcourt, which will be huge losses, especially if Martin does not get some of his efficiency back. Florida will finish near the top of the SEC and have a chance to make a run at the Sweet 16, but they are not quite contenders in either the SEC or for the national title.