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2024-25 Basketball,,, all things considered...

What does the 2024-25 Basketball Roster look like today?
13 Ships with 4 WO's


22 PG Bennett Andersen 6-2 190 Grad-Sr - Tampa, FL - WO
11 PG Denzel Aberdeen 6-5 195 Jr - Orlando, FL

30 PG Kajus Kublickas 6-2 175 So - Kaunas, Lithuania
7 PG Urban Klavar 6-1 190 Fr - Donzale, Slovenia
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1 CG Walter Clayton Jr 6-3 195 Sr - Iona xfer - Lake Wales, FL (17.6 PPG)
33 CG Cooper Josefsberg 6-4 195 So - Miami, FL - WO
2 CG Kevin Pazmino 6-4 195 So - SFC xfer - Weston, FL - WO
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15 SG Alijah Martin 6-2 210 Grad-Sr - FAU xfer - Summit, MS
20 SG Isaiah Brown 6-4 200 Fr - Orlando, FL

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5 SG/SF Will Richard 6-4 206 Sr - Belmont xfer - Fairburn, GA (11.4 PPG)
>>> Both / Either up for the 6th Man Award
10 SF/PF Thomas haugh 6-9 210 So - New Oxford, PA
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4 PF Sam Alexis 6-8 240 Jr - Chattanooga xfer - Apopka, FL
21 PF/C Alex Condon 6-11 230 So - Perth Australia
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3 C Micah Handlogten 7-1 235 Jr - Marshall xfer - Lake Norman, N.C.(injured & rehabbing for 2024)
9 C/PF Rueben Chinyelu 6-10 255 So - WashSt xfer - Enugwu-Agidi, Nigeria
12 C Viktor Mikic 6-11 240 Fr - Beograd, Serbia
32 C Olivier Rioux 7-9 305 Fr - Terrebonne, Quebec - WO

=====
I'm expecting to see 9-10 in the rotation for most games....

Fall Practice begins on Tuesday Sept 24th.
The '24-25 season opens Nov. 4 against USF at neutral site Jacksonville.

The starters are likely to vary across the season.
All but the two summer July/Aug arrivals have been in the Hugh Hathcock
Basketball Complex the last 5 months building chemistry with their new teammates.

There will be competition among some mostly inexperienced players for limited-minute
roles on the back of what figures to be a rotation of (says Golden's track record) 9 players
by the time SEC season comes around.

Defensive Court Monsters:
Alijah Martin - Alex Condon - Thomas Haugh - Rueben Chinyelu

News and Harry Fodder Role Predictions:

PG Walter Clayton Jr
SG Alijah Martin
SF Will Richard
PF Alex Condon
C Rueben Chinyelu
6th Man PG Denzel Aberdeen (the iG's 2025-26 starting PG)
7th Man SF/PF Thomas Haugh (the #1 motor man)
8th Man PF Sam Alexis (best overall physically)
9th Man up for grabs as Fall practice begins....


 
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The 2025 Recruit commits for 2025:

In July, he began ranked No. 254. However, by the end of the month, he moved all the way up to No. 73 in the rankings and now has risen up into the top-40 in the country for the 2025 cycle. Wing CJ Ingram is now approaching five-star status.

In addition to Ingram, the Gators also hold a verbal commitment from combo guard Alex Lloyd. Lloyd dropped two spots in the recent update, but is still highly ranked. He comes in at No. 42 on 247 Sports rankings.

With these two in the fold for the Gators, their 2025 class is the 9th-best class in the country, and it still has the potential to rise before the cycle ends. The Gators are still on the hunt to add more top prospects to the class including
five-star twins Cameron Boozer (No. 2 in Top247) and Cayden Boozer (No. 21 in Top247). -- The iG is reallly hoping to put the icing with a cherry on top in the coming class....
IF those 4 made up the 2025 recruit class, I could see then beinging the 2.0 of the 04's......

And could you see those 4 plus a 7-9 Center on the floor in a year or two...... 😲

 
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ESPN’s Joe Lunardi updated his Men’s Bracketology: 2025 NCAA Tournament seeding on Tuesday and the Gators enter the new season as a 9-seed, which might come as a surprise to most due to how they performed last season and how they rebuilt their roster this offseason.

After a strong second year under Todd Golden and an offseason of improving the roster, the Florida Gators enter 2024 as a 9-seed in Joe Lunardi's Bracketology, but is this ranking too low?

The SEC teams included are:

1-seed Alabama,
2-seed Auburn,
4-seeds Tennessee & Arkansas,
5-seeds Texas A&M & Texas,
6-seed Kentucky,
7-seed Mississippi State
9-seeds Ole Miss & Florida.

Use the link for reasons for their rankings.

 
Got this from another Gator message board.

1. Clayton looks great. He is Florida's primary ball-handler. However, all of the reports talk about him scoring. He isn't playing SG. He is the PG. I want to know if he can get us set up. When he played PG last season, the offense was awful. This will be an unknown until the season starts.

2. Chinyelu has been a monster on defense. He is raw offensively, but we didn't sign him for his offense. There may be fouling issues. We will see.

3. Klavzar is getting adjusted. As expected, when he has to guard he is having a lot of trouble. Scoring isn't the problem. His defense is.

4. Martin is one of the leaders on the team. He is proving exceptional as expected.

5. Isaiah Brown plays like a junior according to Golden. I expect him to get minutes this season.

6. For those wondering about Handlogten, he is as active as can be without actually being able to practice. He is jogging without a limp.

7. The interviews I've seen with Golden are of a coach who knows he has a good team, at least on paper. We are 9 deep. If Klavzar gets adjusted it is 10 deep.
 
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Golden says they will be using a committee when bringing the ball up the court instead of a dedicated PG like Zyon was. All of the guards will on occasion be acting as the PG doing the ball handling, at least to begin with.
Helping the guys in their last season improve their NBA stock, while still getting the younger guys ready for next season.
Changes to that will depend on the early season results by the committee.

As I was hoping, there is a chance for C Handlogten to return to play later in the season, if he's needed and if he wants to play instead of taking a redshirt. JMOHO, but it would be nice to not need him, as much as I'd enjoy seeing him play.

Freshmen SG Brown and the 20 year old Fr PG Urban Kavlar might be the surprise guys getting playing time, IF they continue to perform in games like they have in Fall practice so far. And even the 7-9 Fr walkon center might get a little late game playing time, just to get his feet wet so to speak.

Making the Dance is all but guaranteed this season, with hopefully a much deeper run than in 2023-24.....
 
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"He got that dog in him" - Getting to know a newbee:​


FAU xfer-in SG Alijah Martin 6-2 215 - A 5th Yr Grad-Sr xfer-in from FAU
He is a 3X All Conf-USA selection and played in the 2023 Final-4.
He has a Mississippi prep resume as a 1st-team all-state selection in football, basketball and track. - Also youth soccer and baseball but had to par it back a little.

Reading the rest of his athletic background left me saying,,, JUS-DAMN! - iG
Note: FAU HC Dusty May is a recent former Gator/Mike White Ast. Coach, and he just left FAU for Mich.

In four seasons with the Owls, Martin scored 1,476 points, shot 37% from the 3-point line, dished 171 assists, grabbed 616 Rbs, and tallied 155 Stls. All that while unleashing a relentless brand of defense the Gators have sorely lacked of late.
>> Things that 50/50 SG Riley Kugel 6-5 207 (206 Rbs - 62 Stls in 2 seasons) provided to the team on a sometimes basis, (a drama pup, not a dog).....

In basketball, a "dog" believes loose balls are his property.
"In practice you compete and do everything you can against the guy across from you to make the team better. On game day, you have to kill the person in front of you and do whatever it takes within the rules to win."

"He's going to raise the level of defense for everybody," UF assistant coach and director of player development Taurean Green said.
"Starting with that guy, right there!"
Green was pointing at All SEC CG Walter Clayton Jr..

"Everything he does, he goes hard, and does it with an edge to him," Clayton said.
Golden's 2nd UF team ranked 19th nationally in offensive efficiency but 94th on defense.

Another very good article here: >> Don't skip the vid!


 
Well guys & gals, Nov. 4th is inching closer every day, so what's up wid-da newbees?

PG Kajus Kublickas Soph returns to the Florida Gators after participating in an international tournament, bringing valuable experience to the team. Kublickas spent the summer participating in the FIBA U20 EuroBasket, an international basketball tournament. He helped lead Lithuania to a 5-2 record and a fifth-place finish in the event. Kublickas averaged 11.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists during the tournament.


https://www.si.com/college/florida/...s-valuable-tournament-experience-01j9sjd84v8t
==========

Washington State transfer center Rueben Chinyelu hasn't played a game for the Florida Gators yet, but he's already feeling the pride of donning an orange and blue uniform. “Man there is no feeling like being a Gator, it's a big thing and I’m proud to be part of it,” he said to open his portion of Tuesday's media availability.

https://www.si.com/college/florida/no-feeling-like-being-a-gator-says-rueben-chinyelu-01j9t06h8y1v
==========

After losing Tyrese Samuel (graduation) and Micah Handlogten (injury) for the upcoming season, the Florida Gators will turn to a slew of transfers, including former Chattanooga PF/C Sam Alexis, to alleviate the losses. Last season, the Apopka, Florida native broke out averaging nearly 11 points a game with 9.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per contest while being named to the Southern Conference All-Defensive team and Third-Team All-Southern Conference.

"I feel like the coaches always say that the SEC is a tough league to play in, and I feel like Rueben fits that description. I feel like us battling every single day is going to get each other better," Alexis said. "He's a more physical big and I'm more finesse so he's going to have to guard some finesse bigs and I'm going to have to guard some physical bigs in the SEC so we're getting each other better."


https://www.si.com/college/florida/basketball/transfer--sam-alexis-alleviate-gators-rebounding-losses-01j9vf3qnxvh
 
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Pretty interesting mix of players. Seems like all the components are there, Golden just has to find the right mix. I thought losing Handlogten late last year really hurt our defense. So I'll be interested to see how Alexis and Chinyelu play on that end.
 
Center

3 Micah Handlogten 7-1 235 Jr - N.C. rehabbing injury, return date unknown
9 Rueben Chinyelu - 6-10 255 So - WashSt xfer-in - Nigeria

12 Viktor Mikic ------ 6-11 240 Fr - Serbia
32 Olivier Rioux ----- 7-9 305 Fr - IMG - Canada - WO

Power Forward / Center


4 Sam Alexis ------- 6-8 240 Jr - Chattanooga xfer-in - FL
21 Alex Condon ---- 6-11 230 So - Australia
10 Thomas Haugh - 6-9 210 So - PA


PG-SG-SF Multi-Position Group (per Gator Bio's)

15 Alijah Martin --------- 6-2 210 Grad-Sr - FAU xfer-in - MS
22 Bennett Andersen -- 6-2 190 Grad-Sr - FL - WO
1 Walter Clayton -------- 6-3 195 Sr - Iona xfer-in - FL
5 Will Richard ----------- 6-4 206 Sr - Belmont xfer-in - GA
11 Denzel Aberdeen ---- 6-5 190 Jr - FL

30 Kajus Kublickas ---- 6-2 175 So - Lithuania
33 Cooper Josefsberg - 6-4 195 So - FL - WO
2 Kevin Pazmino -------- 6-4 195 So - SFC xfer-in - FL - WO
20 Isaiah Brown -------- 6-4 200 Fr - FL
7 Urban Klavzar --------- 6-1 190 Fr - Slovenia

The IG's WaG on the Top 8 rotation are in italics....

Kublickas, Brown and Klavzar will battle for the #9-10-11 rotation spots....
And the 2 Fr centers will hopefully split some end of game minutes.

Team Trivia:
3 Other States
4 Walk-ons
6 International
7 Florida
 
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