Florida basketball: Expectations high for 21st-ranked Gators

Walter Clayton Jr. (1) takes on the role of point guard for the 21st-ranked Gators (UAA Photo)

The Gators open their 2024-25 basketball season tonight (8:30 p.m., SEC Network) in Jacksonville with South Florida with expectations as high as they’ve been in five years. Florida starts the new season ranked 21st, the first time the Gators have started a season ranked since 2019-20 when they began ranked sixth.

That team, coached by Mike White, never played to its potential. By the time December rolled around, the Gators were unranked, never to regain a place in the top 25 again. Despite a talented roster that included future NBA players Andrew Nembhard, Keyontae Johnson and Tre Mann, the season ended in disappointment, the combination of a 19-12 season and the entire postseason nationally cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

So much has changed since then. White left Florida for the Georgia job after losing to Texas A&M in the 2022 SEC Basketball Tournament in Tampa. Todd Golden was hired from San Francisco and after two years of steady improvement, he has the Gators poised to take the next steps toward regaining Florida’s status as one of the nation’s elite programs.

Golden’s teams have never had a problem scoring points but getting stops hasn’t always been easy. That’s why so much emphasis has been placed on defense in the preseason. Golden still expects the Gators to play fast and score plenty, but he also expects better effort on the defensive end.

“Our goal internally is to be a top 40 defense,” Golden said last week. “I think we were 91, 92 or 93 last year on KenPom, so that’s a big jump. That’s not going to be easy to do, but I think that if we’re able to accomplish that, it’ll give us a good landing spot where we want to go.”

Where the Gators want to go is deep into the NCAA Tournament. Last season ended in the first round when the Gators lost to a good Colorado team 102-100 on a last second shot. In that game, the Gators shot 51.5 percent overall from the field and 44 percent from the 3-point line. That should have been good enough to score a win, but Colorado shot 63 percent overall and 60 percent from the 3-point line.

In preparation for the season, the Gators played two scrimmages, the first against Florida International and the second against College of Charleston. Against FIU, Golden thought the Gators needed better rebounding and defense. There was marked improvement in those areas against Charleston.

“I thought we weren’t necessarily great in our first scrimmage, some positive things, but some things we could do better,” Golden said. “I thought we were better this past Saturday, just more complete, a little more physical, better on the glass. Looked more like the group we want to be over the course of the year.”

Last year’s leading rebounder Tyrese Samuel used up his eligibility and 7-1 Micah Handlogten will take a redshirt this year as he continues to rehab and strengthen a leg broken against Auburn in the SEC Tournament championship game. The replacements in the starting lineup will be sophomore Alex Condon and Washington State transfer Rueben Chinyelu. Condon and Chinyelu are both good rim protectors. Condon is expected to take a big leap when it comes to scoring, while Chinyelu is very defensive minded in the paint. They are backed up by 6-9 Thomas Hauck and 6-9 Chattanooga transfer Sam Alexis.

On the perimeter, the Gators will go with a starting lineup of Walter Clayton Jr. at the point with Will Richard and Florida Atlantic transfer Alijah Martin on the wings. Clayton, who led the Gators in scoring a year ago (17.6 per game), will spend more time at the point this year after spending last year as a combo. Martin averaged 13.1 points and 5.9 rebounds for a Florida Atlantic team that was a  year removed from a Final Four appearance. Richard, who averaged 11.4 per game, has rectified some mechanical issues that caused him to be a streaky shooter a year ago. A regular in the rotation will be junior Denzel Aberdeen, who plays the point primarily but can sub all three perimeter positions.   

FLORIDA: Alex Condon (6-11, 230, SO); Rueben Chinyelu (6-10, 255, SO); Will Richard (6-4, 206, SR); Alijah Martin (6-2, 195, GR); Walter Clayton Jr. (6-2, 195, SR)

SOUTH FLORIDA: Jamille Reynolds (6-11, 275, SR); Brandon Stroud (6-6, 215, GR); Kobe Knox (6-5, 195, RJR); Kasen Jennings (6-3, 202, GR); Jayden Reid (5-10, 161, SO)