Gator Basketball UF gets first top 25 ranking under Golden

[GatorJ]

https://247sports.com/college/florida/board/14/Contents/gators-earn-first-ap-top-25-ranking-of-todd-golden-era-227416854/?page=1

 

[AuggieDosta]

We're only 2 back to back championships away from our glory days! LFG!

 

[FireFoley]

Top 25?

 

[MJMGator]

They’ve earned it. Need to get better defensively but no one is without flaws.

 

[GatorJ]

They’ve earned it. Need to get better defensively but no one is without flaws.

They’re not good enough defensively to go deep into the tournament. But they are good enough to knock off a couple teams and get to the sweet 16, and if they luck out on the pairings, the Elite 8, IMO.

 

[aka]

It's about getting better, and they have. Just think of what a confidence builder it could be for them if only Ox would starting watching the games.

 

[sminings]

The ranking has been earned.

Hard to believe we have a preseason first team all SEC pick coming off the bench.

This is a deep team with a minimum 4 players who could carry the team on any given night.

The biggest drawback of bringing in so many new faces is the time it takes for players to acclimate to one another.

Calipari has been dealing with this issue for over a decade.

IMO the Gators are in good hands with Golden for the foreseeable future.

 

[jdh5484]

It's about getting better, and they have. Just think of what a confidence builder it could be for them if only Ox would starting watching the games.

 

[Gatorbait25]

Pullin has really been our most important player . He does everything well, clutch with FT, handles it well and is a great passer.

 

[oxrageous]

They’re not good enough defensively to go deep into the tournament. But they are good enough to knock off a couple teams and get to the sweet 16, and if they luck out on the pairings, the Elite 8, IMO.

I laughed out loud.

 

[Bernardo de la Paz]

Pullin has really been our most important player . He does everything well, clutch with FT, handles it well and is a great passer.

This.

It's a damn shame we only get him for a year.

 

[MertzJay26]

Ox when he heard the news:

 

[oxrageous]

Ox when he heard the news:

Why would I be upset that the Gators have won a few games? I just don't have any expectations they can advance to even the 2nd round of the tourney. Perhaps they'll shock the hell out of me.

 

[MidwestChomp]

We all know the success so far is due to the players' parents coaching from the stands. To get us to top 10 material we need some more athletes or something like that. Or so said Gatorsid.

 

[Okeechobee Joe]

We're getting better. If we lose one in the tournament so be it. I don't expect we'll go far. This team is fun to watch. It's late in the season and we're getting better. Can't ask for much more than that at this time considering where we started. Hats off to Todd Golden and his Gators.

 

[TLB]

Looking at our seniors:

Bennett Andersen 22 G 6' 2" 190 lbs SR Tampa, FL
EJ Jarvis 15 F 6' 8" 240 lbs SR Washington, DC
Alex Klatsky 12 G 6' 4" 206 lbs SR Colts Neck, NJ
Zyon Pullin 0 G 6' 4" 206 lbs SR Pleasant Hill, CA
Julian Rishwain 23 G 6' 5" 200 lbs SR Los Angeles, CA
Tyrese Samuel 4 F 6' 10" 239 lbs SR Montreal, Canada

Samuel did well for us this season, showed the other bigs what they need to do succeed, and we have enough of them to where we are stocked with good bigs. Zyon will be very hard to replace. Clayton Jr plays the guard with him, but I think Clayton is more comfortable at the 2...I don't see a solid backfill for Pullin on the roster. The only other name I recognize is Klatsky, who is what he is. This is all to say, Tyrese we can replace, Zyon will be much harder, other than that we're alright on graduating seniors.

With the rest of the roster:

Alex Condon 21 F 6' 11" 230 lbs FR Perth, Australia
Thomas Haugh 10 F 6' 9" 210 lbs FR New Oxford, PA
Cooper Josefsberg 33 G 6' 4" 195 lbs FR Miami, FL
Kajus Kublickas 30 G 6' 2" 171 lbs FR Kaunas, Lithuania
Denzel Aberdeen 11 G 6' 5" 190 lbs SO Orlando, FL
Micah Handlogten 3 C 7' 1" 235 lbs SO Lake Norman, NC
Riley Kugel 2 G 6' 5" 207 lbs SO Orlando, FL
Aleks Szymczyk 13 F 6' 10" 250 lbs SO Frankfurt, Germany
Walter Clayton Jr. 1 G 6' 2" 195 lbs JR Lake Wales, FL
Jack May 20 G 6' 4" 195 lbs JR Boca Raton, FL
Will Richard 5 G 6' 4" 206 lbs JR Fairburn, GA

Clayton, Handlogten, Haugh, and Condon are solid returners - can't see any of them transferring. I have Kugel and Zzymczyk in the 'meh' category. We know how unreliable Kugel has been, don't know if he tranfers or if we want him to. Aleks never really played, so hard to gauge his situation other than being one more big in rotation if he's healthy...but we don't know how good he'd be. The rest are so far down the bench, we wouldn't know if they transferred or not. My point here is we have a really good core, need to have 3-4 more step up (either emerge from the bench or be replaced by transfers coming in) and we will turn the corner from desperation to maintaining a solid program.

 

[RiverRat]

Really hard game wed. Might be a short lived stay in the top 25 but this team is slowly putting it together, fun to watch………most of the time.

 

[abefroman]

 

[Pablos Tunnel]

We're getting better. If we lose one in the tournament so be it. I don't expect we'll go far. This team is fun to watch. It's late in the season and we're getting better. Can't ask for much more than that at this time considering where we started. Hats off to Todd Golden and his Gators.

This^

This team may spoil somebody’s March.

 

[Double Gator Dad]

Looking at our seniors:

Bennett Andersen 22 G 6' 2" 190 lbs SR Tampa, FL
EJ Jarvis 15 F 6' 8" 240 lbs SR Washington, DC
Alex Klatsky 12 G 6' 4" 206 lbs SR Colts Neck, NJ
Zyon Pullin 0 G 6' 4" 206 lbs SR Pleasant Hill, CA
Julian Rishwain 23 G 6' 5" 200 lbs SR Los Angeles, CA
Tyrese Samuel 4 F 6' 10" 239 lbs SR Montreal, Canada

Samuel did well for us this season, showed the other bigs what they need to do succeed, and we have enough of them to where we are stocked with good bigs. Zyon will be very hard to replace. Clayton Jr plays the guard with him, but I think Clayton is more comfortable at the 2...I don't see a solid backfill for Pullin on the roster. The only other name I recognize is Klatsky, who is what he is. This is all to say, Tyrese we can replace, Zyon will be much harder, other than that we're alright on graduating seniors.

With the rest of the roster:

Alex Condon 21 F 6' 11" 230 lbs FR Perth, Australia
Thomas Haugh 10 F 6' 9" 210 lbs FR New Oxford, PA
Cooper Josefsberg 33 G 6' 4" 195 lbs FR Miami, FL
Kajus Kublickas 30 G 6' 2" 171 lbs FR Kaunas, Lithuania
Denzel Aberdeen 11 G 6' 5" 190 lbs SO Orlando, FL
Micah Handlogten 3 C 7' 1" 235 lbs SO Lake Norman, NC
Riley Kugel 2 G 6' 5" 207 lbs SO Orlando, FL
Aleks Szymczyk 13 F 6' 10" 250 lbs SO Frankfurt, Germany
Walter Clayton Jr. 1 G 6' 2" 195 lbs JR Lake Wales, FL
Jack May 20 G 6' 4" 195 lbs JR Boca Raton, FL
Will Richard 5 G 6' 4" 206 lbs JR Fairburn, GA

Clayton, Handlogten, Haugh, and Condon are solid returners - can't see any of them transferring. I have Kugel and Zzymczyk in the 'meh' category. We know how unreliable Kugel has been, don't know if he tranfers or if we want him to. Aleks never really played, so hard to gauge his situation other than being one more big in rotation if he's healthy...but we don't know how good he'd be. The rest are so far down the bench, we wouldn't know if they transferred or not. My point here is we have a really good core, need to have 3-4 more step up (either emerge from the bench or be replaced by transfers coming in) and we will turn the corner from desperation to maintaining a solid program.

FTR, EJ Jarvis quit basketball about a month before the season started so I don’t think he’s a loss next year.
Samuels and Pullin are the only meaningful seniors but these days everyone on the roster could depart so there’s no telling what the team will look like next season.