GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — New Florida coach Todd Golden doesn’t have a rebuild on his palms. It’s extra like a puzzle.
Golden, who changed Mike White in March after three years at San Francisco, appears like he has all of the items in place to be aggressive in his first season in Gainesville. It’s simply attempting learn how to suit them collectively.
It might take time. But Golden is pondering weeks, possibly months — not years.
He believes he has sufficient expertise and expertise to get the Gators again to the NCAA Tournament after a one-year absence and doubtlessly make them a reliable contender within the Southeastern Conference, one thing White did not do with any regularity throughout his seven-year tenure.
“This team has the makings of an NCAA Tournament team, so that will be a simple barometer that we can use once we get to March to see if we’ve had a successful season or not,” Golden stated.
Florida made the event 4 occasions below White however did not get previous the opening weekend in three of these. White’s defense-first method left gamers and followers wanting extra — and created a possibility for Golden to alter the narrative rapidly at a program longing to recapture its glory days that weren’t that way back.
It ought to assist that Golden is beginning out with among the finest massive males within the league, possibly even the nation, and a dynamic level guard. Forward Colin Castleton, a first-team preseason All-SEC choice, is again after lacking a part of final season with a separated left shoulder.
Castleton is certainly one of three fifth-year seniors on Golden’s roster, becoming a member of taking pictures guard Myreon Jones and level guard Kyle Lofton. Jones, a former Penn State switch, is in search of higher leads to his second season with the Gators. Lofton is a graduate switch from St. Bonaventure who averaged 12.8 factors and 5.9 assists in 2021-22.
Former Belmont guard Will Richard, former LSU ahead Alex Fudge and former Virginia Military Institute guard Trey Bonham ought to spherical out the highest of Golden’s rotation. Returners CJ Felder, Kowacie Reeves, Niels Lane and Jason Jitoboh and freshmen Riley Kugel, Denzel Aberdeen and Aleks Szymczyk are also within the combine.
“We’ve got to figure out which guys play best with each other,” Golden stated. “We obviously have a lot of talent on the wing so we have to sort out some stuff there. But the good thing is all these guys bring different things to the table. I think they’re all different strengths. If we, as a coaching staff, can manipulate that well, we’ll be in good shape.”
JITOBOH’S JOURNEY
Jitoboh expects to have his imaginative and prescient absolutely restored following yet another process. The 6-foot-11, 300-pound heart misplaced sight in a single eye for eight months after Tennessee’s Uros Plavsic unintentionally poked him with a finger throughout a sport in late January. Jitoboh sustained retina injury and a indifferent muscle, which managed horizontal eye motion. He already has undergone 4 surgical procedures and needed to be face down roughly 20 hours a day for 3 months.
“It’s definitely been a long process,” Jitoboh stated. “The whole year has been long. I’ve been going through this eight, nine months now. It’s a lot of patience, a lot of perseverance, a lot of hard work to get to where I’m at right now. Still got a long way to go, but I like where I’m at right now.”
CASTLETON’S RETURN
Castleton averaged 16.2 factors, 9 rebounds and greater than two blocks a sport earlier than injuring his shoulder in apply in January. He blocked eight pictures in his final sport earlier than the harm and simply 18 over the ultimate 12 video games after he returned.
Rehabbing the harm in all probability prevented him from turning professional and led him again to Florida, the place he’s developed a long-range shot that ought to make him even more durable to defend.
“Offensively, he can’t be stopped,” teammate Bonham stated. “He can get to wherever he wants. And, offensively, now he’s got a 3 to his game, so he’s going to be a problem this year for sure.”
___
More AP school basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25