If the Gators wanted to be a competitive team next season, they absolutely had to get it right in the transfer portal. With only one spot left open, it looks like they nailed it. Head coach Mike White has done well to get the guys he wants in the transfer market in previous seasons, and he seems to have pulled it off again, pushing hard for his guys and getting most of them.
One of the Gators’ newly committed players – senior guard Myreon Jones –even cracked 247Sports’ list of the 20 biggest commitments (so far) of the college basketball transfer portal. Jones was courted by most of the teams in the south both as a recruit and as a transfer, but Florida was able to seal the deal with him and will likely deploy him as a starter. That was enough to get him a cameo, ranked at the 19th spot on the list.
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“An explosive scorer, his offense will be needed in Gainesville,” commented 247Sports’ Eric Bossi. “Improving on his efficiency and being a little more consistent with the jumper will be key.”
Jones was billed as a high-end three-star recruit coming out of high school and 247Sports’ own player page listed him as a combo guard. The Nittany Lions used him first as a shooting guard before attempting to flex him into more of a point guard role by the end of his career at Penn State. However, that was more due to the needs of the program than his skills as a ballhandler or offensive facilitator.
He could take over ball handling duties while Tyree Appleby is off the floor, but he is unlikely to unseat the incumbent point guard. Regardless, he raises the potential for Florida to have some considerable offensive firepower by a significant degree. His shooting can be streaky, but he’s exciting when he’s on his game.
As the primary weapon at Penn State, he scored 15.3 points per game while shooting 39.5% from deep last season. Those numbers are expected to decline a little against stiffer SEC defenses, but the skills that allowed him to be a killer in the B1G are all still there. If he gets hot at the right time, he’d be high on the take charge during a Florida postseason run.
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