Elijah Kennedy seeing key reps as a true freshman

Kennedy has a tough path to the court on a deep squad, but the true freshman is still making a moderate impact off the bench.

Name: Elijah Kennedy

Number: 10

Position: Guard

Class: High School Recruit

Height: 6’3″

Weight: 185 lbs

Hometown: Virginia Beach, Virginia

High School: Green Run

Twitter: @eligotnext

Overview:

A three-star recruit from Virginia Beach, the same area that gave the Gators Keyontae Johnson, Kennedy was a late addition to the 2021 class, which only had eventual five-star recruit Kowacie Reeves committed for most of the cycle. He was ranked as the No. 161 overall player in the recruiting class.

Kennedy suffered a knee injury during his junior season in 2019, and it severely impacted his recruiting. He told The Virginian-Pilot when he signed with the Gators on Aug. 2 that the way Florida handled Keyontae Johnson‘s collapse, from which he still hasn’t been cleared to play, was one of the things that made his Florida offer so attractive.

“One thing that made me feel comfortable was with everything Keyontae has been through, the school is still helping him out,” Harris said. “(Kennedy) will feel comfortable with him being there with another 757 guy.”

Kennedy wasn’t necessarily expected to make much of an impact this season, but given his ability to succeed on both ends of the court, he’s actually seen a good bit of reserve action this season. He’s appeared in every game, seeing a season-high nine minutes in the win over California. He scored three points in the wins over the Golden Bears and the Seminoles, which marks his career-high. However, he’s shooting just 3 of 10 on the season and hasn’t been very impactful on the defensive end or in passing the ball so far.

Still, he’s contributing more than many expected from the three-star and the Gators will hope to see him continue to develop as the season goes on.

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