Florida basketball got some grim news on Wednesday afternoon when a report surfaced that freshman [autotag]Kowacie Reeves[/autotag] intends to enter the NCAA transfer portal. Many had hoped the former top-30 prospect would stick around for the Todd Golden era in Gainesville, but according to Travis Branham at 247Sports, it looks like that is no longer a sure thing.
The 6-foot-6-inch, 182-pound guard started 10 of the 29 games he played in for the Gators last season, averaging 5.5 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.4 assists in 15.5 minutes per game. He started off slowly as former head coach [autotag]Mike White[/autotag] eased him into his rotations, but after an early adjustment period, Reeves started eight-straight games during the heart of the SEC schedule. He subsequently returned to the bench until the NIT, in which he started both games once again.
Reeves’ peak moment was the Texas A&M matchup in the SEC Tournament, in which he tossed in 21 points in 29 minutes, going 3-for-7 from beyond the arc and 6-for-11 overall, with six rebounds, a steal and an assist in the losing effort. His second-best scoring output for the season is a four-way tie between four games in which he dropped 14 points apiece.
While his entry into the transfer portal is not a guaranteed sayonara to one of Florida’s rising stars it certainly makes Reeves’ return pretty unlikely. Hopefully, Golden (and The Gator Collective?) can help draw him back into the arms of the Orange and Blue before next November.
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