The Gators may have just struck again in their quest to rebuild the roster, as they were named a finalist for this experienced guard.
The Gators have one roster spot left to fill, and they’re zeroing in on the final building block for next season. Former Utah shooting guard Alfonso Plummer entered the transfer portal following the conclusion of the Utes’ season and has narrowed the list to five teams, including Florida.
Plummer, who wasn’t considered an impact recruit as a high schooler, has certainly done his boys proud during his two years at Utah. Last season, he put up 13.6 points per game and was one of the most efficient shooters in the country.
While Plummer was an adept performer at nearly everything Utah asked him to do last season, he particularly shined in the areas where Florida head coach Mike White likes to deploy his guards. He was above average as a ball handler in the pick and roll, but that’s not where he thrives. He’s a real breadwinner taking jump shots, and he turned in an impressive mark of 1.153 points per possession on spot ups.
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That number gets even more impressive in unguarded catch and shoot situations, where he was nearly automatic. His colossal rate of 1.647 points per possession was bested by only 4% of players who took at least ten shots in an unguarded catch-and-shoot situation. White routinely orchestrated such situations for the now-departed Noah Locke and Plummer could profit from similar usages in the Florida system.
Of course, those numbers would be expected to decline after a move from the Pac-12 to the SEC, but they’re certainly exciting to dream on.
Despite his exciting efficiency numbers, there are problems with a potential marriage between the Gators and the Puerto Rican guard. For one thing, Plummer is basically redundant on the Florida roster. They’re stacked with shooting guards, and truthfully, the backcourt piece they’re missing is a backup point guard to take some of the burden off Tyree Appleby‘s shoulders.
In order for the Gators to bring Plummer onboard, they’d have to take a gamble on the ball-handling ability of someone who has, in the past, been best suited as a shooting guard. There’s reason to believe that any of Brandon McKissic, Myreon Jones, or Niels Lane could handle those responsibilities to a certain extent, but the Gators would be taking a real risk.
Additionally, as a defender, Plummer was really exposed in the pick and roll, where he was only in the 35th percentile while up against worse competition than what he’ll be facing in the SEC.
Finally, while the Gators don’t mind taking on smaller guards, bringing the 6-foot-2-inch Plummer into the fold would make the Gators a remarkably small team. It would be tough to find minutes where he isn’t playing alongside at least one, if not two, of Appleby, McKissic, and Jones, all of whom are 6-foot-3-inch players or shorter. It doesn’t take a brilliant basketball mind to see that things could get a little tricky against larger teams.
Despite all of that, Plummer is exactly the kind of guard White loves to use and would fit beautifully into the Gators’ offense if they can find minutes for him. With three years of eligibility remaining, it’s easy to envision him becoming a long-term component of the Florida program.
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