Last week wasn’t a good one for Mike White and his Florida Gators basketball team, losing Tre Mann to the NBA Draft, Colin Castleton testing the draft waters and three others transferring elsewhere.
Now, White and his program have seen another player enter the transfer portal.
Per 247Sports, Florida forward Omar Payne entered the transfer portal on Tuesday morning, becoming the fourth Gators player to do so this year. The move comes just over a week since the Gators’ lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and now some roster re-construction is at the forefront for White and his staff.
But what’s interesting about Payne is that Swamp247 is reporting that he was one of five players that told White last week he’s planning on returning for another season:
A report from a Florida team reporter on Thursday indicated that Payne was one of five players who had told coach Mike White he would return for the 2021-22 season. Players who enter the NCAA transfer portal can still return to their current program, but it allows other schools to contact the player about a transfer.
As a sophomore, Payne averaged 3.8 points and 3.2 rebounds per game for the Gators while playing in 15.7 minutes per game.
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