Chiozza is best-known for his game-winning shot to defeat the Wisconsin Badgers and advance to the Elite Eight of the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
Chris Chiozza (2014-2018) – Point Guard
Chris Chiozza is best-known for his game-winning running three-point shot to defeat the Wisconsin Badgers and advance to the Elite Eight of the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
Following a trend seen in previous parts of this best-player bracket, Chiozza is originally from Tennessee — Memphis, specifically — where he attended White Station High School while also playing on the Team Thad AAU squad. Averaging 15 points and eight assists per game as a senior, Chiozza was ranked No. 45 in his class by Rivals.com and received scholarship offers from numerous Division I programs before committing to Florida in 2014.
Billy Donovan was still at the helm when Chiozza chose UF, though the diminutive guard only played one season under the storied head coach. He had just missed the 2013-14 season in which the Gators went 36-3 en route to a Final Four loss to UConn, though he would taste similar glory before his Gator days were over.
Chiozza played primarily as a reserve his freshman campaign, starting 11 of 33 games while scoring 3.9 points along with 2.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals in 22.8 minutes per game. His game bumped up with the arrival of head coach Mike White, seeing an overall increase in production by averaging 7.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.1 steals while starting 22 of 36 games his sophomore season.
The young point guard’s production remained steady through his junior year despite playing off the bench exclusively in a reserve role. However, he entered the annals of Gators lore with his aforementioned game-winning shot in the NCAA Tournament in 2017, cementing his legacy in the Orange and Blue.
Chiozza took his game to the next level his senior season, further adding to his collegiate accolades by breaking Erving Walker’s Florida career assists record while also leading the SEC with a 3.22 assist-to-turnover ratio. He put up a stat line of 11.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.9 steals during his final year in Gainesville while starting 32 of 34 games, earning him First Team All-SEC honors and an invitation to the 2018 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.
Despite his accomplishments, Chiozza went undrafted in 2018 but joined the Washington Wizards for the NBA Summer League and the team’s training camp before being released before the season began; he then joined the Wizards’ G League team for the remainder of the year.
The 2018-19 season saw a turn of events for the better, with Chiozza starting the season on a 10-day contract with the Houston Rockets. Though he did not play any games for Houston that time around, he joined its G League affiliate before signing an NBA contract and finishing the year with the Rockets, appearing in seven games.
After finishing off his contract in Texas, Chiozza signed with the Wizards again, this time on a two-way contract between the G League and the NBA. He played 10 games in D.C. before Washington waived him in December of 2019. The Brooklyn Nets signed him just after the New Year on a two-way contract, where he appeared in 11 games and still remains on the active NBA roster.
So far in his brief professional career, Chiozza has averaged 3.2 points, 1.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 0.6 steals in 28 games played with three different teams. In his last appearance before the coronavirus shutdown, he scored 11 points, dished out five assists and grabbed one rebound in 17 minutes of playing time against the Los Angeles Lakers. It appears that things continue to trend upwards for the former Gators point guard.
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