Tag: Tuongthach Gatkek

Former Gator Tyree Appleby headed to Wake Forest for final season

Transfer guard Tyree Appleby has found a new home through the transfer portal.

Two days after graduating from the University of Florida, transfer guard [autotag]Tyree Appleby[/autotag] has found his new home for the 2022-23 season. According to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, Appleby is headed to Wake Forest to close out his college career.

This is the second transfer of Appleby’s career, the first coming in 2019 when he arrived at Florida from Cleveland State. He’s served as the team’s starting point guard at several points while in Gainesville and averaged 10.9 points and 3.7 assists per game in 2021-22. He likes to take the three-point shot and has hit them at a 35.5% clip over his career. Perhaps his most memorable moment in the Orange and Blue came on a deep buzz-beater to beat Ohio State in Fort Myers last November.

The Demon Deacons are adding an experienced and gritty leader after a season where they finished 25-10 and as a No. 2 seed in the NIT. The hope is that Appleby can help get them to that NCAA Tournament berth. Wake Forest also brought on Delaware’s Andrew Carr and Marist’s Jao Ituka through the portal.

Florida still has three players in the transfer portal, [autotag]Keyontae Johnson[/autotag], [autotag]Elijah Kennedy[/autotag] and [autotag]Tuongthach Gatkek[/autotag]. None are expected to return which leaves first-year head coach [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] with three open scholarship spots on the roster.

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Todd Golden lands first transfer commitment as Florida’s head coach

Todd Golden got his guy. Welcome to the Swamp, Will Richard!

Former Belmont guard [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] announced his commitment to the Florida Gators on Saturday.

Richard becomes the first player to commit to new head coach [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] after picking the Gators over Clemson, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest. As a freshman, Richard started 30 of 33 games averaging 12.1 points and 6 rebounds per game. His best scoring performance (22 points) came in an NIT loss to Vanderbilt.

The 6-foot-5-inch, 195-pounder entered the portal on March 22 and Golden immediately got to work. The two spoke daily until Richard finally made it to campus on April 7, and the decision came shortly after that trip.

Richard’s commitment comes on the heels of [autotag]Tyree Appleby[/autotag]’s decision to transfer from UF for his final year of eligibility. [autotag]Tuongthach Gatkek[/autotag] also hit the portal and [autotag]Anthony Duruji[/autotag] declared for the NBA draft. Golden is still working on getting [autotag]Colin Castelton[/autotag] to return, but Florida needs help from the transfer portal to turn things around.

Landing Richards is a good start. He’s one of the more productive names in the portal and figures to be the primary ball-handler for the Gators next season. Pairing him with [autotag]Kowacie Reeves[/autotag] would give Golden a talented duo in the backcourt to work with.

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Report: Florida basketball forward Tuongthach Gatkek enters NCAA transfer portal

Florida basketball forward Tuongthach Gatkek joined guard Tyree Appleby in the NCAA transfer portal on Thursday.

Florida men’s basketball lost another player from last season’s roster on Thursday. On3’s Matt Zenitz reported that forward [autotag]Tuongthach Gatkek[/autotag] entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal. He’s the third departure the program has suffered this offseason. Guard [autotag]Tyree Appleby[/autotag] submitted his name to the portal on Monday and [autotag]Anthony Duruji[/autotag] declared for the NBA draft, forgoing his fifth year of eligibility.

Gatkek was a late addition to the 2021-22 roster. Florida added him in mid-August after one year at Trinity Valley Community College in Texas. He played in 21 games mainly due to the time starting center Colin Castleton missed this season.

Coming into the season, Gatkek was a redshirt candidate because of how late he arrived on campus. He quickly carved out a role for himself as Florida lacked depth in the frontcourt.

New head coach [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] has his work cut out for him as he tries to retool the roster for next season. Florida has already made contact with several players in the transfer portal and should stay active throughout the spring and summer.

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JUCO transfer Tuongthach Gatkek looking to break into rotation in 2021-22

After one year of JUCO ball, forward Tuongthach Gatkek is working his way into the Gators rotation.

Name: Tuongthach Gatkek

Number: 32

Position: Center

Class: Sophomore

Height: 6’9”

Weight: 172 lbs

Hometown: Portland, Maine

High School: Caprock High School (Texas)

2020-21 Stats:

GP MIN FG% 3P% FT% REB AST BLK STL PF TO PTS
25 6.2 66.3 20.0 42.4 6.9 0.8 2.2 0.8 0.8 0.8 9.7

Overview: 

Tuongthach Gatkek was one of the stars of the 2020-21 Trinity Valley Community College basketball team. He averaged 9.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game last year for the Cardinals (23-3) before transferring to Florida.

Gatkek earned All-Region Honors as a freshman and had 19 points in his final game with TVCC, a second-round exit in the NJCAA Tournament. His season-high of 23 points came against Tyler Junior College in March. If anything, Gatkek was only getting better as the season went on.

Florida’s frontcourt is fairly busy with Colin Castleton, CJ Felder, Jason Jitoboh in the mix, but Gatkek could see decent minutes in the more lopsided Gator victories. He’ll have to get a bit more size to compete at this level consistently, but the defensive instinct is there to build on.

With some development, Gatkek could end up seeing more minutes down the road. Many of the starters are set to graduate or move on, leaving the door wide open for the JUCO transfer.

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Florida basketball signs JUCO transfer to bolster front court

The Gators have a very different men’s basketball team than they did last year. Tuongthach Gatkek is the latest addition.

Tuongthach Gatkek, who goes by Tuon, is the latest new face to join the Florida men’s basketball team.

The 6-foot-9-inch, 175-pound forward announced his commitment on Tuesday and the school confirmed his addition to the team on Friday. Gatkek played for Trinity Valley Community College last year and finished the season 23-3. He averaged 9.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game.

Gatkek will play behind Colin Castleton and C.J. Felder, the latter of whom also transferred to the team this year. It wouldn’t be crazy for him to receive a redshirt either. In fact, giving Gatek a year to add muscle to his long frame may be the best possible option in terms of development. Florida will have to be careful though s last year’s JUCO transfer, Osayi Osifo, transferred to Jacksonville University after not playing sparsely.

Florida now has five new transfers on the team: Myreon Jones (Penn State), Phlandrous Fleming (Charleston Southern), guard Brandon McKissic (UMKC) and Felder (Boston College). Castleton is also a former transfer, coming over from Michigan prior to last season.

The Gators start the 2021-22 season on Nov. 9 against Elon.

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