Tag: Tyrese Samuel

Graduate transfer Tyrese Samuel named to AP All-SEC team

Samuel is the only Gator among the AP’s two team tiers.

The regular-season accolades are beginning to pile up now that the 2023-24 campaign is in the books, though there is plenty of basketball remaining with the March Madness currently kicking in.

On Tuesday, Florida’s graduate transfer frontcourt player [autotag]Tyrese Samuel[/autotag] was named to the Associated Press All-SEC Second Team, representing the only Gator among the two team tiers; he also received votes as the top newcomer.

Tennessee Volunteers guard Dalton Knecht took home both the AP SEC Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year awards — the former a unanimous decision — in addition to a first-team mention.

Samuel averaged 13.8 points while starting in all 31 games, leading the team with 7.5 rebounds per game and 36 steals. He recorded 10 double-doubles this season, a mark that only Gators greats Al Horford, David Lee and Udonis Haslem surpassed back in the 2000s.

The graduate transfer earned SEC Player of the Week honors and NIT Tip-Off All-Tournament Team honors back in November, thanks in large part to 20 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocked shots effort against the Pitt Panthers.

The Gators starter leads the SEC in field goal percentage (.573) and ranks third in offensive rebounds (2.97), fourth in rebounds (7.52), ninth in defensive rebounds (4.55) and 11th in blocked shots (1.06) as the regular-season comes to a close.

Samuel joins Zyon Pullin and Walter Clayton Jr. as All-SEC honorees who got their call from the coaches on Monday. Alex Condon — part of UF’s frontcourt rotation alongside Samuel — also earned SEC All-Freshman honors Monday.

Florida is a No. 6 seed in the SEC Tournament, giving it a first-round bye and matching the Gators up with the winner of Game 2 on Thursday, March 14, inside Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Tipoff is slated for a late 9:30 p.m. ET start on the SEC Network.

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Trio of Gators talk Alabama win in postgame scrum

It has been an epic turnaround for Florida basketball since mid-January when many were worried that the Gators would stumble to another NCAA Tournament-less campaign. However, Todd Golden’s team had other plans, running off a streak of 10 wins in 13 …

It has been an epic turnaround for Florida basketball since mid-January when many were worried that the Gators would stumble to another NCAA Tournament-less campaign. However, Todd Golden’s team had other plans, running off a streak of 10 wins in 13 tries — including a blowout of the Alabama Crimson Tide inside the O’Connell Center on Tuesday, 105-87.

Florida got a balanced performance from its lineup with five players finishing with double-digit points, led by Will Richard’s 23 along with five rebounds and two steals. Walter Clayton Jr. (22), Zyon Pullin (19), Tyrese Samuel (19) and Alex Condon (10) also finished in double digits for the Orange and Blue.

After the game, a triumvirate of top Florida performers spoke with the sports media to give their respective takes on the monumental victory. Here is what Richard, Clayton and Samuel had to offer in the postgame scrum.

RICHARD: “Start off by thanking the student section, I mean, it was special in there today. Not even just the students but everybody else in there, so want to start off by thanking them and showing that amount of support.” 

SAMUEL: “Yes sir, best crowd in the country. They came out every game, homecourt advantage, we won, what, 14? 14-1? At home, that says a lot, so thank you to everyone that always come out to these games.”

CLAYTON: “Appreciate y’all.”

I think it mean a lot. You know, obviously being at home, you want to play your best, and I think that just shows us, it shows ourselves what we’re capable of. I feel like we did our job, a lot of people did their job on defense tonight, you know, that’s a great offensive team so felt like we did a great job on that end of the floor, and that just like, we need to be able to take that on the road with us, showing ourselves we’re capable of that at home and being able to do that on the road.

Yeah it was definitely important, I mean last time we played we were up and they hit some key threes that got them back in the game, so we knew to limit their threes would benefit us down the road.

Well, it was my second one, obviously, I’ve been here for one year but I felt the love going out there. I’m happy that I came to Florida, I feel embraced, and yeah like I’m just appreciative of being here, and I can’t really say much else.

It means a lot, because I don’t think I’ve ever won on Senior Night all my four years. Actually, that’s a lie. Senior Night’s always an emotional night, so people get caught up in their feelings, but we won today so that’s all that matters.

Very important, we were minus-10 on the glass at their place, so blocking out, Coach definitely made that an emphasis. Detain your man and get rebounds.

Big momentum changer. We got to go out there on Saturday and play a good Vandy team, beat them and then it’ll give us even more momentum going into the SEC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament as well.

I think we as a team, me included, we need to be better at just bringing the home energy to other people’s places. I think that’s a big part of, you know, we feed off the energy here from all our fans. So whenever we go on the road and we don’t have that many fans, we need to create our own energy, feed off that.

I don’t think we let ourselves off the hook. I feel like we can get lazy once we get up on a team, so for us it was just staying disciplined, everybody staying on their assignments, stuff like that, rebounding, finishing possessions, and just keep doing what we do on offense.

It’s great, they play hard every day. Every game it shows that they be going on the glass, they have like 10 rebounds amongst each other every game, even if they don’t play that much, they rebound hard. It helped us, it helped us, because I only had like four whatever the case is, so having them do that is great.

Very, very close. We go out to eat a lot, we do a lot of things together, so we are very selfless, so, yeah we’re really close.

RICHARD: “I agree with everything he just said.” 

SAMUEL: “Oh yeah, most definitely. I feel like that’s one of the main points of our team, that we can’t finish out games, but today showed that we’re able to, and we’ve got to just continue with that trend.” 

CLAYTON: “Kind of what he said, it’s definitely not a good feeling letting a team come back on you, so kind of like Will said, I think it’s a mental standpoint for us, you know, we’ve just got to be mentally tough. Go up 10, wherever you’re playing at and just keep your foot on the gas, you can’t let up.”

Yeah, oh for sure, you can definitely tell it’s a different energy with this team, this environment and everything. That was one of the reasons I came here, to help get Florida back to where it was, and we’re doing the right thing, so.

For sure. I think every young athlete wants to play in front of a crowd like this and win by that much, so it’s definitely huge.

CLAYTON: “It definitely shows we came a long way. ‘Rese, great job from the free-throw line.”

SAMUEL: “Hey man I appreciate you guys, man I appreciate you guys man.” 

CLAYTON: “Nah you know, I know we had some free throw issues at the beginning of the year, even me myself included, I was missing some free throws, so just in that area, and like I said, defensively, I think we did a good job tonight just following the gameplan, everybody doing their assignments, so I think we definitely showed a lot of growth.” 

Florida wraps up its regular-season schedule on Saturday, March 9, in Nashville as the Gators travel for a rematch with the Vanderbilt Commodores. Tipoff is slated for 4:30 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

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Trio of Gators discuss Vanderbilt home win on Saturday

Walter Clayton Jr., Tyrese Samuel and Will Richard spoke to the press following Saturday’s win.

The Vanderbilt Commodores paid a visit to the O’Connell Center on Saturday afternoon for a tangle with the Florida Gators as the Southeastern Conference schedule continues. Favored heavily coming into the game, Todd Golden’s team had little trouble handling their visitors, resulting in a 77-64 win.

[autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] paced the Orange and Blue with 21 points along with four rebounds, three assists and two steals. [autotag]Walter Clayton Jr[/autotag]. (19) and [autotag]Tyrese Samuel[/autotag] (15) were the others to crack the double-digit barrier.

The trio met up with the press scrum after the game to give their respective takes on Saturday’s win. Take a look below at what they had to say.

Trio of top Gators discuss victory over LSU Tigers on Tuesday night

Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr., Alex Condon and Tyrese Samuel spoke to the media after Tuesday night’s game.

The late-game woes continued for Florida basketball on Tuesday night, but fortunately, the Gators still prevailed with an 82-80 victory over the LSU Tigers inside the O’Connell Center. However, the team’s propensity for last-minute collapses has everyone at least a little bit concerned.

Even in the blowout over the Auburn Tigers, Todd Golden’s gang found a way to shave off half of its lead before the final horn. Had it not been for a game-closing disintegration against the Texas A&M Aggies, Florida would be riding a seven-game winning streak.

Nonetheless, results are results and the Gators are now 17-7 overall with a 7-4 mark in Southeastern Conference play. Three of the team’s top players — [autotag]Walter Clayton Jr[/autotag]., [autotag]Alex Condon[/autotag] and [autotag]Tyrese Samuel[/autotag] — spoke with the media following the game; here is what they had to offer.

This transfer portal player benefitting from his move to Florida

This Florida front court player is getting a boost from his move to Gainesville.

Florida basketball had to practically rebuild its roster from scratch this past offseason, relying on the NCAA transfer portal for reinforcements ahead of the 2023-24 campaign.

While the new crew has provided plenty of production for the Gators, one player has stood out from the rest, according to ESPN’s Ari Wasserman. That is forward [autotag]Tyrese Samuel[/autotag], who has been a beast in the paint for the Orange and Blue this season.

“Samuel was a consistent piece at Seton Hall for four seasons but is seeing the biggest role of his career in Gainesville, and his production has risen across the board,” Borzello notes. “He’s now averaging 13.3 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.0 blocks and is shooting 57.7% from the field — all career highs.”

While Samuel has been a significant addition to the, the 6-foot-10-inch, 239-pound frontcourt bruiser’s free-throw shooting still leaves a tremendous amount to be desired. While Florida is among the best at getting to the charity stripe, the graduate student has made just 56 of 102 attempts, which works out to a 54.9% clip from the line.

Guards Zyon Pullin and Walter Clayton both earned an honorable mention on this list.

The Gators will return home to host Auburn inside the O’Connell Center on Saturday, Feb. 10. Tipoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

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Trio of Gators talk about home win over Mississippi State Bulldogs

The Gators returned home after a short road swing in which they split the two games to defend the O’Connell Center court against the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Wednesday night. Florida came away with a 79-70 victory that improved the Orange and …

The Gators returned home after a short road swing in which they split the two games to defend the O’Connell Center court against the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Wednesday night. Florida came away with a 79-70 victory that improved the Orange and Blue to 13-6 overall and 3-3 in Southeastern Conference competition.

It was a game that Todd Golden’s team controlled for a majority of the game, but a late letdown allowed the opponent to make things interesting in the final minutes. Nonetheless, the Gators emerged victorious thanks in large part to guard [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag]’s career night, along with contributions from fellow guard [autotag]Zyon Pullin[/autotag] and forward/center [autotag]Tyrese Samuels[/autotag].

The three spoke with the media after the win, detailing their thoughts on Florida’s third SEC win. Take a look below at what they had to offer.

Florida basketball stars talk about win over Arkansas

After crushing Arkansas for their first conference win of the season, Florida’s stars talked about what needs to happen next.

Florida basketball picked up its first conference win of the season on Saturday over Arkansas.

After the victory, guards [autotag]Riley Kugel[/autotag] and [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] and forward [autotag]Tyrese Samuel[/autotag] spoke to the media. Kugel led all scorers with 20 points off the bench, adding five rebounds, two steals and a block to his stat line. It’s unclear when and if Kugel will return to the starting lineup, but this is a clear improvement from where things were headed.

Meanwhile, Samuel dominated the low post, scoring 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting (1-of-3 from deep) and grabbing 11 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. Richard scored 13 points and has been a key piece of the offense for over a month.

Here’s what they said after the 22-point win.

Florida F Tyrese Samuel earns SEC Player of the Week honors

Forward Tyrese Samuel has made an immediate impact at Florida since transferring from Seton Hall, and now he’s the SEC Player of the Week.

Florida basketball lost center Micah Handlogten to injury this week, but transfer forward [autotag]Tyrese Samuel[/autotag] stepped up in a big way for the Gators, earning Player of the Week honors from the SEC office.

Samuel averaged 19 points, eight rebounds, 2.5 steals and 1.5 blocks against Bayor and Pitt this week at the NIT Season Tip-Off in New York. He was named to the All-Tournament team and posted the SEC’s first 20/10/3/3/3 stat line in more than seven years.

That’s exactly the kind of impact Todd Golden hoped Samuel would make when he plucked him from the transfer portal. A four-year player at Seton Hall, Samuel was looking for a bigger stage to show off his talent, and Florida needed big men to replace Colin Castleton and Alex Fudge.

So far, so good. Samuel shouldn’t have to do so much heavy lifting once Handlogten returns, but it is good to know he’s capable of holding down the frontcourt without another major threat in rotation.

The Gators are on the road this week at Wake Forest. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. ET on Wednesday. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.

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Todd Golden is building the future of Florida Gators basketball

Todd Golden is building the future of Florida Gators basketball

Florida Gators basketball head coach [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] is entering his second year leading the Orange and Blue on the hardwood.

The Gators finished with a subpar 16-17 record last season and an early exit in the National Invitational Tournament at the hands of the UCF Knights, 67-49.

Golden is drinking with a glass-half-full perspective for this season and wants to build off last year.

“Yeah, obviously Year 1, a great experience,” Golden said. “We didn’t finish the way we wanted to, but we had some really good moments. I thought toward the middle of conference play we kind of figured ourselves out.”

The Gators were 6-2 in conference play until leading scorer Colin Castleton broke his right hand during a contest against the Ole Miss Rebels.

“We just didn’t have enough behind (Castleton) to weather that storm,” Golden said.

Golden will look to weather the storm and ride the lightning this year by bringing in fresh faces, utilizing the transfer portal. The second-year coach is welcoming five transfers to the 2023 squad, including graduate power forward Tyrese Samuel.

“We knew we needed to replace a lot of production as (Castleton) left our program and I feel like we did a really good job of getting a balance in the frontcourt and the backcourt,” Golden said. “Starting with Tyrese Samuel, who averaged double figures and did a really good job at Seton Hall last year.”

Golden is looking forward to the performances of incoming center Micah Handlogten from Marshall and point guard Zyon Pullin from UC Riverside.

“Those guys can all really help us in different ways,” Golden said. “And to get guys who have performed and been efficient and done well at their previous stops should help us this coming year.”

The former San Francisco coach thinks retaining players each season is vital to a program’s long-term success, and the Gators faced the challenge of rebuilding after losing a number of pieces.

“I think the key to that also is you have to get your program to a spot where you want to retain everybody and make sure those guys are on board with what you’re doing,” Golden said. “But I look at our program going from last year to this year, we did not have a lot of retention but we did highlight and find a handful of guys we thought were great fits for our program to take the next step.”

Golden added the team is welcoming back nine players from last year, and he wants to use them as the pillars for the future of Florida Gators basketball program. The chemistry between players will be vital to separating the team from the others.

The process will be tested when the Florida Gators open the season at the O’Connell Center on Nov. 6 against the Loyola Greyhounds. The game will tip off at 8 p.m. EST and air on SEC Network+.

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Gators add fourth transfer to men’s basketball team

Welcome to the Swamp, Tyrese Samuel! The former Seton Hall big man is headed to the Swamp for fifth and final year of collegiate eligibility.

After adding a pair of transfer players to the roster earlier in the week, the Florida men’s basketball team added former Seton Hall forward to [autotag]Tyrese Samuel[/autotag] on Sunday.

Samuel is a fifth-year player that saw success in 2022-23 after breaking into the starting rotation as a senior. The 6-foot-10-inch, 235-pound big man averaged 11 points and 4.3 rebounds per game last season and should be a key piece of Florida’s frontcourt rotation in 2023-24.

The Gators have also added forward [autotag]EJ Jarvis[/autotag], center [autotag]Micah Handlogten[/autotag] and guard [autotag]Walter Clayton Jr[/autotag]., who should all compete for significant minutes if not starting spots on the team.

Samuel might play a similar role to [autotag]Jason Jitoboh[/autotag], providing some size off the bench.Samuel is a strong rebounder, espescially on the offensive glass and he’s also known to force a turnover or two in each game, be it a block or steal.

The recent departure of [autotag]Alex Fudge[/autotag] — who declared for the 2023 NBA draft on Monday — could also mean that Samuel plays a starting role on the team. Jarvis and returner [autotag]Alek Szymczyk[/autotag] are the only expreienced forward big enough to play a traditional four. Freshmen [autotag]Alex Condon[/autotag] and [autotag]Thomas Haugh[/autotag] might aslo fit the bill.

Samuel chose Florida over Wake Forest after taking an official visit to the Swamp over the weekend. Associate head coach Carlin Hartman was already familiar with Samuel from his time recruiting for the Oklahoma Sooners, and the two rekindled the relationship during an in-home visit a week before the official trip, according to 247Sports.

The coaching connection helped Samuel land on Florida, and now he’s all in on restoring glory to the Gators name.

“I want to show people how I’m able to play pretty versatile and also I want to win games,” Samuel said. “Winning games is the main thing and making the tournament. Not just making the tournament but making a deep run and trying to get as far as possible.”

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