Tag: Tyrese Samuel

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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Florida bringing in Seton Hall transfer forward for official visit

The Gators are still looking to add a few names from the transfer portal, and Seton Hall forward Tyrese Samuel might be a name to watch with an official visit coming up.

The Florida Gators still have three open scholarship spots on the men’s basketball roster, and Todd Golden’s recruiting staff isn’t slowing down their efforts in the transfer portal any time soon.

On Saturday, April 15, UF will host former Seton Hall forward [autotag]Tyrese Samuel[/autotag] on an official visit, according to Jacob Rudner of 247Sports.

Samuel is still deciding between Florida and Wake Forest, so this trip should help him answer whatever questions he has left about the school and program. Associate head coach Carlin Hartman already stopped by Samuel’s house for an in-home visit on Sunday to get him a headstart on what the Gators are all about.

What might attract Samuel to Florida most is the exposure he’ll get playing in the SEC. It’s far easier for players to stand out at a Power Five program, especially one that has produced NBA big men in the past and perhaps near future in [autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag].

Florida could use another center after losing Castleton and [autotag]Jason Jitoboh[/autotag], even with the addition of former Marshall 7-foot center [autotag]Micah Handlogten[/autotag]. Samuel will be a fifth-year guy, though, so he may not want to split time as a sixth or seventh man off the bench.

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