Looking back, Colin Castleton’s ankle injury at Mississippi State might have been a blessing in disguise for the Florida Gators.
After losing his expected starting job to Castleton early in the season, Omar Payne seemed to drop off. Not long ago, head coach Mike White challenged his approach to practices and games, saying that he likely wished he could have a few days back.
With Castleton out against Tennessee and not quite back to 100 percent at Georgia, Payne saw his opportunity skyrocket. And his confidence appeared to do the same.
Though he has always been the sixth or seventh guy up, knowing he was THE guy looked to be the spark he needed.
Payne averaged 26.5 minutes over the two games, and only missed a single shot, going 9-for-10 from the field. He put up 9 points, 9 rebounds and 5 blocks against the Vols and had 10 points, 9 boards and a pair of blocks against the Bulldogs.
Though Payne and Castleton are competing against one another for minutes, it is a healthy competition. Castleton took notice of the growth in his teammate over the last few games.
“I just think he’s letting the game come to him,” he said. “Not worrying about having to get a shot up or certain amount of shots up. Not be worried about coming out. I’ve been there. I‘ve done that. I’ve had those issues before. But just being able to let the game come to you, realizing that if you want to pay a certain amount of minutes or stay on the court, you have to do certain things.”
Now that Castleton is back to full strength, the battle between the bigs will really heat up, but it is has been ongoing since he arrived on campus.
“We go at it and we battle every day,” Castleton said. “I remember all summer we would go at it every single day. Everybody knew that. Now we just continue to work hard and I try to push him every day. He definitely brings it out in me too.”
Even better than competing for time on the court, it appears Castleton and Payne will start sharing some time on the court. They were out there together for a period of time against Georgia, and were effective.
Though Florida is not quite as quick with two bigs on the floor, this is a team that is reinventing itself as the season progresses. White admitted they have had to step away from many of the things they prepared to do all offseason and make adjustments due to lost personnel.
Scottie Lewis is back with the team, but is a game day decision against Vanderbilt on Wednesday, and likely not fully back to himself just yet.
This opens the door for more opportunities for experimentation by the Gators. Castleton is all for it.
“I think me and Omar can block a lot of shots together,” he said. “And if you combine our wingspans, it’s crazy. I remember last game, we were out of bounds and I was like, ‘Yo, we can almost touch each other’s hands from one block to the other and they can’t really go anywhere.’ So that’s definitely a plus, just having length and size to protect the rim.”
Whether Florida chooses to go bigger or not, Castleton should be excited to face the Commodores again. He had his breakout game in Nashville just under a month ago as he led the team with 23 points, going 11-for-13 from the field.
Vanderbilt should give his scout a bit more attention this time around.
“Colin has earned that focus from our opponents moving forward,” White said. “Hopefully, you’ve got six, seven, eight guys who earn that high level of focus from your next opponent. But Vanderbilt will be prepared.”
As the season progresses, Florida’s front court is taking steps in the right direction.
Outside of Castleton and Payne, Osayi Osifo had his best week of the season last week as he shot a perfect 5-for-5 and grabbed 11 rebounds in some extended playing time. White noted that Jason Jitoboh is working hard in practice to earn some more opportunities as well.
White said his front court is quickly becoming deep and versatile, making it difficult to divide up minutes at times. But, that is a much better problem for the Gators to have than feeling shorthanded, as they often have in recent years.