When attacking the transfer portal in the spring Florida’s coaching staff quickly locked in on Chattanooga’s Sam Alexis as a key target that could check a number of their boxes. For starters, the Gators were interested in improving their defense. They also wanted a player that could play either frontcourt position. Getting tougher was also a focus. Plus, ideally, they wanted someone with multiple years of eligibility remaining. Alexis passed each of these tests, and luckily he decided that Florida was the best spot for him to land.
Now Alexis becomes a key part of Florida’s frontcourt and someone that could push for a starting role, though Florida’s staff is currently firmly behind Rueben Chinyelu and Alex Condon as the starting post players. If Alexis doesn’t end up demanding a starting spot, the Gators will have one of the top reserve bigs in the SEC and someone that can make a positive impact when he enters games.
Last season Alexis averaged 10.8 points and 9.1 rebounds for Chattanooga, a team that had an excellent season finishing 140th in KenPom and second in the Southern Conference. The team they were behind was Samford, one of the best mid-major teams in the country who ended up taking Kansas down to the wire in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. This was Alexis’ sophomore season, and he also played a role in Chattanooga having a successful year the season prior when they finished 180th in KenPom. This is a player that’s coming from a really good mid-major team in a really good league, and that’s something that should help him make the jump to the SEC. Having just completed his second year at Chattanooga, he’ll have two seasons remaining which is something the Gators have been looking for when evaluating portal targets.
When it comes to the impact Alexis is set to have on the Gators it is all about the defensive end of the floor. Florida’s staff was desperate to bring in players that could guard, especially in the frontcourt, and Alexis was one of the best defensive prospects available. At 6’9” and 230 pounds Alexis is strong enough to play the center position, something he did a lot in the SoCon which actually has a remarkable amount of size and muscle at the center position for a mid-major league, but more importantly he also has the dexterity to handle much smaller players on the perimeter. Last season the Gators had some issues with defense from their frontcourt players when it came to lateral movement on the perimeter, but that shouldn’t be the case for Alexis who is much more comfortable getting in a stance and keeping his chest in front of the ball whether in isolation in a switch or in pick and roll coverage. Alexis will be playing both frontcourt positions for the Gators which means he’ll have to contend with bigger players on the interior as well as smaller players on the outside, and he will bring defensive versatility that the Gators didn’t have last season.
While his ability to guard on the perimeter is a major plus, it shouldn’t take away from the fact that Alexis also does the traditional big men things as well–especially when it comes to protecting the rim. Alexis averaged 2.1 blocks per game last season and was 37th in the country in block rate, making him one of the best shot blockers in the country. Last season the Gators lacked shot blocking and gave up more points at the rim than they’d like and Alexis will be someone who can help guard against those chippies, whether as a primary defender or a help side player rotating over to make an impact.
Alexis is also a stout rebounder averaging 9.1 boards per game. He ranked 94th in the country in offensive rebounding percentage and 43rd in the country in defensive rebounding percentage, and the Gators will hope that he particularly helps them on the defensive glass after a below average season in that area in 2023-24. As previously mentioned the SoCon actually has a lot of size in the frontcourt and Alexis wasn’t simply dominating smaller players and these numbers aren’t as inflated as they sometimes can be with bigger players at the mid-major level. His rebounding production will likely come down moving up to the SEC and coming off the bench, but his impact in this area should be a huge positive.
The biggest area of growth for Alexis is going to be on the offensive side of the floor. Right now he’s somewhat limited to a post player that needs to catch the ball deep in the paint to score, though he can do that fairly effectively and has decent touch around the rim. He also has the athleticism to go up and get the ball above the rim and finish, and he’ll hope to use some savvy cutting to finish some easy alley-oops from Florida’s guards. Florida’s coaching staff also sees him as someone who can be a three-point threat, and while he hasn’t been a consistent three-point shooter he is sitting at 31% for his career–though the form isn’t particularly smooth and he has work to do in that area. If you’re squeamish you might want to look away for the rest of this paragraph, as he also shot just 48% from the free throw line last season, a slight dip from his freshman season where he shot 55%. He now sits at an even 50% from the charity stripe on his career, making him one of the worst free throw shooters in the country among frontcourt players playing above 20 minutes per game. If there is something that keeps him from playing a big role in the second halves of games it could be this, and after two poor years from the stripe expecting huge improvements could be unfair. Some believe in the correlation of free throw shooting and three-point shooting success, and if that’s you–you also probably aren’t going to expect him to level out the jump shot and might expect him to stay below average in that area as well.
An element Alexis can bring to Florida’s offense is some dynamism as a pick and roll threat. Alexis has great timing coming off pick and rolls and can either make himself available in the short roll where he can catch and use a dribble or two, or the deep roll where he can explode towards the rim for a lob. Florida didn’t have a big man that was particularly good in pick and roll last year and Alexis excelled in this area at Chattanooga connecting with former Gator guard Trey Bonham for a ton of easy buckets. Given that Alexis is limited offensively in a number of ways, Florida’s staff would be wise to play to his strengths and allow him to be a ball screener as much as possible.
Sam Alexis is a player that helps address Florida’s biggest weakness from a year ago–defense. While he might be limited on the offensive end he won’t be needed for much production there and can instead focus on what he does best, and that’s dominating on the defensive side of the floor. Look for him to be a key player off Florida’s bench, and someone that contributes heavily to the defensive culture Florida’s coaching staff is looking to build.