Fresh off a National Championship, Florida basketball aimed to rebuild a roster that lost a trio of senior guards to eligibility. The Gators added a pair of top 20 guards through the transfer portal in Arkansas’ Boogie Fland and Princeton’s Xaivian Lee, a duo that’s garnered plenty of attention given their athleticism, play making ability, and high ceiling.
One addition that may be overlooked is Ohio guard AJ Brown, who committed to Florida on April 24th and ranked as the No.32 guard in the portal, according to 247Sports. Brown dealt with a shoulder injury that required surgery in the offseason, which may have kept other teams from acquiring about the rising junior.
“AJ’s a guy that’s kind of flown under the radar a little bit in terms of bringing him in, kind of dealing with the shoulder injury he had surgery on before we signed him, Golden said on Brown.
The 6’4, 210 pound guard was one of the more efficient scorers in the country, shooting 58% from two point range in spot up situations while sinking 39% of his three point attempts. Furthermore, Brown made 48% of his wide open catch and shoot threes, according to Gator Country’s Eric Fawcett. Brown posted a true shooting percentage of 61.9%, the 104th best mark in the country last season.
“He’s just really an efficient scorer. A guy that can finish from 2, really shot the ball well from 3 last year. And a guy, as we’re kind of putting the pieces to this puzzle together, will provide a scoring punch for us and a guy that can make shots. I think that’s something that we needed with the front court that we play and kind of adding some other new guys to the perimeter,” Golden said on Thursday.
Golden puts team fit and chemistry above all else when it comes to recruiting. He wants guys that want to be Gators, which he has repeated time and time again. Brown is the brother of current Gators guard Isaiah Brown, who Golden recruited out of high school.
“Just an efficient, effective scorer, a guy that’s done it for a couple years and a guy that really wanted to be here. As you guys know, that’s really important to me,” Golden said.
While Brown may not have the rank or pedigree of the other additions, he should serve as a floor spacer who has the ability to score at an efficient rate.