While most of the excitement surrounding Florida basketball was set around returners like Keyontae Johnson, Tre Mann, and Noah Locke, it’s a handful of new faces that are emerging as one of the major storylines of the young season.
Florida bolstered their roster in a number of different ways for the 2020-21 bringing in players from traditional high school recruiting, the transfer wire, and a rare high major junior college transfer. The diverse ways in which Mike White and his staff brought talent into Gainesville shows their openness to all forms of talent acquisition and that they’ll look just about anywhere to find capable players.
Through three games Florida has had a whopping 6 players play their first minutes for Florida, and that doesn’t even count the two walk-ons who got action against Stetson. If you haven’t been following the Gators closely up to this point and have just recently tuned in there are a lot of fresh faces as the look of basketball in Gainesville has changed.
Tyree Appleby has been the fan favorite so far, a scrappy ball guard who spent last season sitting out due to NCAA transfer rules after coming over from Cleveland State. Appleby has provided the Gators something they haven’t had in a number of years–a spark off the bench. With a deadeye jumper and a crafty handle Appleby is instant offense and so far we’ve seen all kinds of defenders have trouble slowing him down. He’s averaging 7.7 points and 2.7 assists per game, and his best performance came in the season opener against Army. After getting limited run in the first half he didn’t seem to be a key factor in Mike White’s game plan but when Appleby came in during the second half he instantly caught fire, hitting threes, dishing out assists, and dispossessing opponents with quick steals. Army was controlling the game up until that point and if not for Appleby, the Gators likely lose that game. As an undersized guard he has had some troubles defensively but he plays with relentless effort on that end and loves to get steals, something that has made for big plays going the other way that usually end in Appleby tossing up an alley-oop. When Appleby is in the game alongside Tre Mann the Gators have two legit playmakers in the backcourt and their offense has looked great because of it.
On the opposite side of the height spectrum is Michigan transfer Colin Castleton, a 6’11” big who has grabbed the reins of the starting center position. In the offseason it was projected by most that returning sophomore Omar Payne would be starting at center but in practice Castleton won the role and has been making the most of it. At 6’11” with a 7’3” wingspan he has tremendous size and he knows how to use that length, using his reach to protect the rim and clog up passing lanes. While he’s not the leaper that Payne is he has the reach and positional awareness to be a great shot blocker on his own right, but where he has differentiated himself is on the offensive end. Castle has good hands to catch entry passes and nice touch when it comes to finishing. If he catches the ball on the short roll he can handle it nicely for a big and has above-average vision for the center position. Chemistry between him and his teammates is still growing but he looks like a fantastic acquisition to the roster.
One transfer that hasn’t found his footing quite yet is Anthony Duruji, a 6’8” forward who came in from Louisiana Tech. During his redshirt season he impressed all who were able to get eyes on him in practice but when games started this season…he struggled. Duruji has looked a step slow with decision making and has made sloppy dribbling and passing errors. He’s also noticeably hunted jump shots, something that hasn’t worked out for him and is a curious decision given that shooting wasn’t a huge part of his game at Louisiana Tech. The one area he has looked good is on the offensive glass where he’s been a monster. Possessing a near 45” vert at 6’8” he plays the game like he’s on a trampoline and he has caused all kinds of problems for opponents with his offensive rebounding. There are a lot of rough edges for him to smooth out but his frame and athleticism shows promise, and hopefully soon he’ll get back to being the player that so many were impressed with while he was Louisiana Tech and while sitting out last season.
If Anthony Duruji isn’t able to get into form quickly than someone looking to take his minutes is junior college transfer Osayi Osifo. Unable to attend the first two games due to COVID protocol, Osifo made his debut against Stetson where he most notably grabbed 5 rebounds in short order. Known for a tireless work ethic Osifo is a player who the coaching staff has spoken highly of and it was a relief to see him on floor Sunday. Osifo didn’t start playing organized basketball until well into his teen years and he is still learning the game, so his offensive game lacks polish. However, what was most impressive about his debut against Stetson was his defensive rotations and how he played as a help defender. He had some good moments reading the offense and sliding over to take away a layup and that’s what they’re going to need from the 6’8” forward who projects more as a role player than a primary piece. The Gators look like they have offensive weapons but their defense could use some work and if Osifo can provide quality on that end he’ll command minutes.
In terms of the class of 2020 recruits, the more impressive of the two in this young season has been 6’5” wing Niels Lane. Right from his opening moments on the court Lane looked comfortable defensively, getting down in a stance and sliding laterally with great quickness. He also showed a lot of confidence handling the ball in transition in a few opportunities when he looked to push it, something you love to see from a young player. He has only played 8 minutes a game so far, but most of that has to do with the fact he is playing in a fairly crowded backcourt. However, if he continues to defend at a high level he’ll fill a valuable role. Noah Locke has had some tough moments defensively, as has Scottie Lewis particularly when he has gambled and overplayed. If White is looking for a shutdown option at shooting guard Lane could very well be his guy, so look for him to play more in the future. Lane’s limiting factor right now is his offensive game which doesn’t currently bring a lot to the table. However, he has some handling abilities and good athleticism so as he gets more comfortable with the pace of D-I basketball it will be fascinating to see what he can bring.
Less impressive of the two freshmen has been Samson Ruzhentsev, a 6’7” forward. Known as an elite three-point shooter in high school he was expected to hit shots at a similar rate in college, though that has yet to be realized as he is currently 1-7 from deep. What has made that number worse is that a lot of his misses haven’t even been close, with a few of them catching nothing but air. Hopefully, that is just a product of nerves. He has looked uncharacteristically unsettled and nervous on the floor so far, something that has led to slow decision making and some ill-advised passes. Mike White said in the offseason that he was shooting at a Noah Locke level which is extremely high praise so it should only be a matter of time before he settles in a bit as a shooter. Ruzhentsev brings great size to the small forward position, something the Gators haven’t had a lot of in recent history, and you can tell White would love to have him out there more. For him it will be all about hitting shots and decision making, so watching how he settles in through the next few games will be interesting.
The season is young but already we’re starting to get a feel for all of the new players. Florida has already looked impressive, but their chemistry isn’t even close to all coming together since the team hasn’t been able to practice together a lot, much less play games. As these new pieces continue to gel with the returners the Gators should only get better, and with some major upcoming tests such as a rivalry game with Florida State we should soon know even more about this group.