![Florida Gators head coach Todd Golden with his team. The Florida men's basketball team held their Orange and Blue Scrimmage at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O Connell Center in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, November 2, 2023. [Doug Engle/Ocala Star Banner]](https://sportsnaut.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/21802126.jpg?w=788)
Todd Golden’s second season as head coach at Florida will open with lots of questions.
Who will start at point guard? Can anyone do an impersonation of Colin Castleton? Is Golden the right fit?
The Gators will begin answering these questions on Monday night when they host Loyola (Md.) of the Patriot League in Gainesville, Fla.
Florida is coming off a 16-17 season, its second straight without an NCAA Tournament berth and just its second losing record since 1997-98.
Two scorers have arrived by way of the transfer portal, but both played the point for their respective teams.
Walter Clayton averaged 16.8 points and led the nation in free-throw shooting (95.3 percent) last season at Iona. Meanwhile, Zyon Pullin contributed 18.3 points and 4.2 assists at UC Riverside.
They’ll team in a crowded backcourt with returning wings Will Richard and Riley Kugel. Both are 3-point threats, and Kugel has the athleticism to be rated a mid-first-round NBA draft prospect.
Replacing All-SEC center Castleton won’t be easy. The Gators are looking to 6-foot-10 Tyrese Samuel, who averaged 11.0 points and 5.9 rebounds at Seton Hall, and 7-1 Micah Handlogten, the Sun Belt Conference freshman of the year at Marshall.
“We’re by no means a finished product, but we’re seeing a lot of progress in terms of our competitiveness, our skill, our physicality, our size,” Golden told All Gators.
Loyola, which went 13-20 last season, brings plenty of size, featuring two 6-10 players from Spain and a pair of 6-10 brothers from Serbia.
The Greyhounds are led, however, by 5-8 Deon Perry, the top returning scorer at 11.4 points per game. One of the wings will be Old Dominion transfer D’Angelo Stines.
Golden Dike and Alonso Faure, both from Spain, combined to average 16.2 points and 12.8 rebounds last year. Serbian brothers Milos and Veljko Ilic are highly skilled but have been plagued by injuries.
“We were able to maintain the bulk of our roster,” Loyola coach Tavaras Hardy said. “We’ve got Milos Ilic, who didn’t play last year. I don’t want to put too much pressure on anyone, but he’s a really, really good player.”
– Field Level Media