Gators Men’s Basketball announces Orange and Blue scrimmage

Gator fans will get their first taste of the 2022-23 men’s basketball team starting Nov. 1 at the Orange and Blue scrimmage.

https://twitter.com/GatorsMBK/status/1583113595356749824

The Todd Golden Era

The new year brings a new head coach.

Todd Golden brings a fresh face and perspective to a program rich in history and tradition. He is the 20th men’s basketball coach in program history.

He is coming off a successful campaign with the University of San Francisco. The 36-year-old head coach led the Dons to 24 wins and their first NCAA tournament bid since 1988.

With a Gators team that has not played up to expectations the past couple of years, Golden hopes to bring his success from the Golden State to the Sunshine State. He will showcase his coaching abilities for the first time at the Orange and Blue scrimmage.

The New Gators

With a new season also comes a lot of new faces that we get to see come together for the first time in the scrimmage.

One of those faces is transfer graduate student from St. Bonaventure University Kyle Lofton. The 6’4″ point guard brings a lot of experience and leadership to a young Gators squad. In 116 appearances with the Bonnies, he averaged 13.9 points and 5.2 assists per game.

The Gators also snatched sophomore Alex Fudge from the transfer portal out of LSU. The 6’9″ Jacksonville product was a four-star recruit out of high school. He is known for his athleticism, and it helped him secure three double-digit point performances as a freshman last season.

Will Richard is also a transfer coming to the Gators straight out of his freshman season. He played a huge role in Belmont University’s 25-8 season. He started 30 games for the Bruins, put up over 12 points per game and was named to the Ohio Valley Conference 2021-22 All-Newcomer team.

A key player coming straight out of high school is shooting guard Riley Kugel. The Orlando native is a four-star recruit. He helped lead Dr. Phillips High School to its first state championship in school history.

A closer look at @RileyKugel, the #Gators freshman who has worked his way into @CoachToddGolden's tightening @GatorsMBK rotation. https://t.co/uzeO9yVail

— Chris Harry (@GatorsChris) October 13, 2022

Scrimmage and Beyond

Golden brought a lot of exciting players into the program, but if this team will gel is yet to be seen.

The Orange and Blue scrimmage is free to all fans. The event will start at 7.

The first regular season game will be on Nov. 7 against Stony Brook at the O’Connell Center.