High Hopes For Florida Men’s Basketball

The Florida men’s basketball team were ranked No. 21 in The Associated Press Top 25 Preseason Poll released Monday.

This is the highest preseason ranking under three-year coach Todd Golden and UF’s first preseason appearance in the AP Top 25 since 2019. 

High stepping into 2025

Florida enters the season coming off a 24-win campaign in 2023-24. The Gators brought in some new players who are expected to make a difference.

https://twitter.com/GatorsMBK/status/1845863271577907429

Offseason Additions

Sam Alexis, Rueben Chinyelu and Alijah Martin are expected to make a huge impact. Alexis had an impressive two seasons with Chattanooga, averaging 10.8 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots per game.

Chinyelu, out of Washington State, averaged 4.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocked shots per game. Martin, a graduate student from Florida Atlantic, played in 124 career games with 86 starts during his time at FAU and averaged 13.1 points and a personal-best 5.9 rebounds starting 30 of his 34 appearances a season ago.

 Florida also recruited freshman Olivier Rioux from IMG Academy. He is listed at 7-foot-9. Rioux may not see much time on the court this first season, however, he brings huge potential to Gators basketball.

So @GatorMBK fall practice tips off Tuesday and @alijah_martin is gonna be a difference-maker on both ends for #Gators in '24-25 (like he was at FAU).

Here's his story.https://t.co/L4NUcjNioM

— Chris Harry (@GatorsChris) September 23, 2024

Matchups Coming 2025

The Gators will play the USF Bulls in Jacksonville on Nov. 4 to start the season and the home opener is Nov. 7 vs. Jacksonville at 8 p.m.

Other notable early games include Virginia on Dec. 4 and North Carolina on Dec. 17. UNC is ranked No. 9 on the preseason AP Poll.

UF will face nine teams ranked in the preseason top 25 plus three others that received votes.

https://twitter.com/GatorsMBK/status/1840892924915048834

Preseason Honors

Florida senior guard Walter Clayton Jr. and sophomore forward/center Alex Condon received preseason All-SEC honors in the league’s media vote announced Monday. Clayton earned first-team recognition, while Condon garnered third-team.

The Gators were predicted to finish sixth in the conference. UF finished sixth in 2023-24 with an 11-7 SEC record, then made a run to the SEC Tournament championship game for the first time in 10 years.

March Madness Heartbreak

Last season, Florida lost in the first round of March Madness to Colorado. KJ Simpson, the Buffalo’s guard, rose up to make a baseline jumper with 1.7 seconds left, pulling a win for Colorado 102-100. The heart-breaking loss will fuel the Gators going into the 2024-2025 season.

FIRST AP POLL OF THE 2024-2025 SEASON!

1. Kansas
2. Alabama
3. UConn
4. Houston
5. Iowa State
6. Gonzaga
7. Duke
8. Baylor
9. North Carolina
10. Arizona

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) October 14, 2024