New Faces For Gators Men’s Basketball

Over two weeks ago, the Florida Gators men’s basketball team reached the promised land, hoisting the National Championship trophy in San Antonio. Now, the Gators have already set their eyes on going back-to-back, bringing in some new faces into the program.

Coaching Changes

The reigning National Champs finalized their replacements on Tuesday for two assistant coaches who left to take head coaching jobs at other programs. The Gators suffered two big losses this offseason with John Andrzejek becoming the head coach at Campbell and Kevin Hovde becoming the head coach at Columbia.

Florida officially announced the hiring of NYU head coach Dave Klatzky, who will become an assistant with the Gators. Klatzky spent three years with the Violets, going 68-16 while being named the 2025 D3hoops.com Coach of the Year. Klatzky has ties to Florida as he is Hovde’s brother-in-law.

The program also announced the promotion of Jonathan Safir. Safir will now be an assistant after spending the last three seasons as Florida’s director of basketball strategy and analytics.

Roster Changes

The Gators knew they had some work to do this offseason with Walter Clayton Jr., Will Richard and Alijah Martin all graduating. But the news of Denzel Aberdeen transferring to Kentucky has cranked up the volume even more.

The Gators officially announced Tuesday the addition of Princeton transfer point guard Xaivian Lee. Lee is one of the flashiest and craftiest players in all of college basketball. The Toronto-born 21-year-old averaged 16.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game while shooting 36.6 percent from deep last season. Lee has ties to Florida, as he played high school basketball with Thomas Haugh (Perkiomen School) and played for the Canadian U-19 World Cup team with Olivier Rioux.

Xaivian Lee is arguably the best point guard in the transfer portal. B2B great years, but exploded this season at Princeton, has a flashy yet controlled game. Great size, athleticism, crafty finisher & can really shoot it.

Missing piece to the potential puzzle in Queens? #sjubb pic.twitter.com/4A3RE9N9AJ

— Dave (@Davee_8) April 11, 2025

Florida also announced the signing of incoming freshman CJ Ingram. Ingram is ranked as the 21st best player on ESPN’s Top 100 list for the Class of 2025. The Montverde standout and former Hawthorne star has a strong build at 6’6. Ingram’s dad, Cornelius Ingram, played football and basketball for the Gators from 2004-08. Alex Lloyd is the other incoming freshman joining the Gators, but he already signed with the team back in November.

Florida commit CJ Ingram hitting a nasty step back on the #1 player in the class of 2025 pic.twitter.com/mnf90PYda0

— Blue-Ray (Alijah Martin Enthusiast) 2025 CHAMPS (@MVPMertz) January 24, 2025

Be on the Lookout

AJ Brown, the brother of current Gators guard Isaiah Brown, went on an official visit to Florida on Tuesday. Brown has two years of eligibility left after spending the last two seasons at Ohio. The 6’4 guard averaged 13.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists for the Bobcats last season.