Harry Fodder: What Egbunu's Return Means for Gators

John Egbunu will have 84 games of UF experience when he returns for a fifth-year senior season.

Harry Fodder: What Egbunu's Return Means for Gators

Friday, May 19, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

The 6-foot-11, 255-pound center announced Friday he'll return for his senior season.

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The return of John Egbunu is nothing but good news for the Florida basketball program, even taking into account the 6-foot-11, 255-pound center still will be on the mend from season-ending knee surgery when the Gators report for practice next fall -- and well into the 2017-18 campaign.

Egbunu, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee Feb. 14 at Auburn, announced Friday he was coming back to UF for what will be a fifth-year senior season after mulling both professional and graduate-transfer options. Regarding the former, the chances of an NBA team gambling on a player amid an extensive rehab were remote. As for the latter, why transfer — Egbunu graduated earlier this month with a degree in African American Studies — when the coaches, players, trainers and doctors who know and care about him are here?

Win-win for all sides.

Florida 2017-18 now will be at its full complement of 13 scholarship players. Egbunu's rehab and recovery figures to stretch well into January, but junior Kevarrius Hayes (6.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg) will be back after starting the final 10 games of UF's run to the Elite Eight after the loss of Egbunu.

So, the Florida options in the front court now look like this (with several guys capable of playing multiple positions):

* Center — Hayes and Egbunu; sophomore Gorjok Gak, who got increased playing time late in the season, but definitely remains a developmental player; freshman Isaiah Stokes, also coming off ACL surgery in January, but expected back on the floor in the early stages of the season.

* Power forward — Graduate transfer Egor Koulechov, who averaged 18.1 points, 8.9 rebounds and shot 47.2 percent from the 3-point line at Rice; sophomore Keith Stone, whose 12.1 minutes per game top all UF returning forwards, but who needs to develop much better consistency; redshirt freshman Dontay Bassett, who has returned to the floor for individual instruction workouts after sitting out last season as a medical redshirt following foot surgery; freshman Chase Johnson, a rangy, athletic type with an improving shot.

* Small forward — Fourth-year junior Jalen Hudson, the transfer from Virginia Tech who figures to provide serious scoring punch on the perimeter; Koulechov, who will bounce between the two spots all season; freshman DeAundrae Ballard, a gifted, all-around wing who could be the most college-ready of his incoming classmates.

In Egbunu, the Gators will gladly welcome back a proven rim protector who has averaged 10.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and blocked 84 shots in 58 games at Florida, including 49 starts. Don't forget those 28 games in played at South Florida in 2013-14 before transferring to UF. That's 86 games of Division-I basketball. Had Egbunu chosen to move on, the Gators were not going to get those kinds of numbers from any late-signee — and certainly not from either of their two new freshmen bigs. Think about that.

In 2016-17, Egbunu averaged 7.6 points and 7.8 rebounds over 24 games. His scoring was down from his '15-16 numbers (11.6 ppg) and his field-goal percentage took a significant drop from 59.1 to 49.2, which was often a source of frustration for the Gators' big man. To Egbunu's credit, however, he did not let his offensive struggles boil over on the defensive end. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to pinpoint a Southeastern Conference matchup that Egbunu was outplayed in the post, be it against the likes of Moses Kingsley, Sebastian Saez, Jimmie Taylor, Yante Maten, Bam Adebayo or Tyler Davis. He was outstanding in ball-screen defense and his discipline and communication inside meant the Gators didn't have to double the post or have perimeter players dropping and digging.

Think back to the year before. The same statement could not have been made about Egbunu (or UF's defense) in 2015-16.

In fact, Egbunu was playing his best basketball of the season, coming off his first double-double of the year of 10 points and 11 rebounds in a physical showdown against Texas A&M and its bulky front court, when he went down at Auburn.

Now, if "Big John" can get to that same place he was with his role in February — as an elite defender on one end; on the other, an active screen-setter who crashes the glass and rather than forcing offense, lets it find him — the Gators are going to be a much, much better team in conference play compared to when they first take the floor in early November.

Welcome back, big fella.