Chiozza Takes Senior Day Spotlight in O'Dome Farewell

Saturday, March 3

Gainesville, FL

12 PM

Florida Gators

Kentucky

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Chiozza Takes Senior Day Spotlight in O'Dome Farewell

Friday, March 2, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

Senior point guard Chris Chiozza's next assist will make him UF's all-time leader in that category.

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The date was Jan. 29, 2013. The Florida basketball team was back home, but scheduled to hop a charter that night for Starkville, Miss, for a game with Mississippi State the next day. Assistant coach John Pelphrey skipped practice and left early to go recruiting in Memphis, Tenn., where the Gators had targeted a player from White Station High School.

For the record, his name was Leron Black.

When Pelphrey got to the school, the White Station coach asked one of his students to walk the UF coach to the office to sign in. The two chatted along the way. The kid was smallish, plus a little on the skinny side, but very pleasant. When the two got to the office, Pelphrey thanked him, and they went about their business.

Several hours later, Pelphrey's jaw dropped when he saw that same tiny kid, in uniform for White Station, completely dominating the game.

"Two or three minutes in, I was like, 'Whoa! Who is this guy?' " Pelphrey recalled. "Right away, I was thinking we had to have him."

For the record, that player's name was Chris Chiozza.

Florida didn't get Black, who is now a redshirt junior at Illinois and leads the team in scoring and rebounding. He's an accomplished player for the Illini program. Instead, UF got Chiozza, who traded in "accomplished" status some time last season. By late last March, Chiozza had risen to the ranks of "unforgettable" for his exploits in the NCAA Tournament. This season, he threw in a "memorable" or two in there (anyone recall Missouri?). And on Saturday, he will lead the Gators (19-11, 10-7) against No. 23 Kentucky (21-9, 10-7) in his final Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center appearance, and with his next pass that nets a UF bucket Chiozza will add "history-making" to his list of adjectives as the program's all-time assist leader.

[Read senior writer Chris Harry's 'Pregame Stuff' setup here]

What a "Senior Day" sendoff it could be.

"I'm gonna try not to cry," Chiozza said.

His mother will make no such effort.

"Well, I'm definitely gonna cry," said Curtistine Chiozza, who will be joined by husband and a slew of so many family members their son could not even name them. "For him, Chris, you won't see the tears, but his heart will be having a little bit of pitter-patter going on. It's going to be very emotional for him."

Such also will be the case for forward Egor Koulechov, the graduate transfer from Rice, and center John Egbunu, the fifth-year senior who has missed the last season and a half with a knee injury, both of whom also will be making their final O'Dome appearances. After the pregame walk to center court, the hugs and photos, the lights will go out, the players will be introduced to the home team faithful one last time, and then there will be a very big basketball game against an surging Kentucky team. A confident one, also.

Obviously, Chiozza will have a say in the outcome. The UF floor general and Southeastern Conference's leader in assists will dictate pace for the Gators, whose two-game winning streak started last Saturday night against No. 12 Auburn when Chiozza dished a career-high 12 assists in a 72-66 victory. He had four more Tuesday night in a 73-52 rout at Alabama, giving him 547 for his career and pulling him even with Erving Walker (2008-12) for No. 1 in school history.

The next one — probably early in the game — will be accompanied by a roar that just may blow the O'Dome roof off.

Got a "Cheez Head?"

Wear it.

"It means a lot," Chiozza said of the assist record, one he's put himself in position to set by playing in all 135 games of his career, though starting just 61, which is nearly half of Walker's 113 (not to mention about 1,000 fewer minutes). "It's not something I ever really thought about when I got here. I knew I was a good passer. Everybody knew I was a good passer. But getting the chance to break the record [on] Senior Day, it's a blessing. I'm kind of glad it worked out that way, that I didn't get it last game, and I can do it in front of the [Rowdy Reptiles] and everybody that's been here for four years with me."

Clockwise from upper right: Chris Chiozza in the win at Rupp Arena in January; a much smaller Chiozza in his first game as a Gator against William & Mary; posing with his namesake prop after defeating LSU on "Cheez Head Night' last month; launching the shot to beat Wisconsin at Madison Square Garden; chilling with Coach Mike White during a workout last summer.

When Pelphrey first saw Chiozza, he was not yet a consensus Top 50 prospect, but on his way. He was, though, a 140-pound lightning bug who was faster than anyone on the floor. That hasn't really changed. Neither has another part of his game that Pelphrey recognized instantly.

"He made all the right basketball plays. If his team needed a layup, he got them one. They needed to run, they ran. They needed him to score, he scored," said Pelphrey, now the assistant head coach at Alabama. "Sometimes, people get caught up in measurables, but you can't measure a guy's heart and ability to understand what's going on in a really high-pressure moment in time. That's the one thing I saw with him, and it's played out over his career; in the NCAA Tournament last year; that play at Missouri this year; what he did walking into Rupp Arena. Just understanding the game, that's what caught my attention about Chris Chiozza …not the fact he was 5-foot-2."

OK, that's a low blow. Chiozza was a good 5-foot-11 (maybe) and about 150 pounds (probably) when he arrived to play for Billy Donovan as a freshman. Chiozza knew Donovan was not just a future Hall-of-Fame coach, but one with a track record for playing small guards. Chiozza had some growing pains — how 'bout 47.7 percent from the free-throw line and an assist-to-turnover ratio of less than 2-to-1 as a freshman— but he backed down from no one and ended the season as a starter.

That was a lot of assists ago.

"And about 11 tattoos," Chiozza said.

When Donovan bolted for the NBA Oklahoma City Thunder in April of 2015, Chiozza contemplated transferring, but like his teammates and three of the four incoming freshmen, he opted to stay and play for Coach Mike White and the new staff.

Chiozza, White recalled Friday, seemed content with simply playing basketball for the Gators — and playing behind Kasey Hill — over the better part of the next season and a half.

"He didn't always have the most unbelievable attitude, and he knows that, until midway through last season," White said, referencing an airing-of-the-grievances meeting with his then-junior point guard. "At that point, he just sold out to the Gators and to his teammates. It's a really cool example to learn from, and it's a story we'll be able to tell future teams and players."

Chiozza's first game after that meeting, he came off the bench and tallied the first triple-double by a UF player in nine seasons. The next game, he had nine assists and nine rebounds in a 22-point blowout of Kentucky. Six weeks later, he made one of the most famous shots in Florida (and NCAA Tournament) history when he went the length of the floor in four seconds and buried a buzzer-beating 3-point shot to defeat Wisconsin in overtime and send the Gators to the Elite Eight.

"Probably my favorite play," he said.

Heading into his senior season, this was Chiozza's team. Though not a vocal leader, his on-court actions have guided the Gators by example, and have been at the forefront of the team's biggest victories of the season (26 points, 10 assists vs. Gonzaga; the last six points of a come-from-behind upset of Cincinnati; the steal and layup at Missouri with a tenth of a second to go; 20 points vs. Baylor; those dozen assists vs. Auburn).

Milestone	Teammate	Date	Opponent	Time
1st	Jacob Kurtz	Nov. 14, 2014	William & Mary	1st half: 1:45
50th	Devin Robinson	Feb. 12, 2015	Ole Miss	2nd half: 13:22
100th	Alex Murphy	Dec. 22, 2015	Jacksonville	2nd half: 19:36
200th	KeVaughn Allen	March 1, 2016	Kentucky	1st half: 5:28
300th	Justin Leon	Jan. 28, 2017	@Oklahoma	2nd half: 7:16
400th	Deaundrae Ballard	Nov. 26, 2017	vs Duke	1st half: 10:31
500th	Egor Koulechov	Feb. 3, 2018	Alabama	1st half: 2:49
548th	(TBD)	March 3, 2018	Kentucky	(TBD)

"We trust him to make the right plays on offense. He may have a couple of turnovers, but the beautiful thing about him is composure," Koulechov said. "It's always the same whether he turns it over or makes a great play."

He'll probably need that to be the case Saturday.

Take Kentucky freshman guard Quade Green, for example. After defeating Ole Miss at home Wednesday, Green announced to the UK media it was time to "go to Florida and spank 'em."

Yes, the Wildcats know Chiozza is the straw that stirs the orange and blue drink, having watched him deal for 13 points, eight assists and six rebounds on Jan. 20 in the 66-64 Florida win at Rupp.

"He's not great scoring-wise, but he can control his team," Green said. "Once we get him out of his rhythm, it'll be playing right into our hands."

Well, OK then. This could be pretty good.

Not to mention memorable, unforgettable and history-making. Oh yes, and emotional.

"I'm going to try not to let the emotions get too high," Chiozza said. "Even though it's my last one, I'm just going to go out there, play hard, and let the chips fall where they may."

Chips go better with "Cheez," right? Might as well plan on extra salt, courtesy of the tears. Mom certainly is.

Need proof?

"Billy Donovan was so down to earth and approachable as a coach and a person, and, honestly, even though he was going far from home, I could not have been happier with the choice Chris made to play for Coach Donovan, Coach Pelphrey and that staff," Curtistine Chiozza said. "And now, with how everything has turned out, I have seen such a transformation in my son, not just growing in age, but developing as a young man and learning to respect life outside the game of basketball. I take some of the credit for that as a parent, but I never wavered in entrusting my son to Coach White and that great group of coaches. I appreciate them so much … and I could not be prouder of my son."

Yeah. She's going to cry.

A lot of Gators will.