Todd Golden went 57-36 (.613) over the last three seasons at the University of San Francisco. (Photo: Jordan McKendrick/UAA Communications)
Setup / Series / Last Meeting
The 2022-23 season opener for both teams, with Florida's Todd Golden making his debut as the 19th coach in program history. The UF-SBU game will be the second of a men's/women's double-header with the Florida women facing Florida A&M at 5:30 p.m. ... Stony Brook is playing its first game as a member of the Colonial Athletic Conference, after moving from the America East. ... It'll mark just the second meeting between the two teams, but also the second in the last 11 months. UF defeat Stony Brook 87-62 on Dec. 22, 2021, in what was the final non-league game before the Gators opened Southeastern Conference play. In that one, grad-transfer Phlandrous Fleming Jr. led four UF players in double figures with 20 points, while backup center Jason Jitobohcame off the bench to tally career highs of 12 points and seven rebounds. Just two days earlier, the Seawolves bombed in 14 3s in a win over Hofstra, but the Gators held them to 5-for-19 from the arc and forced 17 turnovers. ... Florida is 12-2 all-time against current CAA teams, with the last loss coming in 1996 (yes, under Billy Donovan) against Delaware in the San Juan Shootout. ... Golden went 3-0 versus the Colonial at USF, but did not face SBU.
Tale of the Tape
Florida
2021-22 Stats
Stony Brook
70.6
Scoring
72.1
.426
Field-goal percentage
.438
.303
3-point percentage
.339
66.5
Scoring defense
73.1
.441
Field-goal percentage defense
.455
.322
3-point percentage defense
.338
59th
KenPom.com overall ranking
251st
47th
KenPom.com offensive efficiency
155th
77th
KenPom.com defensive efficiency
321st
267th
KenPom.com adjusted tempo
111th
61st
NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) ranking
232nd
75th
Overall strength of schedule ranking
221st
Team Snapshots
The Gators
Depth. Depth. Depth. That will be the main storyline for this team until the rotation sorts itself out. That could take the next six weeks or so, meaning Golden and his staff will evaluate the mix of their top, say, 11 guys during non-league play with the goal of whittling the rotation to nine (maybe 10) in time for the Southeastern Conference opener Dec. 28 at Auburn. ... The Gators return six players from last season's team that went 20-14,
Kowacie Reeves
including 9-9 in the SEC, and missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six years. After seven seasons, then-UF coach Mike White left for the vacant Georgia job, paving the way for Golden to be lured from San Francisco, where over three seasons he went 57-36 in his first head-coaching post and last year guided the Dons to their first NCAA Tournament since 1998. ... Florida is picked to finish anywhere from sixth to ninth in a stacked stacked SEC, according to the various preseason publications. ... UF's lone returning starter is two-time All-SEC forwardColin Castleton, who has 13 career double-doubles in his two UF seasons and has shot 56.5 percent from the floor and 73.3 from the free throw line. Castleton also is an elite rim protector, with 116 career blocks as a Gator, which ranks 10th in program history. ... If the version of 6-6 guard Kowacie Reeves that averaged 16.3 points, shot 50 percent from the floor and 40 percent from the 3-point line in UF's three postseason games to end '21-22 is the one that shows up in '22-23, the Gators will be dangerous. Reeves' greatest challenge, though, is consistency. ... St. Bonaventure fifth-year transfer Kyle Lofton is the first true point guard the Gators have had since Andrew Nembhard in 2020. Lofton started all 116 games of his career with the Bonnies, scored more than 1,600 points, and along the way posted career averages of 38.1 minutes, 13.9 points, 3.0 rebounds, 5.2 assists (vs. 2.7 turnovers) and 1.6 steals per game. ... Forward CJ Felder, who transferred to UF last year from Boston College, had a splendid preseason and is moving worlds better after offseason groin surgery. ... Will Richard, who was named to the Ohio Valley Conference All-Newcomer Team as a freshman last season, has rebounded from a preseason knee sprain and figures to be major impact newcomer in the SEC, also. Richard is a three-level scorer, maybe the best 3-point shooter on the team and lengthy on-ball defender. ... Fifth-year guardMyreon Jones, who transferred last year from Penn State, is the team's active leader in career 3-pointers with 196, including 62 last year with the Gators (that ranked second on the team). ... The preseason battle for the starting "4" spot was a tight one, so look for plenty of minutes from 6-9 transferAlex Fudge (3.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg at LSU last year), who the coaches believe can be a defensive game-changer with 7-6 wing span. He'll play behind Felder, for now. ... Junior transfer guardTrey Bonham (13.6 ppg, 3.9 apg at Virginia Military last season) will get turns at both the "1" and "2." ... Junior guard/forward Niels Lane (3.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg), who broke into the UF rotation nearly two-thirds of the way into the '21-22 season, will provide instant energy off the bench, especially on the defensive end. And don't sleep on his sneaky ability to show up around the basket, especially for tips and extra possessions. ... Senior 6-11, 300-pound center Jason Jitoboh (5.3 ppg. 3.3 rpg) made an inspired recovery from eye surgeries following an injury sustained January at Tennessee. He will be a factor as Castleton's backup, but expect to see the two together on the floor at times. ... GuardRiley Kugel, an elite athlete with lots of bounce, figures to be the impact player from a three-man freshman class that also features guard Denzel Aberdeen and center Aleks Szymczyk.
The Seawolves
In their swan-song America East season, the Seawolves went 17-13 overall and 10-8 in league play. The league, though, ruled Stony Brook ineligible to compete
Frankie Policelli
in the conference tournament because of the school's announcement in February that it was leaving for the CAA, citing an obscure rule prohibiting current teams with agreements in place to exit the league from playing for championships. Doesn't seem fair, but whatever. ... The Seawolves are entering their fourth season under Geno Ford, who is 161-163 across 10 seasons, with stops at Kent State (68-37, two Mid-American Conference regular-season title), Bradley (46-86) and now SBU (47-40). ... The Seawolves return two starters and, like everywhere else, rebuilt their roster via the transfer portal. ... A pair of returnees, forward Frankie Policelli and guard Tyler Stephenson-Moore, started 23 and 22 games last season, respectfully. Both had decent statistical years. Policelli shot 38.5 percent from the floor, including 36.1 from the 3-point line. Stephenson-Moore was even better from the backcourt: 47.9 overall, 44.8 from deep. Both were over 80 percent from the free-throw line, as well. ... Aaron Clarke was a 1,200-point scorer at Sacred Heart and a third-team All-Northeast Conference selection. He'll play point guard. ... Shooting guard Dean Noll was second-team All-Ivy League at Cornell. He's a 30-percent career 3-point shooter. ... Transfer forward Sabry Philip, by way of both San Diego and Navarro (Texas) College, scored 9.5 points and grabbed 5.5 rebounds playing junior college last season. ... Keenan Fitzmorris, at 7 feet and 235 pounds, will be the tallest player on the floor, but he scored just six points over 17 games at Stanford last season. Fitzmorris was a top-100 prospect during his prep days in Kansas, but has struggled with injuries during his career.
Numbers of Note
Kyle Lofton (0) basically never came off the floor during his St. Bonaventure days.
* .967 — UF's winning percentage in season opener's since the SEC expanded from 10 to 12 teams for the 1991-92 season, based on a 30-1 record.
* 4 — Players on Stony Brook's roster who go 6-10 or taller. Besides the 7-foot Fitzmorris, freshman Rocco Muratori, by way of Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy, is 7-3 (and 270 pounds), classmate Leon Nahar (from the Netherlands) is 6-10 and junior Kenan Sarvan (transfer from Mineral Area College) is 6-10.
* 35 — Where Florida stands in the first KenPom rankings that are based strictly on data compiled from previous seasons. That's sixth in the SEC behind Kentucky (1), Tennessee (4), Auburn (13), Arkansas (14) and Alabama (18).
* 2018 — The last year the Gators lost their season opener, an 81-60 drubbing at No. 17 Florida State.
* 4,422— Career minutes played by Lofton, a number that (assuming he remains healthy) could rocket the point guard up the all-time chart from his current position tied for 108th in college basketball history. More than 70 players above him on the list are no longer play collegiately.
