Fifth-year senior forward Colin Castleton suffered a season-ending injury Feb. 15, but he's still traveling with the team, still advising his teammates and still holding the "Golden Ball" for photo ops, like this one at Vanderbilt last week.
Another Bittersweet Senior Send-Off
Saturday, March 4, 2023 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — This wasn' what they signed up for. Not how they wanted to go out.
For a trio of fifth-year seniors, plus another fourth year, the 2022-23 college basketball season held equal mixes of excitement and promise, along with an intriguing element of the unknown, what with an all new coaching staff. The second of those items — realistically — exited the equation when Colin Castleton suffered a broken hand on a fluky, one-in-a-million play Feb. 15 against Ole Miss. UF coach Todd Golden
Castleton's season- and career-ending injury left the Florida Gators with a void in the post that a mix of backups would not be able to replace. The soon-to-bee three-time All-Southeastern Conference selection was leading the team in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots and leadership at the time.
Castleton was one of those fifth years, the most heralded of the bunch. Lofton joined the team last summer as a transfer from St. Bonaventure, where he amassed wildly consistent and productive numbers over four years on the ball. His UF backcourt partner, Myreon Jones, was the third fifth year. He could have left last offseason, but was determined to return and make good on a frustrating first UF season after transferring from Penn State. And then there was true senior Jason Jitoboh, whose playing career was in jeopardy this time a year ago due to a season-ending eye injury. He was cleared to play last summer and went into the season with much to prove (mostly to himself).
"I'm grateful for them," Florida coach Todd Golden said of the foursome. "Each and every one.
For this quartet and the rest of the Gators, (15-15, 8-9), the 2022-23 regular season will wrap with Saturday night's date against Louisiana State (13-17, 2-15) at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. Before the game, Castleton, Lofton and Jitoboh will be honored as part of the team's annual "Senior Night" recognition. Jones opted out of the proceedings, choosing not to go through the ceremony after doing so last season.
"It'll still be emotional knowing it's my last home game, but I'm just going to try and play like it's a regular game," Jones said. "That's really it."
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]
It was almost a year ago to the day that Florida staged arguably the most emotional and certainly unique "Senior Day" moments — anywhere — in recent memory, as the Gators let Keyontae Johnson, 15 months removed from his horrifying collapse in Tallahassee, to suit up, be introduced with the starting lineup, take the floor and receive what would be a mock opening tip-off before a packed house against Kentucky.
Last year's Florida team with Johnson? This year's? Oh, what might have been.
Keyontae Johnson during his emotionally charged "Senior Day" in 2022.
Castleton won't be afforded a similar moment, but for what it's worth he took part in last year's Senior Day, as well, with the idea he was headed to the pros. Golden, though, arrived a few weeks later and changed Castleton's mind, convincing him to come back for one last go at a NCAA Tournament berth. Here the Gators go again, with their best senior sidelined.
He'll get a standing ovation from the crowd, hug his mother, then take a seat on the UF bench and try to lead his team to victory through emotional support while basking in his final home experience as a Gator.
For Castleton, who grew up in Deland, Fla., that's what it's all about. That's why he chose for a second Senior Day.
"Because I love this place. That's really it," he said. "Obviously, Coach Golden and the vision he has, I believe we are in good hands for this program. Down the line I'm going to come back here and stay connected because of how I feel about this place. I love Florida. I could have left here and gone to a bunch of different schools and tried to do other things, but I decided to come back because this is where I'm from, this is where I was raised and there is nothing more I love than to put on the jersey."
Colin Castleton at his 2022 Senior Day, flanked by stepfather Steven Bapp and mother Karen Bapp.
Minus their star low-post player, the Gators lost their first three games following Castleton's injury, but Tuesday night put together arguably their finest all-around game in defeating Georgia on the road. UF shot 54 percent in the game and held the Bulldogs to 33.
Enter the Tigers, who have lost 16 of the previous 17 and are 0-8 on the road this season; that said, their two league wins have come against Vanderbilt and Arkansas, two teams that worked the Gators over pretty good (the former with Castleton, the latter without) the last couple weeks.
A win would assure Florida of no worse than a .500 record on the season and thus avoid the program's first losing record since 2014-15.
Whoever the Gators line up against after this one they'll almost certainly do as underdogs. No one in the program or a fan of the program could be blamed for wondering, "Why if?"
Again.
"Everything happens for a reason, right?" UF point guard Kyle Lofton said. "There are things to learn form this, so I'll never look at it negatively. In life, you have ups and downs. I came here and wanted to get to the tournament — And who knows? There's still a chance we can make a run — but it's about being optimistic and understanding that this is all a learning experience. What are you going to do about it? You can either blame others and point fingers or keep working and never quit."
SENIOR ROLL CALL
COLIN CASTLETON Position: Forward Ht/Wt: 6-11/240 Hometown: Deland, Fla. UF bio: Transferred to UF in 2020 after playing two seasons at Michigan. … Scored 1,165 points during his three UF seasons and will exit his career at No. 42 on the program's all-time scoring list. … Two-time second-team All-SEC selection, with a third time almost certain to be announced next week. … Played 78 games, with 75 starts. … Was averaging 16.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.0 blocks (all team highs) when he sustained a season-ending broken hand Feb. 15 vs. Ole Miss. … His 19 career double doubles ranks fourth in program history. Castleton quote: "I'll just try to enjoy [Senior Day]. It's been two-plus weeks since my injury. I understand that I had to transition to being an even better teammate than I had been all year by coaching the guys and telling them things I see on the court. It's definitely going to be … I don't want to say [it'll be] sad, but definitely a lot of emotions." Golden quote: "He decided to come back and be part of this, as we built a foundation and really not knowing what the season [was] going to look like — and played like one of the best players in the nation. Disappointed with the way the season ended for him, having to deal with the injury and not being able to finish, but appreciative how he's gone about leading, traveling with us, and I'm glad the crowd will get one more opportunity to recognize him tomorrow."
JASON JITOBOH Position: Center Ht/Wt: 6-11/300 Hometown: Abuja, Nigeria UF bio: Signed with UF by way of the heralded basketball program at Hamilton Heights in Chattanooga, Tenn., and was a member of Florida's top 10-ranked 2019 freshman class. … Played in 80 games, with eight starts. … Current career totals show 203 points, 118 rebounds and 38 blocked shots. … Started four games in '21-22 for the injured Castleton and played the best basketball of his career in averaging 9.3 points and 5.6 rebounds before suffering a season-ending eye injuring that eventually required four different surgeries. … Has started all four games since replacing Castleton in the starting lineup last month. Jitoboh quote: "[Senior Day} is going to mean a lot. It just make me reflect on my journey and my whole time being here. I remember when I was a freshman and seeing other dudes on their Senior Nights. Now I got one. It's crazy." Golden quote: "Jason I think is a great story of resilience, with all the injuries and eye trouble he dealt with last year. We knew coming into the program that it was going to be tough to get him through a full season; he really hadn't done it before and it really hadn't been close. Now we're getting to our 31st game and he's been healthy for every one. Just proud of him."
MYRON JONES Position: Guard Ht/Wt: 6-3/177 Hometown: Birmingham, Ala. UF bio: Transferred to Florida following two seasons at Penn State, where he was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection as a sophomore after averaging 15.3 points and shooting 39.5 percent from the 3-point line. … Played in 63 games, with 32 starts the last two seasons. … Scored 437 points, grabbed 189 rebounds and dished 65 assists. … Currently leads the SEC in assist-to-turnover ratio. … Averaging 5.3 points and 3.3 rebounds after posting the first double-double of his UF career Tuesday at Georgia with 14 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. … Needs four 3-pointers to tie for No. 3 on the Florida list for most 3s by a transfer player. Jones quote: "It's unfortunate, with what happened with Colin, but I'm just trying to enjoy my last month with the team. I don't know how many more games I have left, so each is important to me. I'm going to go out there and play my best no matter what. I'm going to try to leave it all out there because I don't know how many more opportunities I'm going to have. This team, we have such good chemistry. Who knows? If we all come together, not rely on one person, we can keep being successful." Golden quote: "He's given us some really steady play in league play. Obviously he had some inconsistencies in the non-conference, but once we kind of settled on that backcourt with him and Kyle [Lofton] starting there we felt like we played really, really well up until Colin's injury. A guy who has really impacted the program in winning ways. Had 12 rebounds the other night in our win at Georgia. Stepped up and hit some big shots. Does a really good job moving the ball and getting other guys look, making other guys better. And a quiet really good defender. A guy we're going to miss next year."
KYLE LOFTON Position: Point guard Ht/Wt: 6-3/188 Hometown: Hillside, N.J. UF bio: Transferred to Florida last summer following four banner seasons at St. Bonaventure , where he started all 116 games he played and averaged 38.1 minutes per game on his way to scoring 1,613 points and dished 604 assists. … Started 27 of 28 games as a Gator, averaging 8.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists and two games ago moved into second place in NCAA history for career minutes, with his current total at 5,326 (and counting). Lofton quote: "The biggest thing I'll think about coming here are the relationships i made at Florida. I'll always know i have a spot here in Gainesville. With Todd, [Taurean Green], Jordan Tally, I know if I ever want to come down here, get some work in, hang out, I'll be able to do it with open arms." Golden quote: "Kyle jumped into this program with a lot of unknowns — first-year coach, first-year in the program — and he's been incredibly consistent. He's had a great year for us. Obviously, had some health issues early on that set him back a little bit, but I think you've seen through conference play what he's capable of. He's been a great leader, really steady through all our ups and downs, through Colin's injury, with keeping everyone together."
COLIN CASTLETON/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/G6ZMLXFRTZGLNJ27E66OTJ4HT4.jpg)
JASON JITOBOH 
MYRON JONES 
KYLE LOFTON
