Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – When the offseason rebuild commenced, Florida coach Todd Golden and his staff knew exactly what they wanted out of the transfer portal. The list included an experienced, physical "big" and an equally veteran, battle-tested point guard. Among the available players, the Gators had a good idea who they wanted, but it would take a little longer before learning for certain who they would get. 
 
The wait was worth it. 
 
UF was delighted when 7-foot-1 center Micah Handlogten, the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year from Marshall, officially became a transfer signee. Golden and his coaches were over the moon when combo guard Walter Clayton Jr., coached by Rick Pitino at Iona, came in a few days later. 
 
But the personality of the 2023-24 Gators completely changed – the culture inside the program, as well – with the acquisition of Tyrese Samuel, the 6-10, 235-pound power forward from Seton Hall, in mid-April and late addition of point guard Zyon Pullin, the 6-4, 206-pound All-Big West Conference performer from California-Riverside.
 
Two fifth-year, grown men with a combined 5,174 minutes, 227 games, 2,127 points, 1,005 rebounds and 494 assists on their resumes before even lacing up an orange and blue sneaker. 
 
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup story here]
 
Ten months later – it goes by fast, doesn't it? – Samuel and Pullin will play their final home game in their Gator uniforms Tuesday night when Florida (20-9, 10-6) squares off against 16^th-ranked Alabama (20-9, 12-4) in a key Southeastern Conference date at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. The two will join walk-ons Alex Klatsky, Jack May and Bennett Andersen for pre-game "Senior Night" recognition – for Samuel and Pullin, the second such commemorations in as many years – as they lead their club in a game of significant stakes relative to postseason positioning. 
 
The Gators look like a safe bet for their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2021 in great part because of what Samuel and Pullin have brought to the program. 
 
"We both had played college basketball for a while, but I also feel like our personalities have really helped the team grow," Samuel said. "We're a very selfless team. We come to work. We want good things for each other, and we talk about that all the time. It's a big part why we play well on the court. Our experience and the bonding of our team, I think that's how the culture changed here. We all genuinely like each other and there's nothing fake about it." 
 
That Samuel and Pullin ended up at UF wasn't completely random. 
 
As a prep player from Montreal, Samuel was recruited by Oklahoma and then assistant coach Carlin Hartman, now with the Gators. Samuel still had Hartman's number programed in his cell phone. When the call came last spring, Samuel assumed the Sooners were calling. That Hartman had moved on to Florida was intriguing. 
 
The path for Pullin actually was years and a relationship in the making.  Pullin was coached at Riverside by Mike Magpayo, who was an assistant alongside Golden at Columbia and director of basketball operations at San Francisco when Golden assisted there under Kyle Smith before being promoted to the head post after Smith went to Washington State. The two became close friends and remained so after Magpayo left for the top job at UCR. After his '22-23 season with the Highlanders, Pullin entered the NBA evaluation process and stayed in it all the way to the deadline before opting to pull out, return to school and enter the transfer portal. 
 
LSU and Xavier were in the mix, but Golden had Magpayo in his corner. Magpayo assured his standout playmaker that he would be an ideal fit for what Golden and the Gators did schematically, but the program also wanted him as a settling, stabling influence alongside Samuel, on and off the floor. 
 
"That's definitely something the coaches talked to me a lot about on the visit; bringing me in to be a leader, a guy who's played a lot of minutes in college basketball and seen a lot of things," Pullin said. "It was definitely something I was ready to jump into."
 
Both of them not only accepted the challenge, but the responsibility. In the final week of the regular season, their numbers speak for themselves. 
 
Samuel is the team's third-leading scorer at 13.5 points per game and top rebounder at 7.8 per game, both career highs. He leads the team with 10 double-doubles and last week scored a career-high 28 points in a win over Missouri. 
 
Pullin, if you polled the coaches and locker room, would be voted team MVP. Considering the Gators did not have a true point guard as late as into June, his signing was a godsend. He's at 15.4 points per game, which ranks second on the team, and is shooting 45.8 percent from the floor, 43.5 from the 3-point arc and 84.9 at the free-throw line to go with 3.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists per game versus just 1.2 turnovers. His better-than 4-to-1assist-to-turnover ratio is on pace to be the best in in the program since when the statistic first was tracked beginning in 1982-83. 
 
CHARTING THE GATORS
Best assist-to-turnover ratio by a Gator in a single season (minimum 3.0 assist per game). 

Rank	Player	Year	Assist-to-Turnover ratio
1	Zyon Pullin	2023-24	4.16 to 1
2	Chris Chiozza	2017-18	3.41
3	Ronnie Montgomery	1985-86	3.27
4	Ronnie Montgomery	1987-88	2.68
5	Andrew Nembhard	2018-19	2.59
6	Kyle Lofton	2022-23	2.45
7	Chris Chiozza	2016-17	2.41
8	Andrew Moten	1986-87	2.41
9	Chris Chiozza	2015-16	2.40
10	Scottie Wilbekin	2012-13	2.35

"I don't want to say we expected all of this from them. I think that would have been a little unreasonable. But we definitely expected good leadership and consistency, and the ability to show up every day and have a really good attitude," Golden said. "They had track records, and so we were able to kind of recognize that and bring them in and try to kind of slide them into these positions, to where the younger guys that we thought were really good players, or [had] the potential to be, would have some good leadership to follow. I think they've done a really good job that way. So honestly, I can't quantify [their impact], but I know we'd be a lot worse without them."
 

Florida had won nine of 11 games before Saturday's disappointing 82-76 loss at 18^th-ranked South Carolina, a game the Gators led by 10 with 12 minutes remaining. The Gamecocks, one of the best defensive teams in the SEC, froze the Gators with a sticky 1-3-1 zone defense, forced seven turnovers in those final dozen minutes and took advantage of a poor second-half UF defensive effort to storm from behind and clip the Gators late. 
 
The Florida coaches had their bounce-back talking points the last two days at practice in looking to this showdown against Bama, the league's premier offensive team, in a rematch of the Crimson Tide's 98-93 overtime win at Tuscaloosa just 13 days ago. 
 
Samuel and Pullin will try to enforce those points among their teammates in a game that could springboard the Gators into their most promising postseason in years. 
 
"Big picture-wise, I think we're in a really good spot and have a great chance to finish out this week really strong," Golden said. "Perspective is important. For us, just like everybody, we want to be the best we can be and win all the games. We're getting close to that. We're not there yet and, hopefully, this week we can take some steps toward being a more complete team." 
 
And two fifth-year first-year Gators, by way of schools on opposite ends of the country, shall lead them.

Such is college basketball in 2024. And such are senior nights these days.