Basketball Hall of Fame Series
Florida Game Notes<https://floridagators.com/documents/2023/11/8/2023.11.10_vsVirginia.pdf> | 2023-24 Media Guide<https://floridagators.com/documents/2023/10/30/2023-24_Media_Guide_Web.pdf>
Spectrum Center | Charlotte, N.C.
Friday, Nov. 10, 2023 | 7 p.m.
TV & Streaming
ACC Network | ESPN App<http://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=9613ff7b-fb6a-4f30-8b08-be9e6b4f91c7>
Play-by-Play: Doug Sherman | Analyst: Cory Alexander
Radio
Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD | The Varsity Network App | SXM App<https://siriusxm.us/SXM988>
Play-by-Play: Kyle Crooks | Analyst: Lee Humphrey
The Tip-Off
* Florida plays its first of four November games against ACC opponents, squaring off against Virginia for the first regular season meeting in series history. The programs have previously met twice in the NCAA Tournament (2012, 2017) and once in the NIT (1992).
* It also marks Florida’s first of two games at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center during nonconference play. The Gators return in December to play Michigan in the second installment of the Jumpman Invitational.
* The Gators started their season hot, going on a 16-0 run over the first six minutes of Monday’s win vs. Loyola Maryland. Riley Kugel’s 23 points and six steals led the way, while Micah Handlogten (16), Tyrese Samuel (15) and Alex Condon (13) all contributed double-figure scoring and Walter Clayton Jr. added nine points, eight rebounds and five assists.
It’s a Small World
* As college athletics looked for a way to compete during COVID, the Basketball Hall of Fame put on Bubbleville, which hosted 46 games over 11 days at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. Florida and Virginia were scheduled to meet on Nov. 27, 2020.
* A COVID pause caused the Gators’ participation in Bubbleville to be delayed, resulting in the shuffling of matchups. As a result, San Francisco took Florida’s place on Nov. 27 and pulled off a monumental upset of fourth-ranked Virginia, launching their head coach Todd Golden into the national college basketball consciousness.
* Three years later, Golden now leads the Gators into a Basketball Hall of Fame event against Virginia.
2023-24 Outlook
* Florida moves into its second season under head coach Todd Golden, who led the Gators to a pair of top-25 wins and a postseason berth in his first season leading the program.
* The Gators had a busy spring in the transfer portal, bringing in one of the top transfer classes in the nation, along with its freshman class.
* Florida returns four scholarship players, including a pair of starters in Will Richard and Riley Kugel.
* Richard posted 18 double-figure scoring games, including a season-high 24 at Georgia, while Kugel shone late in the season and earned SEC All-Freshman honors after averaging 17.3 points over the last 10 games of the season.
* Point guard Denzel Aberdeen and forward Aleks Szymczyk also return as sophomores looking to make a jump.
* UF’s transfer class includes guards Walter Clayton Jr., Zyon Pullin and Julian Rishwain along with the frontcourt duo of Micah Handlogten and Tyrese Samuel.
* The Gators welcome several freshmen to the program with 6-foot-9 forward Thomas Haugh from Pennsylvania, 6-foot-11 Australian Alex Condon and Lithuanian point guard Kajus Kublickas joining the squad.
* Walk-ons Alex Klatsky and Jack May both return, while the Gators also added freshman Cooper Josefsberg and former team manager Bennett Andersen to the roster in the walk-on role.
