Castleton gets first-team nod from media members, Gators picked seventh
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida men’s basketball senior Colin Castleton has received preseason first-team All-Southeastern Conference recognition from media members covering the league. The 6-foot-11 senior returns to Gainesville for his second season with the Gators after a breakout 2020-21 campaign in which he averaged 12.4 points and 6.4 rebounds on the way to second-team All-SEC honors from the coaches.
Castleton established himself as one of the league’s top shot-blockers last season, averaging 2.25 swats per game, marking a top-five single-season performance in Florida history. During one six-game stretch last season, the Deland native rolled up 28 blocked shots (4.7 average), including an eight-block game vs. Ole Miss.
Castleton posted a monster outing in the Gators’ overtime NCAA Tournament win vs. Virginia Tech in March, notching 19 points, 14 rebounds, three blocked shots and two assists. He joined Zion Williamson, JaJuan Johnson, Kevin Love, Nick Collison (three times) and Tim Duncan as the only players over the past 25 years to reach all those benchmarks in an NCAA Tournament game.
Florida was also picked to finish seventh in the SEC in the preseason poll. The Gators tip their 2021-22 men’s basketball season on Tuesday, Nov. 9, at 8 p.m., hosting Elon at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
First Team All-SEC
Jaden Shackelford – Alabama
Jahvon Quinerly – Alabama
Colin Castleton – Florida
Sahvir Wheeler – Kentucky
Iverson Molinar – Mississippi State
Scotty Pippen Jr. – Vanderbilt
Second Team All-SEC
Davonte Davis – Arkansas
Jabari Smith – Auburn
Keion Brooks Jr. – Kentucky
Kellan Grady – Kentucky
Oscar Tshiebwe – Kentucky
Darius Days – LSU
SEC Player of the Year
Scotty Pippen Jr. – Vanderbilt
Preseason Media Poll
1. Kentucky
2. Alabama
3. Arkansas
4. Tennessee
5. Auburn
6. LSU
7. Florida
8. Mississippi State
9. Ole Miss
10. Missouri
11. South Carolina
12. Texas A&M
13. Vanderbilt
14. Georgia
