The Florida Gators have landed a major basketball transfer Saturday morning. Per Joe Tipton of On3, Chattanooga transfer Sam Alexis, one of the top top-ranked forwards in the NCAA transfer portal, has committed to Florida and Todd Golden. Alexis, a significant addition for Florida, chose the Gators over Xavier, Mississippi State, Providence and Georgia. He’s a native of Apopka, Fla. “I committed (to Florida) because it was a great fit and has always been a dream to come play for the Gators growing up,” Alexis told Tipton. “Honestly I’m a UCF guy but the Gators have always been second and it felt like home and I love Coach Golden and the staff.” More from Tipton: The 6-foot-9 high-upside sophomore averaged 10.8 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game this season for the Mocs. He also blocked 70 shots, earning All-Defense honors. Alexis is currently ranked as the No. 29 overall player in the On3 Industry Transfer Portal Rankings.
sweet! Nice pickup, do you think he'll play the 4 for us? Still getting used to the word "acquisition" when referring to college "student" athletes
Yes. “I like the offense they run. I would do a lot of the same stuff that Tyrese Samuel did. Do a lot of the same things he did, maybe a little better. They also play a lot of two-big sets. They allow their bigs to push the ball or shoot the ball. And play through their bigs a good bit in their offense. It is close to home, about an hour and forty-five minutes from where I stay. When you’re a kid from Florida, the Gators are tough.” Even though he'll be a junior this fall, he's now Florida's YOUNGEST big: SO Condon: 20 in July SO Haugh: 21 in July JR Micah: 21 in December
seems like a great rebounder. Definitely needs to work on his FT shooting (48%)...as someone who shot 36% from 3 his freshman season, he should have the mechanics to be much better at the line At least he has 2 years of eligibility to work on it
interesting that at 26 mins/game he only averaged 2.8 FT attempts...especially for someone who averaged almost 3 offensive rebounds and 8.2 FGA per game. I would have thought that combo would have got him to the line a lot more. So his FT% was from a relative small sample size, averaged a make and a miss
Looks like a good pick up. I see the comparison to Samuel, they seem to have similar games. Like that he has multiple years to play!
I like the additional beef inside. At 6'9"/260, he looks like a good rebounder and scorer, shows a good 3 point shot on film. Sam should be a good fit, not easily elbowed and pushed around like the bigs are allowed to do on offense.
Yeah, that is probably why he said he is going to be the "Samuel" 4: stout and questionable FT shooting. Welcome aboard!
Needs significant improvement on the free throws, but apart from that he sounds like a very good addition to the Gators. I particularly like that he can defend, definitely in the paint and probably on the perimeter.
I'm like you, he didn't look that big, but he is. Says 260 on his page: Sam Alexis - Chattanooga Mocs - Power Forward
260 on On3 too. Size looks like Patric Young who was 240, bigger than 230 to me. Runs the floor well too.
190 freshman; 230 sophomore; 260 junior. The progression is there. Sophomore weight was last year. Sam was like a puppy growing into his paws.
The UTC roster I linked says 230. On3 has him at 260, but that’s the only one. Some have him at 190, which I suspect is what he weighed before college.
