Florida basketball adds second frontcourt player from transfer portal. Here's who UF signed
Florida basketball added another frontcourt player from the transfer portal on Thursday, signing 6-foot-11 Washington State center Rueben Chinyelu.
As a freshman at WSU in 2023-24, Chinyelu averaged 4.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocked shots per game, He appeared in 35 games with 12 starts and had one of his best games of the season at Pac 12 regular season champion Arizona, posting a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
“He is an ultra-talented young man who fits into the culture of our program seamlessly," Florida Gators coach Todd Golden said. "He has fantastic tools on both the offensive and defensive end, and we expect him to make a big jump across the board as he enters his second collegiate season.”
A native of Enugu Agidi, Nigeria, Chinyelu attended the NBA Academy Africa in Senegal and participated in the 2022 NBA Academy games, where he led NBA Academy Africa to a first-place finish. Chinyelu also played for Mozambique’s CFV in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) as part of an initiative to include one NBA Academy Africa player on each team.
Chinyelu entered the transfer portal after Washington State's head coach, Kyle Smith, left for Stanford. Smith was one of Golden's mentors in his coaching career, as Golden worked under him at both Columbia and San Francisco. But rather than follow Smith to Stanford, Chinyelu chose to come to UF, where he will compete with rising sophomore forwards Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh for playing time. On Monday, Florida added another frontcourt transfer, 6-9 forward Sam Alexis from Chattanooga.
The two frontcourt transfers will help replace the loss of starting forward Tyrese Samuel, who is out of eligibility and center Alex Szymczyk, who entered the transfer portal last week.
The status of returning UF starter Micah Handlogten for next season also is in doubt after he suffered a compound fracture in his lower left leg during the SEC Tournament finals last March against Auburn. Handlogten could require a medical redshirt next season depending on how his rehab progresses.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida basketball signs 6-11 center Rueben Chinyelu from portal