Todd Golden's transfer success will attract ‘more guys to play here’
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — After signing four impact transfers last year, Todd Golden has the Gators in the mix for some of the top players in the portal from the 2024 class.
Florida has to replace point guard Zyon Pullin and power forward Tyrese Samuel, two of the SEC’s top players at their positions during their lone season with UF.
As graduate transfers, Pullin and Samuel led the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.77) and field goal percentage (56.4%), respectively, and both earned All-SEC honors.
Golden said their production is going to attract “more guys to play here.” Now he and his staff are scheduled to host a trio of transfers ranked in the top 25 nationally.
“When guys want to really look at programs and evaluate can they go there and have success, I think we have some really good proof of concept with Tyrese and ZP,” Todd Golden said. “Guys that want to come in, maybe for one year and be a part of something and have success – check, check on both those guys.”
UF will receive official visits this month from point guard JP Pegues (Furman) and a pair of power forwards in Amari Williams (Drexel) and Sam Alexis (Chattanooga).
Pegues is the No. 4 PG and No. 20 overall in the On3 Industry rankings, while Williams (No. 10 overall) and Alexis (No. 22) rank No. 1 and No. 4 at their position, respectively.
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Florida’s 2024 transfer class was headlined by shooting guard Walter Clayton Jr., the No. 22 overall player in the On3 Industry rankings, and also included 7-foot-1 center Micah Handlogten.
Clayton earned All-SEC honors and had the fifth-best scoring season (633 points) in school history, while Handlogten ranked in the top five nationally for offensive rebounding percentage (17.8%).
The Gators could return three starters in Clayton, Handlogten and Will Richard, another Golden transfer, and also bring back SEC-All Freshman selection Alex Condon and forward Thomas Haugh.
“We’re going to miss ZP and Tyrese a lot. They’re going to be hard to replace,” Golden said. “But the goal is that these younger guys will continue to grow and get better, and we’ll find guys that are the right fit with great attitudes and great work ethics and really will want to be Gators.
“We’ll continue to build it that way because it’s what I believe in, and it’s worked for us. A good building block season (in 2023-24), and our hope is to continue to raise the bar as we move forward.”
