Former Florida forward Tuongthach Gatkek decides on new school
Tuongthach Gatkek has found a new school after entering the transfer portal a month ago.
The former Florida forward has committed to play at Texas State, he announced on Twitter. Gatkek has two years of eligibility remaining.
The JUCO transfer averaged 1.7 points and 1.8 rebounds last year in his only season with the Gators. Gatkek appeared in 21 games for just 163 minutes total, the second fewest on the team.
His best game came against Oklahoma State, setting season highs for points (8) and minutes played (22) with three blocks and three rebounds in Florida’s 81-72 win over the Cowboys.
Tuongthach Gatkek is one of four players who has left the UF’s basketball program since Todd Golden took over, along with forward Keyontae Johnson and guards Tyree Appleby and Elijah Kennedy. Appleby announced Wednesday he will attend Wake Forest.
Gators busy in the portal
First-year Florida coach Todd Golden has landed a trio of transfers in Alex Fudge (LSU), Trey Bonham (VMI) and Will Richard (Belmont).
St. Bonaventure transfers Kyle Lofton and Osun Osunniyi officially visited the Gators this week, and UF is also targeting former Mississippi State commit Riley Kugel, who visited on April 15.
Golden still has open roster spots following the departures of Appleby, Gatkek, Kennedy and Johnson. During his introductory press conference, he discussed what he’s looking for when recruiting via the transfer portal.
“Really good players,” Golden quipped. “Guys that have achieved at a high level in their previous spot. There’s usually a lot of variables and different things that go into these decisions, whether it was a coach leaving, whether it was just an uncomfortable situation, whatever it is. There’s a lot of guys in the portal. In the past transferring has had a negative connotation. People have thought of transferring as something that’s negative and speaks to a lack of continuity in the program, things of that nature.
“I don’t look at it that way. I think these guys are young men. They’re allowed to make decisions like this, and so we’re going to vet them the same way that we would vet high school kids. We’re going to talk to them. We’re going to talk to their families. If they’re transferring usually former coaches to see this there’s a reason. You can find a lot of special kids student athletes in the portal that can fit within the makeup of your program if you look hard.”
