Florida Gators Basketball

Florida has landed its first player in the 2021 recruiting class with the addition of Kowacie Reeves, who committed to the school Thursday, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.

The combo guard is considered a 4-star recruit and the No. 67 overall player in the 2021 class, according to 247Sports' composite rankings.

The Georgia native had scholarship offers from more than a dozen schools, including Seton Hall, Texas, Stanford and Clemson, but he chose to play college ball with the Gators.

"Really, it was just overall the situation, resources, relationships and the intangible stuff for and my family," he said of Florida, per Corey Evans of Rivals. "I can see myself going there and playing well in their system. I also get that nothing is handed to you and that I need to work and earn my stripes."

The 6'6" combo guard has a lot of length that will help him make a quick transition to the next level, especially if he adds more strength to his 170-pound frame.

Reeves already has a great outside shot with a good enough handle that will allow him to score from all areas of the court. Though he still has room for improvement in other aspects of his game, he has a high floor and a lot of upside.

He will join a Florida program coming off a disappointing 19-12 season after entering the year as a preseason Top 10 squad. There is still a lot of young talent on the roster, though, which could be enough to help head coach Mike White turn this program back into a contender.

The Florida Gators will be without two of their guards from the 2019-20 campaign when they take the court again in 2020-21.

On Sunday, Florida announced guard Tre Mann entered the NBA draft but preserved his NCAA eligibility should he decide to return. The school also announced point guard Andrew Nembhard declared for the draft but retained his eligibility to return if he chooses that route.

June 3 is the NCAA's deadline for players to decide if they want to withdraw from the draft.

Mann arrived at Florida as a highly regarded 5-star recruit, per 247Sports' composite rankings, although he didn't fully live up to expectations as a game-changing playmaker. He averaged 5.3 points, 1.9 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 0.6 steals a night behind 35.6 percent shooting from the field and 27.5 percent shooting from three-point range.

He flashed his potential at times, such as when he scored 13 points in a February matchup with Kentucky, but he was more of a secondary contributor.

Nembhard was more of a primary contributor in 2019-20 and averaged 11.2 points, 5.6 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.1 steals a night behind 44.1 percent shooting from the field and 30.8 percent shooting from three-point range in 2019-20.

The Gators went 19-12 overall and 11-7 in SEC play and were likely on the way to the NCAA tournament before it was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Jeff Goodman of Stadium noted Sunday was the deadline for underclassmen like Mann and Nembhard to declare for the draft.

Former Virginia Tech basketball forward Kerry Blackshear Jr. will officially transfer to Florida after announcing his decision Wednesday on Instagram:

"First of all want to thank coach Buzz and the amazing staff over these past four years. This team has become my family and I am so thankful for it. I also want to thank my Blacksburg family for taking a young kid from Orlando and showing him what home is. I am so fortunate to have stepped out onto the Cassell coliseum floor walk away from Blacksburg as a graduate of Virginia Tech. My next chapter will begin in Gainesville, Florida."

Jeff Borzello of ESPN first reported the news, referring to the 6'10" player as the No. 1 transfer in the country this season.

Blackshear has already graduated, meaning he will be eligible to play immediately for the Gators next season.

He decided to leave the program after three years in Blacksburg following the departure of head coach Buzz Williams, and there was unsurprisingly a lot of interest on the transfer market.

Although he visited Kentucky, the Orlando, Florida, native decided to return close to home for his final year of college.

Blackshear should make an immediate impact thanks to his impressive production in the post. He finished last season averaging 14.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game for a team that reached the Sweet 16.

He was especially impressive down the stretch, averaging 17.6 points and 9.4 rebounds in five postseason games. This included his monster 18-point, 16-rebound effort in the narrow loss to Duke in the NCAA tournament.

This could be a major boost to Florida, which already had high expectations next year after returning plenty of talent on a team that reached the round of 32 last year.

Jeff Goodman of Stadium broke down the impact of the new addition:

Florida’s perimeter was already going to be really good — with Andrew Nembhard, Noah Locke and two big-time frosh in Scottie Lewis and Tre Mann. The big question was up front with Keyontae Johnson and now Mike White and the Gators have landed proven guy in Kerry Blackshear Jr.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) June 27, 2019

If Blackshear lives up to expectations, the Gators could be a top contender in the SEC and possibly more in 2019-20.

Kevarrius Hayes scored 16 points and Jalen Hudson added 15 more as No. 10 Florida hung on to beat No. 7 Nevada 70-61 in the first round of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament on Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.

Florida led 51-33 after a Hudson jumper with 14:05 remaining, but the Wolfpack stormed back to cut the lead to 63-61 with 2:02 left.

An Andrew Nembhard layup and Dontay Bassett dunk increased the Gators advantage to six, however, and Florida held on for the win.

Cody Martin led the Wolfpack with 23 points, and twin brother Caleb added 19.

    

KeVaughn Allen Must Assert Himself for Gators to Beat Michigan

The Gators beat Nevada for three primary reasons.

First, they were able to control the tempo, a point head coach Mike White mentioned during his halftime interview.

The Gators entered the game as the ninth-slowest team in the 353-team Division I ranks, per KenPom.com. Nevada entered Thursday ranked No. 88.

Second, they forced Nevada into bad shots and turnovers. The Wolfpack had nine first-half turnovers alone, with an errant cross-court pass leading to this back-breaking Gator dunk to end the frame:

⬆️ HIGH & ⬇️ HARD

Florida jumps to the 9 point halftime lead! #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/cQJqBvz1sM

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 21, 2019

Third, Hudson and Hayes (23 points) nearly outscored Nevada (28) by themselves in the first half. That was an impressive feat considering the Gators' leading scorer, KeVaughn Allen, had zero.

Florida can't get away with Allen having a scoreless first half against Michigan, who hasn't beaten first-round opponent Montana just yet but is the heavy favorite against the Grizzlies.

KenPom.com ranks the Wolverines fifth overall in team efficiency and second in defensive efficiency. Michigan allows the second-fewest points per game in Division I at 58.6 points. The Gators also may need to keep up with an impressive Michigan offense ranked No. 18 in Division I by KenPom.com.

Florida does have a balanced scoring attack, but good things happen when Allen takes over games. He scored 21 points on 6-of-12 shooting in a road win versus LSU and dropped 21 more in an overtime victory over Ole Miss.

Allen also came to life early in the second half on Thursday, scoring seven of his 10 points within the first three minutes. That helped the Gators jump out to an 18-point edge, a cushion that they ended up needing thanks to Nevada's late charge.

However, the Gators likely won't be up by nearly 20 versus the Wolverines. Allen needs to post a big performance to keep Florida's season alive.

     

Nevada Will Struggle to Return to NCAA Tournament

The Wolfpack's four-year run under head coach Eric Musselman has been impressive. The team compiled an 110-34 record and three NCAA tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16 bid in 2018.

The senior class that led the Wolfpack during that stretch is on its way out, however. All five Wolfpack starters are seniors, led by the Martin twins:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFqBJPjAT7k

The brothers made a tremendous impact on the program and local community, as John Trent of Nevada Today wrote on Mar. 7. Nevada won't overcome losing that duo in a year, and that's not even counting seniors Jordan Caroline, Tre'Shawn Thurman and Trey Porter leaving.

Those five players were among the team's top six scorers, and they were all their five leading rebounders. Nevada also had a six-man rotation for much of the season, with the non-senior being junior guard Jazz Johnson.

Not only do the Wolfpack have a tremendous amount of production and playing time to replace, but they will also attempt to do so with more inexperienced players.

The good news is that Musselman has proved to be an excellent leader for Nevada, who went 9-22 during the 2014-15 season before going 24-14 in his first year running the show. If he rebuilt the program once, he could surely do so again after this influx of talent leaves.

However, that will likely take some time.

                    

What's Next?

The 20-15 Gators will play in Des Moines on Saturday against the winner of No. 2 Michigan and No. 15 Montana. The Wolverines and Grizzlies face off on Thursday evening.

The Wolfpack end their season with a 29-5 mark.