Todd Golden, Rueben Chinyelu named Naismith Award Semifinalists
Florida males’s basketball head coach Todd Golden and junior heart Rueben Chinyelu earned recognition Friday as Naismith semifinalists, the Atlanta Tipoff Club introduced. Golden is up for Coach of the Yea, whereas Chinyelu is one in all 10 gamers in competition for Defensive Player of the Year.
In his fourth yr in Gainesville, Golden has led the defending nationwide champions from a 5-4 begin this season to a 21-2 run to conclude the season, which noticed the Gators safe the Southeastern Conference common season championship on the best way to a second consecutive No. 1 seed within the NCAA Tournament.
Chinyelu has established himself as one of many nation’s premier defenders within the paint with the flexibility to include smaller guards. His 379 rebounds this season are greater than any participant aside from Neal Walk in Florida historical past, and Chinyelu is one in all three gamers nationally averaging 11.5 rebounds per recreation. Chinyelu can also be ranked sixth nationally in offensive rebounding (4.12) and tied for eighth in double-doubles (18), with the latter marking this system report for double-doubles in a season at Florida.
Chinyelu was named the SEC’s Defensive Player of the Year and the Scholar-Athlete of the Year, becoming a member of Patric Young as the one Gators to safe each awards in a season at Florida.
Although, Chinyelu was named to the All-SEC Second Team relatively than the First Team, a choice that his teammates felt was a slight snub contemplating his progress on protection.
“I think he definitely deserves a shot at the First-Team,” junior ahead Alex Condon mentioned of Chinyelu on March 10. “They put five guards and Tommy’s the 5, a small-ball lineup, so that’s what they wanted to do. So yeah, it’s cool. I think, you know, Rue’s mature enough to just take it into stride and have that chip on his shoulder.”
The Gators open NCAA Tournament motion Friday at 9:25 pm on TNT, dealing with Prairie View A&M in Tampa. Florida is seeking to bounce again after its run within the SEC Tournament resulted in disappointment, with UF falling by 17 to Vanderbilt within the semifinal spherical.
Golden acknowledged the Gators’ most important space of concern is the mixed 30 turnovers in UF’s two contests in Nashville, and he is optimistic the crew will showcase enchancment towards the Panthers at 9:25 pm ET
“Well, we had a really good week of practice. I think when you have a bad game like we did last Saturday, you’ve got to use it as a learning experience and try to find ways to improve, and I think we did that. I think we highlighted some areas that we haven’t been very good over the last week and addressed that this week in practice and competed really well,” Golden mentioned Thursday. “My hope is that we’ll be able to address those areas and play better this weekend.”
Naismith Coach of the Year Semifinalists
Mark Byington, Vanderbilt
Todd Golden, Florida
Fred Hoiberg, Nebraska
Tom Izzo, Michigan State
Tommy Lloyd, Arizona
Dusty May, Michigan
Ryan Odom, Virginia
T.J. Otzelberger, Iowa State
Jon Scheyer, Duke
Travis Steele, Miami (OH)
Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Semifinalists
Flory Bidunga, Kansas
Cameron Boozer, Duke
Jaden Bradley, Arizona
Maliq Brown, Duke
Rueben Chinyelu, Florida
Zuby Ejiofor, St. John’s
Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan
Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State
Aday Mara, Michigan
Joseph Tugler, Houston
