Florida F Keith Stone, PG Mike Okauru set to leave program via transfer

Basketball

0

Image Credit: ESPN Images

After hardly playing for the Florida Gators during the 2018-19 season following a torn ACL against Georgia back in January, redshirt junior forward Keith Stone will leave the program, he confirmed Tuesday on Twitter.

“During my time at florida I have been given the greatest of opportunities! I will graduate from the University of Florida!” Stone wrote. “… I’m happy to have called Florida home for the last 4 years! I will always be a Gator! Thank you for the love and support, I will cherish that and use it as my motivation at my next stop.

Stone took a redshirt as a true freshman and served as a bench player during his first active season before starting 26 games as a redshirt sophomore in 2017-18. He averaged 8.8 points and 4.3 rebounds that season and looked to be putting together a similar campaign in 2018-19 until his playing time began to dip in January prior to his injury.

With Stone graduating this spring, he will be eligible to leave Florida as a graduate transfer and play immediately at another institution.

Not long after Stone’s announcement, sophomore guard Mike Okauru followed suit in announcing his transfer.

“Thankful for the teammates I had at Florida and the Rowdies who supported, but I’ve decided to transfer and purse other options,” he wrote on Twitter.

Okauru played sparingly in his two seasons, never making a start for the Gators. He averaged 6.6 minutes per game this season, nearly 5 fewer than last year.

With a talented true freshman class set to join Florida and multiple first-year players stepping up this past season, it’s possible that the playing time of Stone and Okauru would have been limited despite the departure of three senior starters.