Florida basketball recruiting: Seton Hall’s Tyrese Samuel commits to Gators out of transfer portal

Basketball

1

Image Credit: Tyrese Samuel

As Florida Gators head coach Todd Golden continues to rebuild his roster following a rash of offseason departures, he saw yet another significant name buy into his pitch. Former Seton Hall center Tyrese Samuel committed to the Gators on Sunday evening with one year of eligibility remaining.

Samuel (6-foot-10, 235 pounds) committed to Florida over Wake Forest, making his announcement on Twitter writing, “Swamp Ready ~ Gator Nation #Committed,” with social media content further cementing his decision.

The fourth player to join the Gators out of the transfer portal this offseason, Samuel started all 33 games for the Pirates last season averaging career-highs of 11.0 points and 5.9 rebounds in 23.8 minutes per game. The three-time Big East All-Academic team selection played in 118 games across his four seasons with Seton Hall, though he did not become a starter until the 2022-23 campaign.

Key to the commitment was assistant coach Carlin Hartman, who heavily recruited Samuel from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, while previously serving as an assistant at Oklahoma. Hartman reestablished the relationship once Samuel entered the portal.

A three-star prospect out of high school, Samuel has not yet been regraded as transfer by 247Sports. He will likely serve a high-usage bench role for Florida at the four and five.

Former Marshall C Micah Handlogten, the 7-foot-1 Sun Belt Freshman of the Year who made his decision to join the Gators last week, was the No. 17 prospect in the portal, per 247Sports.

Iona guard Walter Clayton Jr. (No. 46), a unanimous All-MAAC first-team selection, and Yale forward EJ Jarvis (not yet regraded) are the other members of Florida’s four-man transfer class.

The commitment of Samuel continues a string of positive news Florida, which not only added the aforementioned transfers but also got star guard Riley Kugel to eschew NBA Draft interest and return for his sophomore season following a breakout campaign.

The Gators instead surprisingly saw F Alex Fudge enter the NBA Draft with no plans to use his remaining collegiate eligibility. They also officially added Australian C Alex Condon, a 6-foot-10 high school prospect who spent last year playing for the NBA Global Academy.

Florida, which once had eight of 13 scholarships open following those aforementioned offseason departures (nine including Fudge, who left after others had filled in), now has three remaining as Golden continues to wade through the portal for quality additions. One of those three will be taken by three-star F Thomas Haugh (Pennsburg, PA), the program’s lone high school commitment out of the United States.