Florida C Rueben Chinyelu Rewarded for Strong Week

Florida Gators center Rueben Chinyelu continues to solidify himself as one of the nation's best bigs.

Florida Gators center Rueben Chinyelu continues to solidify himself as one of the nation's best bigs. | UAA Communications

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- After a pair of double-doubles last week, including one with a career-high 20 points in the upset win over Vanderbilt, Florida Gators center Rueben Chinyelu has been rewarded for his stellar play, being named the SEC Player of the Week on Monday.

This is the first time Chinyelu has been named SEC Player of the Week in his career.

put the work in

ℹ️ https://t.co/UkkcjmMSoA pic.twitter.com/KBNu3jpyzW

— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) January 19, 2026

Returning to Florida after initially declaring for the NBA Draft, Chinyelu has made the most of his second season with the Gators, quickly becoming one of the top bigs in all of college basketball. Through 18 games, he is averaging a career-high 11.6 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. His rebound average leads the SEC and is good for eighth nationally.

His last two outings may have been his most impressive.

In the wins over Oklahoma and then-No. 10 Vanderbilt, Chinyelu averaged 19.5 points and 11 rebounds per game, including his career-high 20-point outing against the Commodores. 16 of his points came in the second half as the Gators won its fourth-straight SEC game.

The 20-point, 10-rebound game against Vanderbilt came after an impressive 19-point, 12-rebound game against Oklahoma. Across the two games, he shot 70 percent from the field (14-for-20) and was a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line, making him the only SEC player to be perfect from the line with at least 10 attempts.

Should Chinyelu continue his current output, he would be the program's first Gator in 50 years to average double figures in rebounds. The last Florida player to do so was Bob Smyth, who averaged 12.7 rebounds per game during the 1975-76 season.

Chinyelu's specific naming as the SEC Player of the Week also made history for the program. Paired with Thomas Haugh's naming on Nov. 17, Florida now has multiple SEC Player of the Week winners since the 2020-21 season with Tre Mann and Colin Castleton, and it marks the first time the program had two non-guards win the award in a single season since 2001-02 with Udonis Haslem and Matt Bonner.

Florida, which moved up three spots to No. 16 in the AP Poll, hosts LSU on Tuesday at 7 p.m.