Florida Gators Basketball 2022-23 Player Profile: Center Aleks Szymczyk
Photo: Aleks Szymczyk; Credit: University of Florida Athletic Association
There's an uncharacteristic buzz surrounding Florida basketball in the preseason. It may not be a national buzz, but those close to the program can feel something is different.
Seeing drastic turnover occur from top to bottom — with head coach Mike White, his assistants and four starters departing from Gainesville — the University of Florida brought in San Francisco head coach Todd Golden to take over at the helm.
While a mass exodus usually indicates that significant time is needed to rebuild, all the right pieces have fallen into the right places. The changing of the guard at the top of the program can serve as the pivotal turning point needed to surge back from the distressing state of mediocrity experienced as of late.
In an effort to reconstruct the program to its former status of consistency and excellence achieved under Billy Donovan, Golden made it a focus to draw in talented transfers to fill the bevy of holes the roster presented.
Adding on to the promising members retained from 2021-22, the Gators have compiled a more-than-capable unit to take the floor next season.
The mixture of new and familiar faces slates them to reconcile the program sooner rather than later under the new leadership.
In anticipation of Golden's first season in charge, All Gators plans to profile the 12 scholarship players occupying spots on the roster as they look to accomplish that mission in the upcoming season.
With Kyle Lofton, Trey Bonham, Denzel Aberdeen, Myreon Jones, Niels Lane, Will Richard, Riley Kugel, Alex Fudge and CJ Felder covered, we have arrived at the final position for our player profiles. Florida's late international pickup in the 2022 recruiting class Aleks Szymczyk kicks off the center spot for the Gators' 2022-23 roster.
Player History
Szymczyk has a unique path to college basketball after a late start to his career.
Playing basketball at the gymnasium level in Germany, which generally equates to high school in the United States, Szymczyk performed as a high-caliber talent that showed promise as a four or five prospect at the next level.
In order to showcase his skills at a higher level, Szymczyk transferred to Victory Christian Academy in Lakeland (Fla.). He played there for eight months but was forced to return to Germany due to COVID.
He also reclassified from 2021 to 2022 as a result.
However, Szymczyk continued to pursue his dream of playing basketball in the US.
His coach in Germany put him in touch with Golden, who looked to use his international ties to reel in depth in the frontcourt that lacked a center prospect who could also stretch the floor if needed.
"I was pretty lucky to end up here, honestly, because I knew someone who knew coach Golden, who worked with coach Golden before when coach Golden had a German player before at Columbia," he said. "So, that was like the contact I had, and he needed a big guy who can stretch the floor, so I was the perfect fit. They flew me over for an official visit and the rest is history."
Szymczyk, who stands 6-foot-10, 240 pounds, answered the call over the summer. He enrolled with the Gators in August to present Florida with the project stretch five that Golden and Co. will look to deploy in the future after considerable molding and development.
For more on Szymczyk and his path to Florida, click here.
2022-23 Season Role/Projection
Szymczyk is not in line to receive considerable playing time this season. That's largely due to his path to Gainesville, mixing in his late addition to the signing class, August arrival and adjustment to the American style of basketball.
After a slow start to his adjustment, which he detailed in October, the German international has shown significant strides in the right direction over the preseason practices, catalyzed by a promising orange and blue scrimmage outing despite the All-Star-type effort produced by both teams.
Florida will look for him to continue growing technically and add weight to improve on the inside in a league that presents supreme physicality in college basketball.
Eventually, Szymczyk should assume the stretch five role that he was brought to Gainesville to man, with his talents as a shooter being on display at a frequent level.
However, transitioning to that point will be a difficult task for the international talent as he embarks on a new style of basketball moving forward. He said that it would take him playing more physically to reach his potential in orange and blue. His play as an on-ball screen man, primarily his positioning to create space for guards and understanding of when to roll to the basket and when to pop out to stretch a big man to the top of the key, will be a significant factor in his future playing time.
In the meantime, Szymczyk will have a fruitful teacher in current starting big man Colin Castleton, who opens up his final season at the collegiate level as an All-SEC first-team selection.
Working against him in practice while simultaneously having him as a guy to lean on to sift through the new style of play will benefit his eventual role for Golden's squad down the line.
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