Florida Gators Basketball 2022-23 Player Profile: Center Jason Jitoboh
In this story:
Photo: Jason Jitoboh; Credit: Zach Goodall
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.
Kyle Lofton, Trey Bonham, Denzel Aberdeen, Myreon Jones, Niels Lane, Will Richard, Riley Kugel, Alex Fudge, CJ Felder and Aleks Szymczyk are covered. With the 2022-23 season starting on Monday, Jason Jitoboh is the second to last player to examine.
Player History
After a relatively uneventful recruiting period in which Jitoboh chose to take his talents to Gainesville, the script flipped for the former Hamilton Heights Christian Academy (Chattanooga, Tenn.) prospect to endure an eventful collegiate career.
Jitoboh has seen time on and off since his freshman season in 2019-20, but none were as productive as the time that came in 2021-22. Performing in 18 games a year ago, Jitoboh averaged 4.1 points and 2.4 rebounds, with most of his minutes off the bench.
However, he saw some time in the spotlight in the middle of the year.
After getting the nod as a starter when Colin Castleton was sidelined with a shoulder injury, Jitoboh started to become a serviceable big man for the Gators around the rim at both ends.
He started his first game against Mississippi State to will Florida to a much-needed victory with eight points and two blocked shots in the second half after early foul trouble.
While he didn’t bring the footwork fluidity and scoring prowess that Castleton brought to the lineup from the block, Jitoboh allowed Florida to take strides physically in his increased role.
However, his time as a starter at the five was short-lived after he suffered an eye injury on the road against Tennessee. He was ruled out for the remainder of the year as a result and has undergone several surgeries since that point to repair the damages. Jitoboh suffered through that this offseason, a process deemed to be a daunting one.
When he returned after a few initial bumps in the road — which consisted of a significant weight gain due to the lack of conditioning and limited time in the spring to showcase himself to the new coaches — the energy, dedication and genuineness he brought to the unit resulted in the staff retaining him on the roster.
While that partly came due to the lack of frontcourt depth, they’ve expressed contentment with the decision to take a chance on Jitoboh this preseason, including for reasons beyond basketball.
He will now aid them on and off the court as they attempt to rebuild the program and culture at the University of Florida starting this season.
2022-23 Season Role/Projection
With Jitoboh returning to the Gators despite the staff change, Florida gets back a much-needed piece in the frontcourt to sustain a healthy rotation down low.
He will serve as the backup center this season.
As previously mentioned, Jitoboh adds a powerful presence in the middle for Florida and has only improved in the other areas of his game since arriving at UF. That's continued this offseason as he's worked with assistant Carlin Hartman. Taking strides from a finesse standpoint around the rim, the Abuja, Nigeria, native is a capable scorer for the Gators when he's on the court.
However, that's not when he's most valuable.
Instead, Jitoboh will be frequently incorporated in on-ball screens with guards to create open looks for Florida's backcourt players. There, the big man is utilizing his full 6-foot-11, 300-pound frame to stonewall opposing guards as they struggle to work around him or force a switch of opposing big men onto the quick twitch ones and twos Florida has this season.
Kyle Lofton, Trey Bonham and Myreon Jones will likely be the biggest beneficiaries of playing on the floor with Jitoboh within the parameters of the Princeton offense Kevin Hovde employs.
Defensively, Jitoboh will be restricted to the low post, where he will showcase the skillset he's flashed as a rebounder and rim protector. He won't see a lot of time due to the expected rotation, including a heavy dose of one of the most acclaimed big men in the nation this preseason in Castleton. But, his talents will be valuable for the Gators as he provides adequate relief in an otherwise thin frontcourt.
Stay tuned to All Gators for continuous coverage of Florida Gators football, basketball and recruiting. Follow along on social media at @AllGatorsOnFN on Twitter and All Gators on FanNation-Sports Illustrated on Facebook.
Get your Gators football, basketball and other sporting events tickets from SI Tickets here.
