Gators Officially Set to Headline NIT Season Tip-Off in 2023-24
After a one-year hiatus in 2022-23, the NIT Season Tip-Off is set to return to the Barclays Center (Brooklyn, N.Y.) in November to open the 2023-24 college basketball calendar year.
The Gators will headline the event alongside Baylor, Pittsburgh and Oregon State, reports CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein.
Rothstein initially reported Florida’s inclusion in the Preseason NIT in December by FanDuel, although a fourth team was not yet included.
Florida confirmed the reports Thursday afternoon.
UF is freshly removed from an underwhelming first season under new leader Todd Golden. Despite finishing the year with a record of 16-17, UF witnessed a fair share of peaks and troughs.
However, first-round exits from the SEC Tournament and NIT created a stale end to a season that saw the Gators on the bubble for NCAA Tournament play in February.
After eight roster departures to begin the offseason, Golden and Co. will boast a drastically different version of its team in the upcoming year.
The in-season tournament will be Florida’s first opportunity to showcase its reconstructed roster for year two, one that better fits the philosophy and scheme employed by the coaching staff after inheriting six players from the previous regime to work.
Now, the squad is uniquely Golden’s.
In his first campaign, a trip to Portland, Ore., for the Phil Knight Legacy Invitational exposed notable weaknesses within the Gators' attack from a personnel standpoint. The unit will hope the in-season tournament action tells a different story this time around.
They’ll look for newly added contributors Walter Clayton Jr., EJ Jarvis, Tyrese Samuel and Micah Handlogten to mesh well with returning cornerstones Riley Kugel and Will Richard to prove successful at that stage in the year.
Until then, Florida continues its search for transfer portal prospects to complete the roster for the upcoming season.
Three scholarship openings remain and are expected to be filled by another ball handler in the backcourt and two versatile wing prospects.
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