Former Florida guard Tyree Appleby announces transfer to Wake Forest

Florida transfer guard Tyree Appleby has committed to play for Wake Forest in 2022-23, ESPN’s Jeff Borzello reported. This is the second career transfer for Appleby, who previously spent two seasons at Cleveland State before transferring to Gainesville in 2019.

The guard was a key member of the Gators backcourt this past season, averaging 10.9 points to go along with 3.7 assists per contest. A 35.5% career 3-point shooter who averages nearly five attempts per game, Appleby has averaged double figures in scoring during all four of his seasons in college thus far. He helped to lead Florida to a 20-14 finish this past season and appearance in the NIT, where it lost in the second round to eventual champion Xavier.

During his freshman season at Cleveland State, Appleby averaged 11.8 points, four assists and 1.3 steals on his way to earning Horizon League All-Freshman Team honors. The following season in 2018-19, he increased his averages to 17.2 points and 5.6 assists, while also surpassing the 30-point mark twice. He moved up to second team All-Horizon Conference before ultimately deciding to make the move to the SEC.

A Jacksonville, Arkansas, native, Appleby was considered one of the top 10 players in the Natural State coming out of high school. Despite this, he was relatively underrecruited, forcing him to attend Cleveland State.

He is set to join a Wake Forest team that is coming off of a 25-10 finish to this past season. Despite this, the Demon Deacons did not receive an NCAA Tournament bid, instead earning a No. 2 seed in the NIT. There they advanced all the way to the quarterfinals before losing to eventual runner up Texas A&M.

Tyree Appleby is not the only Gator to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal this offseason. Others include forwards Keyontae Johnson and Tuongthach Gatkek.