Colin Castleton passes Al Horford for 3rd-most blocks in UF history
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida star Colin Castleton has climbed into the top three for the most blocks in school history.
With his first swat Saturday against Vanderbilt, Castleton reached 190 career blocks and passed Gator Great Al Horford (189) for third on the list.
Last Saturday, Castleton moved into fourth place past Horford’s teammate, Joakim Noah (184), with his first of three blocked shot against Kentucky.
With seven games left before Tournament time, he will look to join Dwayne Schintzius (272) and Kevarruis Hayes (214) as the only Gators to block 200 shots.
“I mean, it’s awesome,” Castleton said of climbing the all-time blocks list. “Being able to just to know how much of an impact I’ve had on this program, and somewhere I love playing. I look up to the other guys that are on that list. So being able to see my name with the greats is definitely something that I’m humbled about. But I want to keep climbing that list, because the more I block shots, the more we can win games.”
Castleton is now up to 74 blocks this season, which ranks as the fourth highest single-season total at UF behind Schintzius (96, 90) and Noah (95).
Castleton was asked during Friday’s media availability if the single-season record is on his mind. He’s now 23 blocks away from the top spot.
“Definitely would be cool, for sure. Definitely would be awesome. But, you know, if I get 100 blocks, and we don’t go to the tournament, like, doesn’t really mean that to me,” Castleton said. “Hopefully, we’ll make a run in the postseason ’cause that will help it a lot, obviously. So we just gotta keep winning games and that’ll figure itself out. But I’m not too focused on it. I just want to win.”
Castleton’s 3.04 blocked shots per game rank fourth the nation. He’s had four or more blocks in 11 games this year and posted a season-high seven vs. Georgia, one short of his career-best mark last year at South Carolina.
“We try to keep him in the paint and have him be that last line of defense at the rim,” Florida coach Todd Golden said of Castleton’s shot-block ability. “It’s why we have such a good two-point field goal defense.”
As a team, the Gators’ 5.9 blocked shots per game rank third in the NCAA. The 272 career blocks by Schintzius ranks No. 8 in SEC history.
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