Everything Aleks Szymczyk said on SEC play, the Vandy matchup

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Aleks Szymczyk met with the media on Friday ahead of the Florida Gators’ matchup with the Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday night.

The true freshman forward has played 35 minutes for the Gators over their last two games in Colin Castleton’s absence.

Against Arkansas, he dropped career highs with 8 points and six rebounds. He also knocked down two 3-pointers in the game. He matched up with Oscar Tshiebwe a number of times on Wednesday night and will face off against Liam Robbins for some time on Saturday night.

Regardless of whether the Gators will make the tournament, these minutes will be crucial for Szymczyk’s development.

Here’s everything Szymczyk said on Friday about his recent performances, what’s ahead and more.

On seeing his role increase in past couple of games:

Szymczyk: “It’s definitely a blessing and something I was working towards like y’all probably I work out every day after practice, stayed longer, and I knew that eventually, it’s going to be by time if it’s this year or next year. It feels good to be out there. To be honest, like, it’s a great feeling to play and get through and trust the coaching staff.”

On how rewarding it is to see his work pay off:

Szymczyk: “It feels really amazing because there were days where I wasn’t feeling like doing it, but I still went, and I feel like those days like now it finally pays off.”

On how Castleton has helped him since his injury:

Szymczyk: “He helps me a lot, like, especially because for example we played Kentucky, so he played Oscar [Tshiebwe] before. He could tell me what type of player he is. Or now when we play Vanderbilt, he played Liam Robbins, so he can tell me more about him. We haven’t talked about him yet that much, but we’ll probably start talking about him today before the game.”

On getting to practice with and against Castleton and Jason Jitoboh:

Szymczyk: “Oh, it definitely helped me, like, prepare myself to play now on this level and prepare for, like, my next years here at Florida. Yeah, so it definitely helped me mentally, as such as on the court, like, on and off the court basically.”

On how it felt to hit two 3-pointers at Arkansas:

Szymczyk: “It felt good like I said, but we didn’t accomplish the main goal in Arkansas so I was like, after the game, I was a little bit disappointed. But I mean, it feels good to be out there like I said. All those thousands of shots I took after practice finally, like I had to make the shots in the dark basically to now under the bright lights.”

On the advantage his shooting ability gives him over other bigs:

Szymczyk: “I feel like a lot of defenses in the SEC, they play drop coverage. So the pop is most likely open like it’s more open. I think a lot of teams, like the teams we’re going to play, I think they will scout us a little bit more and then they start switching like Kentucky did. It’s going to be definitely harder to get these shots because Arkansas didn’t scout me. I’ll definitely work to get more open and take advantage of my shot.”

On how these minutes will help him for next season: 

Szymczyk: “It’s going to definitely boost my confidence for next year, and I think it can also show the coaching staff that I’m ready to go.”

On the vibe in the locker room heading into Vanderbilt:

Szymczyk: “We definitely are eager to beat them and we’re ready.  We just want to beat them.”

On his experience of playing in the SEC so far:

Szymczyk: “It’s great. It’s hard to describe. It’s similar to practice, to be honest. It’s just like a lot of people around and I mean, it’s really like I’m getting a little bit nervous, obviously because I didn’t play much in the beginning of the season, but yeah, I would say I compete. I competed in practice every day against players who played on this level for years.”

Stay tuned to Gators Online.