Gators starting PG Tyree Appleby enters NCAA transfer portal
Tyree Appleby has followed through on his plans to enter the transfer portal.
Florida’s starting point guard submitted his name Monday, according to On3 Sports national recruiting analyst Jamie Shaw. Appleby will be a grad transfer with one year of eligibility remaining for the 2022-23 season.
The news of Appleby’s departure broke last Monday when he told Arkansas hoops reporter Kevin McPherson he was going to transfer from UF.
With Appleby leaving, new Florida coach Todd Golden is now slated to return to seven scholarship players next season including guards Myreon Jones, Kowacie Reeves, Niels Lane and Elijah Kennedy.
Golden said he was recruiting fifth-year senior Colin Castleton back for a sixth season as well.
“His return definitely would help,” Golden said of Castleton. “I think it would give us a little bit of a jump start and getting back moving in the right way, so I’ll work hard seeing what he wants to do. But, being in a new program, it has to work for both sides. He’s gotta be comfortable. He’s gotta be excited about it. And I’ve just been really impressed with him so far in regards to his intelligence and type of kid he is.”
Appelby averaged a career-low 10.9 points and 3.7 assists last season, playing in all 34 games with 27 starts. He shot 36.4 percent from the floor, including 34.2 percent from 3-point range.
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Appleby scored a season-high 26 points in Florida’s upset win over No. 2 Auburn and also had 21-point games in victories over Oklahoma State and Georgia.
During the 2020-21 season, his first at UF, Appleby averaged 11.3 points and 3.3 assists with 17 starts in 25 games played. He shot 41.3 percent that year, including 34.9 percent from downtown.
Appleby transferred to the Gators from Cleveland State, where he started 55 games in two seasons and averaged a career-high 17.2 points as a sophomore. He sat out the 2019-20 season due to NCAA rules.
Appleby was one of seven players who went through Senior Day ceremonies prior to the regular season finale against Kentucky, but said after the game he had not made a decision on his final year of eligibility.
