Florida's Colin Castleton Suffers Likely Season-Ending Injury

One of the best players in the Southeastern Conference has been sidelined ahead of a crucial matchup against the Kentucky Wildcats. In the second half of Wednesday’s 15-point win over Ole Miss, Florida center Colin Castleton suffered a broken hand, likely ending his season and the Gators’ chances at making a postseason push.

“Obviously, it didn’t look great,” Florida head coach Todd Golden said of his star player’s early exit. “But we have a game on Saturday no matter what, so if he’s going to be out for an extended period of time it’s next man up.”

Jason Jitoboh is the next man up for the Gators. The 6-foot-11 center from Nigeria had four points, two rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes against Ole Miss. Golden will also ask Alex Fudge, CJ Felder and true freshman Aleks Szymczyk to step up in Castleton’s absence. The next team up for the Gators is Arkansas. Following the road trip to Bud Walton Arena, the Gators host Kentucky in Gainesville.

Colin Castleton was playing the best basketball of his career before the fifth-year, 6-foot-11 center suffered the injury. He averaged 16 points, 7.7 rebounds and an SEC-leading 3.0 blocks per game. Castleton cranked it up a notch in the month of February, scoring at least 20 points in all four games prior to the injury, including a 25-point night at Rupp Arena.

Currently not in the bubble picture, Todd Golden needed Colin Castleton to continue playing at his best to give the Gators a shot at making a postseason run. Florida is still ranked No. 51 in the NET, making next Wednesday’s matchup at the O’Dome a Quad 1 win for Kentucky. Not to look past Tennessee, but that game’s outlook for the Cats is much more palatable without Castleton in the picture.