Winning a National Championship in basketball requires a number of players to take a step up from what they have shown before and for Florida one of the players to make the biggest leap was Rueben Chinyelu.
Starting his career at Washington State, Chinyelu was able to be a contributor, but he was essentially the 4th big on a team that finished 42nd in KenPom, so when Todd Golden announced that he was going to be the starting center for Florida just a year later there were certainly a few questions.
Of course, those questions were answered with Chinyelu starting in all 40 of Florida’s games on the way to a Championship.
On a team loaded with talent, Chinyelu was content doing the dirty work and filling a complementary role on offense around Florida’s more talented scorers. Offensively he was a screener that looked to free up space for a ball handler, and of course, he had his moments ducking in help defenders in the paint and freeing up driving lanes for Florida’s guards to get uncontested layups. The only area where Chinyelu showed greed was when there was a missed shot that he would ferociously try to corral–and that pride when it came to rebounding was one area the Gator staff was happy to see him be selfish.
While Chinyelu will be content playing a complimentary role once again, entering year three of his college career there is an opportunity for him to take another step, and while that might not be major changes (I’m not sure we’ll see him spotting up behind the three-point line set to launch multiple three-pointers a game), there are certainly areas he can improve on the edges.
Offensively, Chinyelu’s biggest strength was his ability to finish around the rim on cuts or lobs, making it feel like the moment his man had to step into the lane to help on a drive Florida was going to get two points because a guard could throw the ball up anywhere around the rim and Chinyelu would either triumphantly throw down the alley oop or take a split second upon catching it to survey the surroundings before powering up and finishing strong. Chinyelu ended the season shooting 67% around the rim on 152 attempts–making him one of the best in the country at this role.
Where Chinyelu will look to improve is with his post game where he wasn’t particularly effective going one on one, even against smaller players. The fact that he couldn’t take advantage of smaller players with his post scoring meant teams would be comfortable switching actions he was involved in, which also made his off-ball screening a bit less effective. Chinyelu only really had one post move, a sweeping right-handed hook shot over his left shoulder, and he converted these attempts at just 39%, making it a shot that opponents were happy to allow every single time as opposed to a Walter Clayton three or an Alex Condon drive.
Defensively, there is some work to be done as well. Chinyelu thrived at banging with the bigger post up players in the SEC allowing 0.83 points per possession on these attempts, and Florida’s coaching staff trusted him to guard these possessions one on one without requiring help or a double team. His level of physicality and muscle also helped him on the glass, finishing 52nd in the country in offensive rebounding rate and 108th in defensive rebounding rate.
However, the next step for Chinyelu will need to be improving his mobility so that he can be more effective in pick and roll coverage, as well as in switching scenarios. When teams got Chinyelu into scramble situations they had great success attacking his closeouts and getting right to the rim, and he struggled in switching scenarios when guards would isolate him as well. Given that Florida played two bigs, these scenarios happened more to Chinyelu than they would in most typical roster constructions which is even more reason why he will need to improve his mobility.
Improved mobility would also help Chinyelu as a rim protector where he did not have the kind of effect that you might have thought when you look at his length and athleticism. Opponents actually shot 59% at the rim when contested by Chinyelu which puts him in the 15th percentile nationally, not something he would be particularly proud of. His 4.7% block rate is okay, but it fell way short of the 9.6% block rate he had at Washington State that had Florida’s coaching staff thinking he would be a dominant rim protector.
Thankfully for Chinyelu, he is already an effective player in his role, and he is happy to play that role at a high level. Like every player in college basketball, there are improvements to be made on the edges, and these will be some parts of his game to keep an eye on as we enter the 2025-26 season.