For Florida basketball’s Rueben Chinyelu, a 50-year program record is secondary to Florida’s NCAA Tournament run.
Florida basketball’s Thomas Haugh speak after UF’s victory over Prairie View A&M
Florida basketball’s Thomas Haugh spoke to media following the Gators’ win over Prairie View A&M in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Listen to what he had to say after the win.
TAMPA – The moment was never once about Rueben Chinyelu.
In Florida basketball’s dominating first-round NCAA tournament win over Prairie View A&M on Friday night, the Gators’ big man broke a program record that had stood for 50 years. Chinyelu recorded his 19th double-double in a single season – with more opportunities ahead as Florida (27-7) advances to the Round of 32.
Right after reaching the milestone, his teammate and fellow center Micah Handlogten ran up to congratulate him.
“Hey, man, congrats, that’s sick,” Handlogten recalled to The Gainesville Sun.
Despite already having built up a 30-point lead over Prairie View A&M, Chinyelu’s attention didn’t shift.
“We still have work to do,” Chinyelu replied.
By the end of the game, Chinyelu posted 14 points and 13 rebounds.
“Even up 50, he was still focused on the game,” Handlogten said. “That just kind of shows that he doesn’t care about records. He wants to win. It’s inspiring to see where he has come from to where he is now.”
As a further testament to Chinyelu’s selflessness, as he checked out of the game with roughly seven minutes to go, he began turning his attention on energizing the crowd with one goal: getting Olivier Rioux, his 7-foot-9 teammate, into the game.
“He’s going to cheer you up,” said Rioux, who contributed a dunk in the final minute of the game. “He was spinning my head. Not a lot of people are like that.”
Rioux added that moment perfectly captured who Chinyelu is, as he shifted the focus from himself, and instead tried to build up his teammate.
“It’s very amazing,” Rioux said. “He’s one of a kind. He is the kindest person ever. He will scold when he needs to scold you, but it’s always on the court. It’s always for you to move forward.
“He does a lot of work towards the double-doubles. His grind in doing that is amazing.”
That sentiment was shared by Alex Condon, who credited Chinyelu’s work ethic as being the root of his success.
“I looked up, and he had 11 (points) and nine (rebounds) at halftime,” Condon said. “It’s pretty crazy. Just the mentality he comes with every game. He doesn’t have any nights off.
“He works harder than most guys in the NCAA, I feel like. He deserves it 100%.”
The record that Chinyelu now claims once belonged to Bob Smyth, who set the mark back in the 1975-76 season.
“I got an email from the family when I tied with him, and it was really just beautiful to just see that,” Chinyelu said. “Just having them reach out to me and saying how they feel really good just hearing his name called again, so that’s just a big thing to me. I really respect that and value that. I’m trying to just do whatever I can to just keep doing that and just paying homage to him.”
For Chinyelu, what he says he’ll remember the most from the record are the guys he had achieved it with.
“I’m just glad that I’m able to do this with this group because when I look back in 20 years, these guys were all part of my success,” Chinyleu said. “We did something. It’s something I’ll always cherish because now it’s already there. It’s history, and it’s going to be there.”
Rueben Chinyelu’s double-doubles this season
- 10 points, 16 rebounds vs Florida State
- 16 points, 10 rebounds vs Miami
- 14 points, 21 rebounds vs Merrimack
- 13 points, 10 rebounds vs Providence
- 12 points, 11 rebounds vs Saint Francis
- 16 points, 12 rebounds vs Colgate
- 13 points, 12 rebounds vs Dartmouth
- 17 points, 16 rebounds vs Tennessee
- 19 points, 12 rebounds vs Oklahoma
- 20 points, 10 rebounds vs Vanderbilt
- 15 points, 21 rebounds vs LSU
- 14 points, 11 rebounds vs South Carolina
- 14 points, 17 rebounds vs Alabama
- 10 points, 16 rebounds vs Texas A&M
- 10 points, 12 rebounds vs Kentucky
- 15 points, 17 rebounds vs South Carolina
- 12 points, 16 rebounds vs Arkansas
- 11 points, 11 rebounds vs Mississippi State
- 14 points, 13 rebounds vs Prairie View A&M
Reach Florida Gators writer Andrew Abadie at [email protected] or on X (formerly Twitter) at @AndrewAbadie. You can also find him on Facebook at Andrew Abadie Sports Reporter or on Instagram @andrewabadie_sports.
