Gators C Rueben Chinyelu Leads The Quest to Repeat as Champs
By Space Coast Daily // March 17, 2026
No sooner did the Florida Gators cut down the nets to win the 2025 NCAA Championship than the quest to repeat began. As the Gators tune up for another March Madness finale, they are currently ranked 19th in the nation by the AP poll. A major reason for the Gators’ rise is the dominant play of center Rueben Chinyelu.
The Gators, behind Rueben Chinyelu’s bank-on-it double-double games, currently have Florida on a four-game winning streak, including an impressive victory on the 17th against Vanderbilt. Before Vanderbilt, Chinyelu lead the way in the Gators doubling up the points in the paint against Oklahoma, 60-22.
For the season, Chinyelu, a 6-10 junior, is currently averaging 11.8 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. His stellar play has him also named as the SEC player of the week. At this rate, Chinyelu will do what no other Gator has done in over 50 years: finish the season averaging a double-double. Perhaps even more impressive is that Chinyelu was buried behind the front court depth chart as an afterthought at the top sportsbooks and reviewing sites like Bettingtop10.
“I’m proud of everything, just getting better each 1% in each aspect. It’s a beautiful thing,” Chinyelu said. “So I’m just enjoying it.” Chinyelu’s prowess is necessary for the Gators to make up for some woeful 3-point shooting. At this rate, the Gators are shooting less than 30% from behind the arc. This, no doubt, is forcing them to go more into the paint, and it continues to pay dividends. It also helps that attacking the basket has the Gators as the highest-ranking offensive-rebound team.
Besides bulking up to 260 points, Chinyelu has much improved stamina, leading him to stay on the court longer. He has developed a solid short-range shot to face up defenders. His free throw shooting is also noticeably better.
Before the start of his sophomore season, Chinyelu went through the NBA pre-draft process last season, then withdrew before the combine got underway. Before pulling his hat out from the ring, Chinyelu was averaging a pedestrian 6 points and 6.6 rebounds, starting all 40 games for the eventual national champions, to complete a historic March Madness run.
Should Chinyelu finish his junior campaign with a double-double average and help the Gators repeat, look for NBA scouts to come calling with a vengeance. In an era of jump-shooting, a solid defensive anchor standing at 6-10 in the paint can help many NBA teams improve their stock.
