Florida sophomore forward Alex Fudge will forgo his remaining years of eligibility and enter the 2023 National Basketball Association Draft, according to 247Sports’ Jacob Rudner.
The forward started his career as a Louisiana State Tiger in the 2021-2022 season. He averaged 3.3 points and 3.2 rebounds in his 29 appearances. He put up double-digit points in three games, including a season-best 14 against Texas State.
Fudge entered the portal after his freshman year April 1, 2022. He brought his talents to the Gators April 13, 2022. He played only one season with Florida but showed flashes throughout the season.
He started 11 of his 32 games and put up 5.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. The sophomore also tacked on the team’s second-best block total with his 25 rejections.
The 6-foot-9-inch forward struggled with efficiency throughout the season. He shot 39.7% from the field on 5.6 attempts per game and 22.9% from beyond the arc on 1.5 3-point attempts per game.
Fudge’s defensive switchability will be missed with graduate student forward Colin Castleton also on his way to the 2023 National Basketball Association Draft.
Fudge becomes the second Gator to declare for the draft. Senior forward CJ Felder, junior guard Trey Bonham, junior guard Niels Lane, sophomore guard Kowacie Reeves and senior center Jason Jitoboh transfered from the Gators men’s basketball team.
Castleton and graduate student guards Kyle Lofton and Myreon Jones also left the team after they ran out of college eligibility.
The Gators will now turn to returnees freshman guard Riley Kugel and sophomore guard Will Richard. Florida has also recruited center Micah Handlogten, forward EJ Jarvis and guard Walter Clayton Jr. via the transfer portal.
Contact Kyle Bumpers at kbumpers@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @BumpersKyle.
Kyle Bumpers is a fourth-year journalism major and the sports editor of The Alligator. In his free time, he cries about Russell Wilson and writes an outrageous amount of movie reviews on Letterboxd.