Gainesville, Florida – Urban Klavzar was a reflection after the fact at the start of the season, the fifth goalkeeper of the talented Florida list. He even missed the first three games pending authorization from the NCAA.
Once he played – getting on the field in degradation service – he looked more like a walk -on than a waiting starter. He missed 23 of the 33 shots, hitting only 3 of the 16 on a range of 3 points, and had coaches and teammates wondering what was going on with a guy who had been so difficult to defend in practice.
Klavzar was not sure either.
But he continued to work – and wait. He finally had a chance at the start of the Walter Clayton Jr. (Ankle) and Alijah Martin (hip pointer) lacked time. And Klavzar has since made it essential for the second-row Gators (23-3, 10-3 conference from the Southeast).
He struck 11 of the 18 shots during the sequence of five consecutive victories in Florida, including 9 out of 13 of the arc. He evacuated the 3 consecutive in a victory against Vanderbilt in early February, then went 3 to 3 from a distance to Auburn high -ranking four days later, two of which in a period of 13 seconds which helped the Gators to realize one The greatest upheavals of the season.
Against Oklahoma, its route from one ocean to another in the last seconds of the first half was a game as impressive as all those made by the three Big Three of Florida: Clayton, Martin and Will Richard.
“He really increased his level,” said coach Todd Golden. “We just have a deep team, and we had a bunch of guys to intensify when their numbers are called.”
Klavzar finished with a career summit of 10 points in 22 minutes in a game of 85-63 against the Sooners. Its 3-point pointer from the corner of the first half began a 17-3 race which transformed a six-point match into a rout and let the Oklahoma coach wear Moser shaking the rest of The night.
“They have the pieces to win everything,” said Moser. “They defend very hard. They protect the edge. They shoot it. They have a very good position of position. They have five guys who have a large range. I think they are one of the five or six teams that could play last weekend, without a doubt.
“Your head explodes with the level of (talent) with a handful of these teams, and Florida is absolutely there with the best of this league.”
No one should be amazed to see the Gators with their highest ranking since entering the NCAA tournament at No. 1 in 2014. The Rear Departure Zone of Florida – Clayton, Martin and Richard – played 400 collegial games combined combined . And the great men Alex Condon, Thomas Haugh and Rueben Chinaeru offer a lot of punch in painting.
But the depth of Florida was the shock. Rescue guard Denzel Aberdeen has made huge progress in three years in Golden. The center of Micah Handlogten, after weeks of waffle, chose to abandon a medical red shirt and play 11 months after having refined his left leg – and shows lightning back to form.
And then there is Klavzar, who is considered a second year student because he played 13 games at the Catholic University of Murcia in Spain during the 2022-23 season.
“You must always be ready and patient, even if you cannot hit beating or if you don’t get a lot of minutes, I think you have to stay ready,” said Klavzar. “I have to be professional, and I think patience is one of the most important things in basketball.”
The 6 -foot goalkeeper 1 inch of Domzale, in Slovenia, has five assists, four rebounds and three interceptions in the last five games while offering breathtaking games at both ends of the ground.
“It is really difficult to do what it does,” said Clayton. “But Urb is all the time in the gymnasium; Urb gets up. It’s really difficult. I think he is doing his best to stay warm there for each time he enters. He remains ready. I’m glad he takes blows; It was great for us.
(Tagstotranslate) Florida Gators (T) Urban Klavzar (T) North Florida Ospreys (T) Porter Moser (T) Florida (T) Stephen C. O’Connell Center (T) Florida (T) South-East Conference (T) Alijah Martin
