Florida Gators Basketball transfer profile: Kyle Lofton
By Nolan Fluke
In college basketball, with every new season comes new faces. With the transfer portal hitting all-time highs, coaches are looking to bring in experienced transfers to fill their spots instead of recruiting out of high school. After the Florida Gators lost three players to the portal, head coach Todd Golden got active and brought in 4 new transfers, including Kyle Lofton, to upgrade his roster. Who are these transfers and can they help the Gators back to the top of the SEC?
Hail Florida Hail will be highlighting each one of these new transfers and bringing our fellow Gator fans insight on their pasts, along with their potential future impact.
To begin this showcase, our first article highlights veteran point guard and St. Bonaventure transfer, Kyle Lofton.
Player History: Kyle Lofton, PG
Kyle Lofton is coming to Florida after 4 seasons playing for the St. Bonaventure Bonnies. In his 4 seasons, Lofton started all 116 games he played. He was the perfect point guard for the Bonnies, averaging 13.9 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 5.2 assists (#3 in school history). His shooting numbers came in at 42% from the field, 30% from three, and 82% from the line. Although his three point shooting is below average for a point guard, Lofton makes up for it with strong finishing and great passing.
His resume at St. Bonaventure also carries a nicely weighted seasonal awards section. In his 4 years as a Bonnie, Lofton was awarded three All-A-10 teams (two 1st and one 3rd), two All-A-10 Tournament 1st teams, and was an All-A-10 Freshman.
Not only was his individual success notable, but he also led the Bonnies to an A-10 regular season championship and an A-10 Conference Tournament championship in 2020-21. He was the team’s leading scorer that season with 14.4 points per game. Unfortunately, Lofton and the Bonnies were eliminated in the first round by LSU.
Lofton’s Fit as a Florida Gator
Kyle Lofton is going to be the starting point guard for this Florida Gators team. With Tyree Appleby having transferred to Wake Forest for his 5th year, Kyle Lofton will fill his role as the floor general.
Lofton is going to bring to Florida his strong inside game which will threaten defenses. His ability to get into the paint and collapse the opposing defense is going to open up a lot of scoring opportunities for his teammates.
A secondary asset Kyle Lofton brings to the Gators offense is his ability to protect the rock. Lofton has a career Assist-Turnover (A/TO) ratio of 2.2, meaning that he averages twice as many assists as he does turnovers. The previous Gator point guard in Appleby has a career A/TO ratio of 0.7 and the team ranked 237th in turnovers. Kyle has an A/TO 3x better than Appleby, which means the Gator offense can improve their turnover numbers, and in turn, improve their offensive efficiency.
Not only is Lofton effective at the offensive end of the floor, he backs up his play with defense. Last season in 2021-22, Lofton averaged 2 steals per game, ranking him 32nd in the country as an elite perimeter defender.
In Summary
Gators fans can expect to see a true point guard running the Florida offense this upcoming season. Lofton is going to blend his abilities on both ends of the floor to make plays to push the Florida Gators for an SEC title in his 5th and final year.
A solid inside shooter, an elite playmaker, and a great perimeter defender, Kyle Lofton is going to make fans happy at the top of the starting lineup in a Florida Gators uniform this season.
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