Florida Basketball: Kowacie Reeves creates early drama for Todd Golden
Any head coach for any program across the country is going to be faced with disgruntled players that may not see eye-to-eye with the head coach. Todd Golden is currently facing his first test in leadership with Florida Basketball as sophomore Kowacie Reeves sat on the bench for the bulk of the Phil Knight Invitational.
Florida Basketball: Scrubbing social media
Reeves is a 6-6 guard that was a top 50 prospect nationally from Georgia. Last year he played in 29 games, starting 10, and averaged 15 minutes a game. With that time, he averaged 5.5 points per game and chipped in with 1.4 rebounds per game.
His assist-to-turnover ratio was not great, with 11 assists to 18 turnovers. But the thing Reeves was noted for coming out of high school was his shooting. 247 Sports noted he was a “Top notch shooter with a quick release. Shoots well off catch and dribble.”
Reeves started the first four games for Golden this year and showcased this strength. Given that Golden wants to have guys shoot three-pointers (San Francisco was 18th in the country last year in three-point shots attempted), Reeves seems like a guy Golden would trust and want in his offense.
But despite shooting 41% from three this season, far better than the team average of 33% that has Florida basketball currently sitting at 178th in the country, Reeves has fallen out of favor with Golden. Reeves started against FSU but was benched in favor of Trey Bonham in the second half of that game. Florida had a massive comeback, so Golden probably felt that he was justified in that decision.
That brings us to the Phil Knight Invitational where Reeves sat on the bench for the entire Xavier and West Virginia game while getting in for eight minutes in the blowout win over Oregon State. Reeves sat on the bench vs Xavier due to “coach’s decision.”
Reeves does not appear pleased with this decision and has pulled the ole scrub everything from social media trick. Sometimes this means it’s an unsalvageable situation. Sometimes it’s an athlete expressing displeasure, but the situation gets worked out behind the scenes.
We don’t know for sure what the true message is that Reeves is sending, but if he is still glued to the bench for the duration of Florida A&M and Stetson this week it is safe to say that he has quickly fallen into Golden’s doghouse.
How Golden navigates this internally will be key to making sure Florida basketball doesn’t fly off the rails just seven games into his tenure as head coach.
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