‘He’s one of the best bigs in the nation’: Alabama preps for Castleton


TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama’s Wednesday night matchup with Florida features another battle in the paint.

The Gators feature a dominating post player in Colin Castleton who ranks seventh in the SEC in scoring, averaging 15.6 points per game. The senior also leads Florida in rebounding and ranks 10th in program history in blocks tallying 110.

“He’s up there as one of the best bigs in the nation,” Alabama’s Noah Clowney said.

It’s high praise for the Deland, Florida native, the latest big man Alabama has faced this season. The Crimson Tide has game-planned for Gonzaga’s Drew Timme, North Carolina’s Armando Bacot, UConn’s Adama Sanogo and Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe. The team went 2-2 against those four forwards while Timme, Bacot and Sanogo all scored 20 points or more against Alabama.

Coming into Coleman Coliseum, Castleton is shooting higher than 50% from the field in his last four games which includes back-to-back performances where the forward scored 20 points or more.

“In the National Player of the Year ranking, Colin is in the top 10,” Oats said. “Last week if you look what he did, he averaged 23 and nine. He’s a big that’s skilled, scores with his back to the basket can face the basket, can drive you and can pass the ball well.”

Similar to Gonzaga’s offensive scheme by running it through Timme, Florida has a similar game plan with Castleton who sports a 27.3 usage percentage this season. The mark is a new career high for the forward who leads the team with a 107.6 offensive rating this season.

Castleton’s assist numbers are also up this season as he’s now averaging 2.7 helpers per game.

“He’s a really good player and we’re going to have to focus on him,” Mark Sears said. “But they have shooters too.”

The onus on the guards to stick to their assignments was another key for Oats in trying to slow down Florida’s offense. While the Gators are only averaging 71.3 points per game, good for seventh in the SEC, they are shooting close to 44% from the floor thanks in large part to Castleton’s efficiency from the floor.

Oats said he’s going to rely on Charles Bediako to slow down the 6-foot-11 scorer. However, due to his recent trend of getting into foul trouble early in games and recovering from his recent injury scare against LSU, Oats said he’ll be ready to throw multiple defensive options at Castleton.

“I’m not sure that too many of our guys got him one-on-one, but they also have shooting over the floor,” Oats said. “It’s what makes it difficult like, they don’t make it easy to double him because you don’t want to give up open threes to the shooters that they’ve got on the floor. It’s gonna be a tough cover. Our guards are gonna have to put all the pressure on the ball, we’re gonna have to make it difficult to give him the ball where he wants it. … If our intensity is where it needs to be, I think we can make things a little more difficult just in general overall.”



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