David WhitleyGainesville Sun
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As he sat in his usual spot, Alex Klatsky tried not to think about how Florida’s final home basketball game was evolving. It was Senior Night, a sentimental occasion that coach Todd Golden said, “can be funky sometimes.”
This one was getting real funky for Alabama.
The 16th-ranked Crimson Tide looked helpless against the Gators. As his teammates built a 20-point lead, Klatsky indulged in a fantasy.
Maybe he would get in the game.
“I usually don’t worry about that,” he said. “But it was in the back of my mind, for sure.”
It happened with 19.6 seconds left, providing a perfect ending to UF’s near-perfect home season. The Gators went 14-1 at the O’Connell Center, thanks tremendously to two seniors who were honored Tuesday night.
They would be Zyon Pullin and Tyrese Samuel. Shining examples of the new Revolving Door Era of college sports.
Senior Night also honored Bennett Andersen, Jack May and Klatsky. The latter two have been in Gainesville since Day One of their college careers.
For Klatsky, that stretches back five years.
“It feels like five minutes,” he said.
That’s about as long as many players now stay at schools. Relaxed rules allow them to transfer without sitting out a year.
Throw in NIL, and it’s increasingly rare when players start and finish their careers in one spot. To wit, all UF’s starters against Alabama were transfers.
There’s nothing wrong with that, but Samuel admitted it made Senior Night a little weird.
“Obviously, I’ve been here for one year,” he said. “But I felt the love going out there.”
What’s not to love about a guy who’s averaged 13.7 points and 7.6 rebounds a game? It’s just that the revised version of “Senior Night” takes a little getting used to.
Fans could once watch freshmen come in and mature as people and players over four or five years. Such long-term relationships have turned into one-year flings.
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Players like Klatsky are increasingly becoming relics of a bygone era, though it’s not completely their choice.
Guys like Pullin and Samuel are in high demand by other schools. Guys like Klatsky are not.
Well, he did have scholarship offers as a sharp-shooting guard from New Jersey. But his father went to grad school at UF. And as a wide-eyed kid, Klatsky was put in a basketball trance by Florida’s back-to-back national championships.
“My dream was to become part of this program,” Klatsky said. “It became my life goal.”
He walked on in 2019. The storybook tale is when a kid like that blossoms into a superstar. Scottie Pippen walked on at Central Arkansas and ended up in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Golden was a walk-on at St. Mary's and eventually became team captain. He knows what it's like to be a Klatsky.
"You got to do a lot of the heavy lifting," he said, "without much of the sugar being passed your way."
Most walk-ons either quit or are glued to the bench. Coaches and teammates love them for things fans never see.
Klatsky spent countless hours in practice, helping players like Andrew Nembhard and Tre Mann become players like Andrew Nembhard and Tre Mann. He was a perpetual boost to the team’s GPA, getting his degree in Information Systems last December.
Klatsky could have transferred to a smaller program and gotten playing time. He could have ended his career where it didn’t begin.
That was never a consideration.
“I fully bought in here,” Klatsky said. “I’ve had amazing teammates, coaches. The whole experience has been unbelievable.”
And a blur. Before he knew it, 2019 turned into 2024. Seventy-five or so home games were down to one.
The night began with Klatsky walking out with his parents. The announcer noted the 3-pointer Klatsky nailed last season against Stony Brook. Golden handed him a framed jersey.
He spent the next two hours jumping up and down from the bench. He lived and died with every possession, just as he's done since Day One.The Gators built big leads, but they’ve had a habit of squandering them.
Not on Tuesday. There was no way Alabama could rally from 20 points down with 19 seconds left.
Play stopped, and Golden hurried down the bench and told Andersen, May and Klatsky to check in.The sellout crowd roared like a funky jackhammer.
Tuesday's blowout polished Florida’s postseason credentials. It further validated the program’s ascension under Golden.
Being a somewhat silent partner in all that would have been enough for Klatsky. But getting the game on Senior Night made five years truly worth it.
“Tonight capped it all off,” Klatsky said.
His career stats:
Three points.
One rebound.
One dream come true.
David Whitley is The Gainesville Sun's sports columnist. Contact him at dwhitley@gannett.com. Follow him on X @DavidEWhitley
