Updated March 21, 2026, 5:37 p.m. ET
TAMPA – The second was by no means as soon as about Rueben Chinyelu.
In Florida basketball’s dominating first-round NCAA tournament win over Prairie View A&M on Friday night time, the Gators’ large man broke a program record that had stood for 50 years. Chinyelu recorded his nineteenth double-double in a single season – with extra alternatives forward as Florida (27-7) advances to the Round of 32.
Right after reaching the milestone, his teammate and fellow middle Micah Handlogten ran as much as congratulate him.
“Hey, man, congrats, that’s sick,” Handlogten recalled to The Gainesville Sun.
Despite already having constructed up a 30-point lead over Prairie View A&M, Chinyelu’s consideration didn’t shift.
“We still have work to do,” Chinyelu replied.
By the top of the sport, Chinyelu posted 14 factors and 13 rebounds.
“Even up 50, he was still focused on the game,” Handlogten stated. “That just kind of shows that he doesn’t care about records. He wants to win. It’s inspiring to see where he has come from to where he is now.”
As an additional testomony to Chinyelu’s selflessness, as he checked out of the sport with roughly seven minutes to go, he started turning his consideration on energizing the group with one purpose: getting Olivier Rioux, his 7-foot-9 teammate, into the sport.
“He’s going to cheer you up,” stated Rioux, who contributed a dunk within the remaining minute of the sport. “He was spinning my head. Not a lot of people are like that.”
Rioux added that second completely captured who Chinyelu is, as he shifted the main target from himself, and as a substitute tried to construct up his teammate.
“It’s very amazing,” Rioux stated. “He’s one of a kind. He is the kindest person ever. He will scold when he needs to scold you, but it’s always on the court. It’s always for you to move forward.
“He does a lot of work towards the double-doubles. His grind in doing that is amazing.”
That sentiment was shared by Alex Condon, who credited Chinyelu’s work ethic as being the basis of his success.
“I looked up, and he had 11 (points) and nine (rebounds) at halftime,” Condon stated. “It’s pretty crazy. Just the mentality he comes with every game. He doesn’t have any nights off.
“He works harder than most guys in the NCAA, I feel like. He deserves it 100%.”
The record that Chinyelu now claims as soon as belonged to Bob Smyth, who set the mark again within the 1975-76 season.
“I got an email from the family when I tied with him, and it was really just beautiful to just see that,” Chinyelu stated. “Just having them reach out to me and saying how they feel really good just hearing his name called again, so that’s just a big thing to me. I really respect that and value that. I’m trying to just do whatever I can to just keep doing that and just paying homage to him.”
For Chinyelu, what he says he’ll remember the most from the record are the guys he had achieved it with.
“I’m just glad that I’m able to do this with this group because when I look back in 20 years, these guys were all part of my success,” Chinyleu stated. “We did something. It’s something I’ll always cherish because now it’s already there. It’s history, and it’s going to be there.”
Rueben Chinyelu’s double-doubles this season
- 10 factors, 16 rebounds vs Florida State
- 16 factors, 10 rebounds vs Miami
- 14 factors, 21 rebounds vs Merrimack
- 13 factors, 10 rebounds vs Providence
- 12 factors, 11 rebounds vs Saint Francis
- 16 factors, 12 rebounds vs Colgate
- 13 factors, 12 rebounds vs Dartmouth
- 17 factors, 16 rebounds vs Tennessee
- 19 factors, 12 rebounds vs Oklahoma
- 20 factors, 10 rebounds vs Vanderbilt
- 15 factors, 21 rebounds vs LSU
- 14 factors, 11 rebounds vs South Carolina
- 14 factors, 17 rebounds vs Alabama
- 10 factors, 16 rebounds vs Texas A&M
- 10 factors, 12 rebounds vs Kentucky
- 15 factors, 17 rebounds vs South Carolina
- 12 factors, 16 rebounds vs Arkansas
- 11 factors, 11 rebounds vs Mississippi State
- 14 factors, 13 rebounds vs Prairie View A&M
Reach Florida Gators author Andrew Abadie at AAbadie@usatodayco.com or on X (previously Twitter) at @AndrewAbadie. You can even discover him on Facebook at Andrew Abadie Sports Reporter or on Instagram @andrewabadie_sports.
