Gorjok Gak will follow in the footsteps of stars like Scottie Wilbekin and Casey Prather after accepting a scholarship to play with the Florida Gators yesterday.
Gorjok Gak made his decision public by announcing his decision via his Twitter account.
Thankyou Jesus! pic.twitter.com/veD7JQPxNH
— Gorjok Gak (@Gorjok12) April 25, 2016
The talented 6’11 class of 2016 power forward attended St. Augustines College student in Sydney before moving to Florida to play for Victory Rock Prep in 2014. It’s no wonder Gak has had college’s excited after averaging 10.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocked shots for Victory Rock this year.
Gak spoke about his dreams to play college basketball prior and his focus on improving prior to accepting Florida’s offer.
“My ambition is to go to a D1 college, which I think I’m capable of doing. I was overlooked when I was in Australia, but now I’m getting the right exposure… I feel improvement, but I’ve just got to keep getting better”
Gak was offered scholarships from Arizona State, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma State, whom he gave a verbal commitment to in November. Gak backed out of his original commitment to OSU after it was announced they would not be retaining head coach Travis Ford for Gak’s first season.
Florida finished in 8th place in the SEC in last season with a 9-9 record. The Gators will be hoping that Gak, listed as the 26th-best center in high school by 247Sports, can help them return to their former glory.
Gak, along with younger brother and current AIS-attendee Deng Gak, grew up playing basketball in Sydney with Blacktown’s Savannah Pride. The program was founded by Blacktown resident Mayor Changi and has helped change the lives of hundreds of African migrant athletes since 2006.
The program was previously called Star Basketball and now has more than 200 boys and girls playing for the club. Savannah Pride has seen it’s talented players earn university scholarships, national team selection and even NBA contracts in the case of Ater Majok (currently playing for Trefl Sopot in Poland).
Gak is undeniably a raw talent, but should still help the Gators even whilst they await his skills to develop as what he lacks in fundamentals he more than compensates with an ability to swat shots and run the floor like a gazelle, two things which will complement the Gators “run and gun” style very well.
“It’s been a long and rugged process but couldn’t have done it without my family and basketball family,” Gak wrote on Twitter. “It’s a good day to be a GATOR!!”
Gak as well as fellow recruits Eric Hester and Dontay Bassett, will complete Florida’s 2016 full recruiting class.
Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.
