Florida basketball 6-11 center Jason Jitoboh transferring to Tennessee State
Former Florida basketball center Jason Jitoboh has transferred to Tennessee State.
The 6-foot-11, 300-pound Jitoboh announced his transfer on his Twitter account.
Jitoboh, originally from Abuja, Nigeria who played at Hamilton Heights in Chattanooga, suffered an injury to his left eye in a game against Tennessee on Jan. 26, 2022. The recovery required several surgeries to repair damage to the retina and a ruptured muscle that controlled his eye movement.
The injury not only halted Jitoboh's basketball career, it forced him to miss a semester of coursework because he could not focus on a computer screen.
Jitoboh's career was starting to take off at the time of the injury. He had started in four games and played in 18 as a junior that season. He was averaging 4.1 points and 2.4 rebounds. He grabbed 10 rebounds and scored eight points earlier that season in a win over Vanderbilt.
Jitoboh, who now wears protective eye gear, returned this season and played in a career-high 32 games. He averaged 3.1 points and 1.5 rebounds. He started the last seven games of the season and averaged 20.1 minutes per game following an injury to Colin Castleton.
He had eight points and three blocked shots in the SEC Tournament against Mississippi State.
Jitoboh scored 221 total points and had 125 rebounds during his career at Florida. The Gators were 16-17 this season and played in the National Invitation Tournament.
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TSU is in need of help in the post. The Tigers' top two rebounders — Adong Makuoi (5.5) and Zion Griffin (5.1) — were graduate students this past season. TSU went 18-14 after winning seven of its last nine games in the regular season.
As a high school player Jitoboh was a 3-star recruit who helped Hamilton Heights to a 34-4 record and a Top 25 finish in MaxPreps’ national rankings.
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Florida basketball center Jinoboh transferring to Tennessee State
