Gators land commitment from top-50 '22 prospect Malik Reneau

The Florida men’s basketball program landed a commitment Wednesday from Malik Reneau, a highly regarded prospect in the 2022 recruiting class. 

The 6-foot-8, 210-pound Reneau is ranked the No. 43 overall prospect and the No. 6 power forward in the class by 247Sports. 

A Miami native, Reneau transferred to Montverde Academy from Mater Academy Charter prior to his junior season after helping lead Mater Academy to a 25-5 record while averaging 21 points and 11 rebounds per game as a sophomore. 

Reneau’s junior season saw him average 6.1 points in 10.2 minutes per game for No. 1-ranked Montverde Academy, although he did lead the team in field-goal percentage, hitting 68.5 percent of his shots. 

Reneau received significant interest from several in-state programs, including Florida State and his hometown Miami, and the initial belief was the rising senior would commit to the ‘Noles. 

But newly hired UF assistant coach Erik Pastrana, who arrived by way of Oklahoma State yet possesses significant recruiting ties to the south Florida area, made a full-court push for Reneau to secure Florida’s first commitment in the class of 2022.