Al Horford attends Florida national championship, confirms plan for next season

Florida on Monday won its first men s basketball national championship since Al Horford Joakim Noah and Corey Brewer led the Gators to back-to-back titles in and Horford was on hand to witness the end of that drought Ahead of the Celtics road encounter against the New York Knicks on Tuesday the veteran big man flew to San Antonio to attend Florida s - achievement over Houston along with his son Ean It s unreal Horford recounted CBS Sports John Fanta while celebrating on the court after the event I m so proud of these Gator boys and Gator nation Just so happy for the university for getting that third national championship putting basketball back at the top again Horford was able to enjoy the moment without having to worry about suiting up the following night The Celtics ruled the -year-old out for Tuesday s championship at Madison Square Garden continuing Horford s standard practice of sitting out one end of back-to-backs Boston listed Jayson Tatum Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis as questionable and Derrick White and Jrue Holiday as probable against the Knicks Head coach Joe Mazzulla likely will look to rest selected or the greater part of those starters either Tuesday night or Wednesday in Orlando as he prepares the Celtics roster for the looming postseason The Celtics have just two additional regular-season games remaining home against Charlotte on Friday and Sunday before the NBA playoffs begin next weekend Horford ended his -year wait for an NBA championship last season and the Celtics now are looking to become the league s first repeat champion since If they do Horford would join an specific club Just three players in history have won back-to-back titles at the NCAA and NBA levels Bill Russell KC Jones and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar And he remains hungry for more While praising Florida star Walter Clayton Jr Horford indicated he plans to return for a th NBA season Clayton is just a winner Horford advised Fanta He knows how to play and I know that I m going to be playing against him next year in the pros in the NBA Maybe he ll be with us who knows But I m sure he ll be playing in the NBA Whether Horford still will be with the Celtics when Clayton enters the pros remains to be seen He is in the final year of his contract and Boston could face a roster crunch this offseason as it navigates new luxury tax penalties Horford remains a valuable contestant for the C s however starting games this season and delivering standout performances against the likes of Nikola Jokic Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James Since the start of March Horford is averaging points and rebounds per meeting and the Celtics have won of their last games with him in the lineup