Tag: Will Richard

Florida guard Elijah Kennedy enters the NCAA transfer portal

New Florida basketball head coach Todd Golden has three scholarships available after guard Elijah Kennedy entered the NCAA transfer portal.

The Florida Basketball Hour podcast reported that new head coach [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] will suffer more attrition this offseason on Thursday night. They tweeted that Florida freshman guard [autotag]Elijah Kennedy[/autotag] will enter the NCAA transfer portal.

Former head coach [autotag]Mike White[/autotag] added Kennedy as a late addition to the 2021 recruiting class in August. The 247Sports composite rankings have him as the 164th best player overall and as the 42nd-best shooting guard.

In 23 games last season, Kennedy averaged only 1.3 points on 21% shooting from the field, 0.7 rebounds and 0.3 assists in 6.4 minutes per game.

Playing time would’ve been hard to come by for Kennedy if he elected to stay. Golden brought in guards [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] and [autotag]Trey Bonham[/autotag] while [autotag]Niels Lane[/autotag] and [autotag]Kowacie Reeves Jr[/autotag]. remain on the Florida roster.

His departure frees up a third scholarship spot that Golden can use this offseason. Florida will likely use two spots on guards and another one on a big man.

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The Athletic doesn’t think too highly of Florida’s Todd Golden hire

The Athletic is a bit more lukewarm on the Todd Golden hire than others.

College basketball has seen a great deal of turnover at the head coach position in 2022 and the Florida Gators were among the many to refresh its bench with a new name. Though the transition from the [autotag]Mike White[/autotag] era was anything but smooth, the Orange and Blue quickly found their man in [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag], a young up-and-comer with a strong focus on analytics and an NBA-style approach to the game.

The jury is still out on the hire, but that has not prevented anyone from opining on the move, including the Gators Wire staff who gave its roundtable take a month ago. Along with Sports Illustrated, which was bullish on the decision to bring Golden to Gainesville, The Athletic’s Brian Hamilton also graded out the many coaching changes.

Hamilton had a less optimistic view on things, placing the move in the middle of the road at Tier 3 (out of a total of five tiers). Here is how he justified his grade.

From the outset, the 36-year-old Golden appeared to be a top target for Florida administrators. He’s one of the keener analytics-heavy minds in college hoops and has a self-assured, serrated sideline personality to boot. (The worst epithet in a Golden program is “soft.”) Best-case? Florida found another [autotag]Billy Donovan[/autotag]. The enormous variable is fit. Golden is basically a lifelong West Coast guy — an Arizona native who played at Saint Mary’s and coached at San Francisco the last five years. He spent four years combined on staff at Columbia and Auburn, but that’s comparatively a blip. Golden has one season of SEC recruiting experience, though he and his staff are off to a decent start: They held on to four-star 2022 signee [autotag]Jalen Reed[/autotag] and landed two well-regarded transfers ([autotag]Alex Fudge[/autotag] and [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag]). Many more brawls to come, though. It’s odd. Florida fans should be happy with the search while also remaining curious, fairly, about where the on-floor results will land on the spectrum: Boom or bust or dang near anything in between.

Hamilton is not wrong about the boom-or-bust breadth of the hire, but given the direction the college game is heading and the importance of preparing players for the next level, Golden offers a higher probability of success than failure despite his lack of big-time experience as a head coach. If nothing else, the brand of basketball he brings to the O’Connell Center is one that the fans will enjoy and that is something the Gator Nation can get behind.

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Two incoming Gators make The Athletic’s best fit list out of the transfer portal

Will Richard and Alex Fudge figure to be two big additions to the Florida roster this season.

Transfer season is in full swing for the college basketball world and enough players have found new homes for The Athletic to take a crack at ranking the best pickups based on how well players fit their new squads. Two incoming Gators made the list, Belmont transfer [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] and LSU transfer [autotag]Alex Fudge[/autotag].

Richard is the higher-ranked of the pair at No. 4 and is described as “the perfect test case to find out what this Florida staff is capable of.” He’s got three years left of college eligibility and the tools to turn into one of the conference’s best wings after a year of development.

Richard has all of the tools to be a potential pro wing down the road. He’s the kind of player as a two-way wing that is really hard to find in the portal, and the kind of guy you can build just about any type of team around. He might not average 16 per game next season, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him as a Day 1 starter averaging 13 points, four rebounds, a couple of assists and a couple of steals while providing a great impact as a winning player.

That’s as strong an endorsement as you can get as a transfer, but Richard will have to live up to the hype in an SEC that only figures to get stronger with time.

Fudge is a bigger project player than Richard is and lands at No. 13 on the list. Defensively, Fudge is an asset for any program, but his offense is questionable at this stage and there’s [autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag] on the floor to worry about.

The fit here could also depend how he pairs with Colin Castleton. If they develop chemistry where Castleton learns to find him in the dunker spot when his man goes to help on Castleton post-ups, maybe it works out. But if those two log a lot of minutes together. [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] is going to need to surround them with shooting.

Gambling on Fudge is worth it for the Gators because he’s considered one of the transfers with the highest upside in the cycle. His block numbers translate to first-round pick level, but the scheme at LSU wasn’t quite right. If Golden can bring in the right pieces around him, Fudge’s untapped potential is there for the taking at 18 years old.

The Golden Era of Florida basketball appears to be off to a promising start with strong transfers coming in early. There are still a few more scholarship spots on the roster open too, so Golden can still add a few more names to the list.

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Florida basketball scores transfer portal win with this point guard

The Gators got their replacement for Tyree Appleby on Monday.

Florida basketball added another player from the transfer portal to its roster on Monday when former Virginia Military Institute point guard [autotag]Trey Bonham[/autotag] announced on Twitter that he is joining new head coach Todd Golden and the Gators for the 2022-23 campaign. After the departure of [autotag]Tyree Appleby[/autotag] to the portal, it looks like UF has found its replacement at the one position.

The 6-foot, 170-pound from Mobile, Alabama, was a standout with the Keydets over the past two years, averaging 13.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, four assists and 1.3 steals per game last season en route to an even .500 record with 16 wins and an appearance in the College Basketball Invitational. His scoring efficiency stands out as his carrying trait, putting up a 47.8% mark from the field while nailing 34.8% of his three-pointers and 82.6% of his free throw attempts — numbers that Golden is certainly salivating over.

Bonham is the third player to arrive in Gainesville via the transfer portal, joining former LSU forward [autotag]Alex Fudge[/autotag] and Belmont guard [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag]. Florida will also benefit from the return of center [autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag], up-and-coming guard [autotag]Kowacie Reeves[/autotag], as well as guard [autotag]Niels Lane[/autotag] and forward [autotag]CJ Felder[/autotag].

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Florida guard Myreon Jones set to return for extra year

First Colin Castleton announced his return to Florida basketball and now Myreon Jones has done the same.

On Monday, [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] received the good news that [autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag] would be exercising his extra year of eligibility to return to Florida for another season. Six days later, [autotag]Myreon Jones[/autotag] followed in his footsteps and decided to return for a super-senior season, according to a report from Jon Rothstein.

Jones’ return gives the Gators a veteran ball-handler in the backcourt to pair with rising sophomore [autotag]Kowacie Reeves[/autotag] and Belmont transfer [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag]. There’s also sophomore [autotag]Elijah Kennedy[/autotag] and incoming freshman [autotag]Denzel Aberdeen[/autotag] to consider in the backcourt rotation.

The thought was that Florida would need to grab a point guard from the portal after [autotag]Tyree Appleby[/autotag] announced his decision to transfer, but Jones fills that spot in nicely. Golden can still go after someone he likes in the portal with three open roster spots, though.

Jones transferred from Penn State in 2021 and averaged 8.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game with the Gators as a senior. He was very streaky over the season and finished with the season shooting 35.5%. Most of Jones’ shots came from beyond the arc, which made for some exciting offense at times. His best performance came against Georgia when he made seven three-pointers en route to 23 overall.

If Jones can find some consistency, he can be a valuable piece of this Gators team. Golden’s usage of him could help Jones improve his stats and allow the younger guards to grow as the seasons unfolds.

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Where does Florida basketball stand? The Athletic breaks down current roster

The Athletic broke down Florida basketball’s current roster while giving fans an idea of what holes head coach Todd Golden is trying to fill.

New Florida head coach [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] earned his first significant victory when he convinced center [autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag] to return for a fifth season. He was Florida’s leading scorer, rebounder and shot-blocker last season.

However, Golden still has a lot of recruiting left to do with three spots left on the Gators’ 2022-23 roster. The Athletic spoke with Golden about Castleton’s return while breaking down the state of Florida’s current roster.

Gators Online reported that the Gator Collective played a factor in Castleton’s decision to return. However, Golden also pitched that he would build the team around the big man and that the team would be good enough to make the NCAA tournament.

“That’s similar to Colin, where my thought was if he came back and bought into what we were doing, it would be much easier to build an NCAA Tournament roster around him,” Golden said. “That’s something he’s really passionate about accomplishing, after having a sour taste in his mouth last season.”

Golden added that he wanted to develop Castleton’s touch from deep because it’s a critical part of the offense.

The former San Francisco head coach spent a lot of energy and time on recruiting guard [autotag]Myreon Jones[/autotag] to come back for another season. After transferring from Penn State, Jones struggled mightily to find his footing with the team. Golden believes the key to getting Jones back to the sniper he was with the Nittany Lions is rebuilding his confidence.

Another recruiting victory Florida and Golden earned was when Belmont guard [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] chose to transfer to Gainesville. He should immediately slot in as a starter or as the team’s sixth man.

The Gators will also return [autotag]Kowacie Reeves[/autotag], [autotag]CJ Felder[/autotag], [autotag]Jason Jitoboh[/autotag], [autotag]Niels Lane[/autotag] and [autotag]Elijah Kennedy[/autotag] while adding high school recruits [autotag]Denzel Aberdeen[/autotag] and [autotag]Jalen Reed[/autotag].

Reeves picked up his scoring quite a bit later in the season, averaging 16.3 points per game in the team’s final three contests after only scoring 5.5 earlier in the year. Felder had one of the team’s best plus-minus but only tallied the ninth-most minutes on the team. He should play a lot more next season given Golden’s emphasis on analytics.

Then The Athletic wrote that the Gators want to add a point guard or two and frontcourt depth. Florida’s targets in the backcourt include Bradley’s Terry Roberts, SMU’s Kendric Davis, Charlotte’s Jahmir Young and VMI’s Trey Bonham. Then its frontcourt prospects are LSU‘s Alex Fudge, Morehead State’s Johni Broome and Nevada’s Warren Washington.

Golden has made quite a bit of progress in retooling the Florida roster, so it can get back to the NCAA tournament next season.

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Todd Golden lands first transfer commitment as Florida’s head coach

Todd Golden got his guy. Welcome to the Swamp, Will Richard!

Former Belmont guard [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] announced his commitment to the Florida Gators on Saturday.

Richard becomes the first player to commit to new head coach [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] after picking the Gators over Clemson, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest. As a freshman, Richard started 30 of 33 games averaging 12.1 points and 6 rebounds per game. His best scoring performance (22 points) came in an NIT loss to Vanderbilt.

The 6-foot-5-inch, 195-pounder entered the portal on March 22 and Golden immediately got to work. The two spoke daily until Richard finally made it to campus on April 7, and the decision came shortly after that trip.

Richard’s commitment comes on the heels of [autotag]Tyree Appleby[/autotag]’s decision to transfer from UF for his final year of eligibility. [autotag]Tuongthach Gatkek[/autotag] also hit the portal and [autotag]Anthony Duruji[/autotag] declared for the NBA draft. Golden is still working on getting [autotag]Colin Castelton[/autotag] to return, but Florida needs help from the transfer portal to turn things around.

Landing Richards is a good start. He’s one of the more productive names in the portal and figures to be the primary ball-handler for the Gators next season. Pairing him with [autotag]Kowacie Reeves[/autotag] would give Golden a talented duo in the backcourt to work with.

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5 names Dana Altman and the Ducks should pursue in the transfer portal

The Oregon Ducks roster is currently in flux, but should they pursue the transfer portal here are five early names to consider.

Dana Altman and the Oregon Ducks are heading into an offseason with a lot of uncertainty surrounding the current roster. Today’s transfer portal era, along with the added year of eligibility for many players due to COVID-19, makes it very difficult to get a sense of what next year’s roster will look like.

Is Will Richardson going to return for one more go-round in Eugene? Will N’Faly Dante test out the draft waters? Will transfer talents like De’Vion Harmon and Quincy Guerrier look elsewhere after missing out on the NCAA Tournament? What about bench players like Franck Kepnang, Rivaldo Soares, and Nate Bittle?

At this point, the only roster change known for coach Altman’s squad is that  big man Isaac Johnson has entered his name into the transfer portal. Until there is a firm update on guys like Richardson, Dante and others, it will be hard for this team to seriously investigate the talent available on the transfer portal.

However, the Ducks could absolutely use the portal to their advantage again this offseason, like they’ve done with guys like Harmon and Guerrier.

So, while we don’t know exactly where Oregon’s needs will be next season – and we’ve only seen a small handful of players enter the portal – this is far from a comprehensive list of players Oregon could try to get in the green and yellow next year.

Instead, this is just a look at one player at each position who would be a good fit in Eugene next year – should Altman and company have a need at that spot: