One key piece of the puzzle back in place. Richard averaged 11.4 points during his junior season with the Gators and scored 20-plus points in six games. He also eclipsed 1,000 career points in February. Richard is up to 1,143 points in college (11.3 ppg). In his two years at UF, he has 744 points, 287 rebounds and 121 3-pointers made in 68 appearances with 65 starts.
Like Clayton, wanted to go through the workouts, get feedback, see where he was at and what he needed to work on going forward.
Richards and Clayton coming back add alot of offense, thats for sure! Glad we will see both of these young men back in a Gator uniform!!!
Great news! You know Will could have gone to a mid major team and been "the man." Happy he and Clayton are back.
Listened to a podcast that argued we shouldn’t expect Richard to be a good perimeter shooter because of his percentages as a frosh and junior. Okay. Richard, by year: 32-40-35-?? Pullin: 28-39-31-39-44 Oldest adage is the only thing that gets better with age in hoops is shooting. Sure, you have anomalies like Boynto, who shot 40+ as a junior, but overall in the low 30s. He also had a funky shot and was never expected to be a knockdown shooter. Generally, though, if you have good form, like Richard, you can improve as a shooter with more reps. That’s what we most need from him this year.
Well, in his first season as a Gator, he was Mr. Consistency. This past season, good, but a bit more inconsistent. I don't think it's that he became a worse player, but that teams were scheming to get him out of his comfort zone more.
Yep, he was the best at getting that call. But they changed the rule on that afterwards and you can't get away with kicking your leg out like that anymore.
it's interesting...he had 8 o-fer games with zero 3pt FGs made last season....3 in the OOC schedule where we won all 3, then for his 5 o-fers in SEC league play and SECT we were 1-4. Versus in SEC games when he made at least one 3FG, we were 12-6 We often went where Richard went as a team
Yeah, every shooter has bad days, but we were a worse team when Richard was having a bad day. Need to cut those bad days way down this season. I'm confident he will, because he Will.
During his evaluation period by the pros, I hope he received some firm takeaways on things to work on if he wants to continue his career beyond next year
Interesting article on 247 about Richard and working out for NBA teams: "[NBA teams] were basically saying that I'm a good 3-point shooter and that I've gotten better as a defender but for me to take that next jump, I need to be elite at one of those things," Richard shared. "They said that the elite guys that stay around in the NBA specialize in one area that keeps them around for a long time, so whether that's me being a great shooter and taking a big jump in that or being a lock-down defender on the other end. For me, I just want to work on both of those things." A starter for the Gators in 2023-24, Richard showed off his potential in spurts. He earned KenPom's game MVP designation six times, including four against SEC opponents, and averaged 11.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game while converting a career-high 70 3-pointers. He also scored in the double-figures in 20 contests, including six 20-point showings, and eclipsed 1,000-points in his career. "Ever since I stepped foot on Florida's campus for the first time, I knew it was home," Richard said. "I love Florida, I love Gator Nation and to be able to come back and play one more season and get a degree from the University of Florida, it definitely means a lot." Set to represent the Gators for a third season now, Richard believes it could be his best one yet. "I feel like I can be all-SEC," he said. "I feel like I can be a great player on both ends for the team. And team-wise? I feel like we can make a huge run in the Tournament. Making it to the tournament last year was good but it didn't satisfy me. I feel like there's a lot more we can do. I feel like we can go back and actually make something happen this year." https://247sports.com/college/flori...ns-to-gators-nba-draft-todd-golden-232255970/
That’s great news. All the talk about him improving as a shot creator didn’t make sense to me. He would never play that role at the next level (NBA or international). He can—and should—be an elite collegiate three and D guy. Maybe get the occasional putback or drive on the close out or run out, but he doesn’t need to worry about getting offense off the bounce. We have plenty of guys who can do that (Clayton, Martin, Aberdeen, even Kublickas). What we need is someone who can space the floor and not be a weakness on the defensive end.
He can fill the Lee Humphrey / Michael Frasier role for this team. Not the same 3-point shooter as either of those guys but he has more ability to score in the paint than either.