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Less than a week after their two-point, heart-breaking loss to Colorado in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Gators men’s basketball team lost guard Riley Kugel to the transfer portal.
The sophomore bid farewell to Gator Nation in a social media post Wednesday afternoon.
https://twitter.com/RileyKugel/status/1773037714801095056
Kugel’s Regression
Despite Florida’s improvement as a program, Kugel has regressed in production from his freshmen season, in which he made the All-SEC Freshman Team.
Florida won an additional eight games from last year, even finding themselves ranked in the Top-25 at different points throughout the season.
But despite averaging the same number of minutes per game, 23, Kugel didn’t see the same improvement. In fact, he actually dropped in points and field goal percentage. He averaged 9.2 points per game this season.
Kugel often times found himself as a non-contributor in big games down the stretch.
In the last 10 games Kugel has suited up for, he has scored 10 or fewer points in each.
It’s seemed like the writing has been on the wall for a while now after many Florida fans had high expectations going into Kugel’s sophomore year.
This regression came as a shock to many, as he had draft hype prior to the start of this season.
What’s Next?
NEWS: Florida guard Riley Kugel is entering the transfer portal, a source tells me.
Kugel is a former 4⭐️ recruit from Orlando who played two seasons for Todd Golden at Florida.
He averaged 9.2PPG, 3.6RPG, 1.6APG and 1.1SPG for the Gators this season. Significant portal… pic.twitter.com/nc6jM4UTHn
— 24/7 High School Hoops (@247HSHoops) March 27, 2024
As of today, there is no leader in the Kugel sweepstakes.
However, fans have speculated Kugel could follow in the footsteps of former Gator Trevor Etienne and become a Georgia Bulldog.
For Etienne, the transfer made sense on the grounds of Georgia football’s prowess. Georgia basketball, however, went 6-12 in the SEC and finished just 20-16.
Another team that fans have speculated Kugel could be transferring to is Kentucky. In their last five seasons, they’ve had four 20+ win seasons. Also, in the last few years, Kentucky has produced some premier talent in NBA like Tyrese Maxey, Tyler Herro and Immanuel Quickley, just to name a few.
