After enduring a disappointing 2021-2022 basketball season, Athletic Director Scott Stricklin knew Florida’s program needed a positive change regarding the coaching staff. To do this, Stricklin fired longtime Gator Head Coach Mike White, and hired San Fransisco’s Todd Golden as Florida’s next head coach. In addition to filling out his entire coaching staff, starting with the hire of Kevin Hovde, Golden has also begun to take steps in improving the Gators’ 2022-2023 basketball roster. As of April 13th, Golden has convinced Belmont Guard Will Richard and LSU Forward Alex Fudge to both transfer to Florida. The additions of Richard and Fudge are major for the Gators, as they’ve already seen Tyree Appleby (Transfer Portal), Anthony Duruji (NBA Draft), and Tuongthach Gatkek (Transfer Portal) depart the program. Luckily for Florida, two-time All-SEC Center Colin Castleton has announced he’ll return for his senior season at Gainesville, as he led the Gators in PPG (16.2), RPG (9.0), and BPG (2.2) last season.
Will Richard, PG/SG, University of Belmont
After visiting the University of Florida on April 7th, Richard wasted little time in making his transfer decision, officially declaring to Florida just two days later. At the time of his decision, Richard was also considering transferring to Clemson, Wake Forest, or Georgia Tech, all ACC programs. With Richard officially a Gator, he projects to take on a multitude of different roles for Florida as a well-rounded combo guard. Richard did a bit of everything for Belmont this season, averaging 12.1 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 1.8 APG, and 1.2 SPG in 33 games. Richard also posted quite efficient shooting splits, going 46.8% from the field, 32.6% from three-point range, and 80.4% from the free-throw line. With Richard able to knock down spot-up shots, pull up off the dribble, and attack the basket with ease, he gives Golden and the Gators a legitimate scoring threat beside Castleton.
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Alex Fudge, PF/C, Lousiana State University
While Fudge didn’t have the statistical success that Richard did this past season, his situation at LSU wasn’t too ideal. As a former four-star recruit in 2020, Fudge decided to join LSU to begin his collegiate career. This quickly backfired on Fudge and LSU, as the program had no choice but to fire head coach Will Wade after he allegedly violated NCAA rules. This has fueled a major player turnover at LSU, as all eleven of LSU’s scholarship players have either declared for the NBA Draft or have transferred. With this being said, the addition of Fudge is a good one for Florida, as he’ll likely take the place of Duruji and Gatkek in the frontcourt. Standing at 6’8″ and 185 pounds, Fudge showed the potential of becoming a star, averaging 3.3 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 0.8 SPG, and 0.6 BPG while shooting 42.4% from the field. Fudge is certainly a work in progress, but he has a much better chance to succeed with Golden in Gainseville rather than he did with Wade in Death Valley.