Harry Fodder: How Egor Koulechov Fits In

Egor Koulechov averaged 18.1 points and shot 47.2 percent from the 3-point line during his 2017 First-Team All-Conference USA junior season at Rice.

Harry Fodder: How Egor Koulechov Fits In

Friday, April 21, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry

The Rice grad transfer will impact the Gators on both ends of the floor next season.

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida coaching staff would have done cartwheels had forward Devin Robinson (and those 11.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game) decided to return for his senior season. Check the track record. This a program that is built and thrives on upperclassmen experience and productivity.

Which also makes it an excellent landing spot for elite graduate transfers.

When 6-foot-5 forward Egor Koulechov (pronouced COO-luh-chov), his sports management degree in hand, made the decision to transfer from Rice, the 2017 First Team All-Conference USA selection went looking for a place he could take his elite skill set and — with one year of collegiate eligibility remaining — immediately compete for championships and an NCAA Tournament run.

Sound familiar?

That's what College of Charleston swingman Canyon Barry went in search of last year. No doubt, Koulechov saw how well it all worked out for Barry, the Southeastern Conference Sixth Man of the Year and second-leading scorer for UF. He saw how the Gators were bringing back three starters and five (perhaps six) players from their Elite Eight rotation; saw they were adding instant offense on the perimeter in swingman Jalen Hudson, the transfer from Virginia Tech who turns eligible in the fall; and (this is important) saw wide-open voids at both the small and power forward positions, what with the exits of two starters in Robinson and senior Justin Leon.

Koulechov, from Volgograd, Russia, has played both the "3" and "4" spots very, very well for two years.

Egor Koulechov also grabbed nearly nine rebounds a game last season.

At Rice, Koulechov amassed 1,272 points over the last two seasons, starting all 67 games for the Owls. As a junior in 2016-17, he averaged 18.2 points on 47.3-percent shooting overall and a league-leading 47.4 from the 3-point arc. Yes, 47-plus from deep. Those numbers paired with 8.9 rebounds and nearly 82 percent from the free-throw line. His sophomore stats were comparable — 16.7 points, 7.0 rebounds — except for his shooting percentages, which checked in at 41.7 from the floor and 34.2 from deep. He improved, as did his team.

He had a career-high 35 points against Incarnate Word. In a week of C-USA games against Middle Tennessee, Alabama-Birmingham and North Texas, Koulechov went for 31, 29 and 26, respectively. He scored at least 20 points 14 times as a junior and seven times as a sophomore. In 18 games this past season, he hit at at least three 3-pointers.

So what does this mean for the Gators?

First, look at what UF is losing.

Robinson's solid numbers (plus 39-percent shooting from the arc) will be missed, as will his defense that took a huge leap in the second half of the season as he learned to use his length more efficiently both on the ball and in help situations. Leon led the team in 3-point percentage at 39.8. He also was a standard-setter when it came to effort, a trait that manifested itself through hustle plays and tipped balls the likes of which became infectious among his teammates. What he lacked as a rebounder (just 4.0 per game) and defender (he struggled with lateral movement), Leon made up for in desire and usually was the hardest-playing guy play on the floor.

Koulechov is not an elite athlete like Robinson (he's estimated to have dunked maybe three times this past season), but he has some of that Leon want-to along with a nose for rebounds. He not only chases them with abandon, he fights for them and knows how to get them (he once had 17 in a game), despite lacking a big-time bounce off the floor. As far as replicating those C-USA numbers, Koulechov will find the SEC bodies bigger and stronger, but they may also initiate an even higher effort gear in Koulechov.

Defensively, however, he will be an upgrade at the "4" position.

His scoring and 3-point shooting, obviously, speak for themselves. He's not a guy who's going to go get a bucket (the Gators have some of them already), but rather best when the ball finds him open or walking into transition 3s, of which he'll get many in the Mike White system. It's hard to envision Koulechov making 47 percent in the SEC, especially after hitting just 34.2 as a sophomore at Rice. If he merely splits the difference— say, around 40 — that would be tremendous within an offense that figures to have a pair of top-shelf offensive threats in KeVaughn Allen, who led UF at 14 points per game last season, and with the addition of Hudson, and will open things for penetration and post feeds.

If he comes close to that 47 percent? Oh my.

Koulevchov averaged 34.3 minutes per game at Rice. That's a bunch. Florida's minutes leader this past season was senior point guard Kasey Hill at 28.6. Only three Gators averaged more than 26 minutes. That discrepancy surely came up with the UF coaches, but the fact is the Gators return zero minutes at the forward spot besides Keith Stone, the redshirt freshman, who averaged 12.1 over 34 games. Someone has to play there. That someone could be Stone, but he'll need to demonstrate more consistency and better defense than he did as a rookie (though his midseason bout with vertigo certainly set him back).

Now, it's still April, so it's difficult to account for how UF's four incoming freshmen figure into the rotation. For now, the impact of the quartet of swingman DeAundrae Ballard, forward Chase Johnson, center Isaiah Stokes (who is coming off reconstructive knee surgery in January) and point guard Michael Okauru — individually or collectively — is unknown.

The Gators also are awaiting word on the status of 6-11, 255-pound center John Egbunu, who suffered a season-ending knee injury Feb. 14 and is weighing his options as he prepares to graduate next week. He could return, turn pro or perhaps even opt to grad-transfer. If Egbunu leaves, Florida will have a scholarship opening that could be filled this spring or held for a prospect in the fall signing class.

So, as of right now, seven months out, UF looks like a team that would take the floor in '17-18 with Kevarrius Hayes at center, Koulechov at the power forward and Hudson at small forward, with Allen and point guard Chris Chiozza in the backcourt. That would leave Stone with a potentially big role off the bench. Ditto sophomore center Gorjok Gak, with the freshmen sprinkled throughout the rotation for depth. Don't forget Dontay Bassett, a 6-9 freshman power forward who took a medical redshirt this season after foot surgery in October. Bassett is expected to be cleared to start running in Summer "A" session and for contact come Summer "B." His role will be defined in time.

Egbunu, should he opt to return, possibly could be ready for action sometime in December. What a boon that would be, rolling his 7.8 points and 6.6 rebounds — not to mention a fifth-year senior with 90 games and 80 starts — back into the equation.

Upperclassman experience and productivity, remember?

Word of advice: Don't look at Koulechov's statistics and put expectations on him to be Florida's best player. A lot of fans did that with Barry last season, anointing him as a 3-point sniper, despite a career percentage in the low 30s. Barry, though, ended up being an ideal fit, a terrific teammate who sacrificed minutes to provide much-needed depth and, in turn, an offensive punch that Florida needed off the bench.

Now, here we go again. Another full-grown new guy with plenty to offer.

If the Gators' blueprint for Koulechov goes as planned, they're not adding a so-called best player to the mix. They're adding a potentially really good player to a team already stocked with some really good players.

Like the last one.