Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Zyon Pullin had just wrapped the most anticipated media session of his young Florida career. Pullin, the grad-transfer point guard, was forced to sit out the first three games of the Gators' 2023-24 season for taking part in exposure games during a spring dalliance with the NBA draft evaluation process. That third and final game was Tuesday, a win over Florida A&M, during which Pullin played good solider at the end of the UF bench cheering on his teammates. 
 

Now, he's eligible to play – and is going to play a ton – starting Friday night at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center when the Gators (2-1) square up against Florida State (2-0) in their annual rivalry showdown. 
 
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]

Pullin was mostly smiles during his 10-minute interview session Thursday, a chat that touched on the anticipation for his UF debut, his time as an All-Big West Conference selection at California-Riverside, his overall skill set, the frustration of sitting out last week's loss against Virginia, chemistry with teammates, etc. 
 
As the sturdy 6-foot-4, 206-pound left the scrum he was asked about his biggest rivalry game back at UCR. 
 
"Probably California Baptist," he said. "Yeah, I know, this will be different."
 
Prediction: Pullin (aka "ZP") is going to enjoy his big-time college basketball experience.

Here's another prediction, this one coming from Pullin's coaches (past and present) and teammates: He's going to be a big-time difference-maker for the Gators. 
 
"Zyon coming back will make everybody on our team better," UF coach Todd Golden said. "I think the easiest way to explain it [is] having a guy who can be a floor general out there. A guy that's a really good on-ball defender. A guy that won 20 games [last season] and played four years of college. A guy that just really understands winning and will be a welcome addition for us." Ideally, Pullin would have been available to face a tough and disciplined UVA team last week in Charlotte, N.C. Instead, his arrival comes as the Gators are set to face a Seminoles squad that is vastly improved from last season's 9-23 debacle, a game that will start a run of four straight against power conference opponents. 
 
In 109 games at Riverside, Pullin played eight such opponents, but don't think for a second he's not built for this jump to the next level. 
 
"I've played a lot of basketball and seen a lot of different things," Pullin said. 
 
Last month, Pullin demonstrated some things in the Gators' two closed scrimmages, including his one-on-one attack down the lane and fall-away bankshot to beat '23 Final Four participant Miami in a 91-89 shootout. 
 
Here's a stat: Florida was plus-14 when Pullin was on the floor against the Hurricanes and minus-12 when he wasn't. 
 
"Zyon is an elite organizer who will put everyone in their right roles," UF associate head coach Carlin Hartman. "He'll do it organically, just by being on the floor."
 
Added junior guard/forward Will Richard: "He can do so many different things, from scoring to facilitating to defending. He's just going to bring a whole new element to our team."
 
That's what Pullin did at Riverside, where over four seasons he averaged 12.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists and just 2.0 turnovers. As a senior last year, he scored a career-high 18.3 points, shot 48.6 percent from the floor, 39.4 from the 3-point line and knocked down 77.1 percent of his free throws on his way to first-team all-league honors on a team that went 22-12. He did it all with a stoic, business-like, on-court demeanor.
 
"But don't mistake his quietness," UC-Riverside coach Mike Magpayo said. "He's a silent assassin."
 
With substance behind the statistics. 

CHARTING THE GATORS 
Zyon Pullin's four-year numbers at California-Riverside. 
* First-team All-Big West Conference selection (honorable mention in '20-21 and '21-22)

Season	Games / Starts (Mins)	Scoring avg.	Pct. FG / 3pt / FT	Rebounds	Assists	Turnovers
2019-20	31 / 0 (17.6)	4.1	35.5 / 28.6 / 65.9	2.1	1.8	1.4
2020-21	22 / 22 (31.4)	12.1	47.9 / 39.6 / 80.0	4.9	4.5	1.9
2021-22	27 / 26 (34.7)	14.3	47.3 / 31.1 / 76.7	5.6	4.3	2.3
*2022-23	29 / 29 (33.9)	18.3	48.6 / 39.4 / 77.1	4.4	4.2	2.4

 

Magpayo recalled an offseason meeting when he visited Pullin at his mother's apartment in Pleasant Hill, Calif., about 20 miles northeast of Oakland. Raised in a single-parent household, Pullin was looking after his younger siblings that afternoon when he saw his little sister duck into the kitchen to get a late-afternoon treat. 

Big brother snapped at her. "No!" 
 
Dinner was in 30 minutes. 
 
"The guy is just so put together," Magpayo said. "About the right things. Always on time. Always where he's supposed to be. Did everything the right way. Got his business [marketing] degree in four years. I really can't say enough about him."
 
Magpayo spouted those accolades Thursday night from the airport in Raleigh, N.C., as his team was heading to Chapel Hill for a Friday game at No. 20 North Carolina. He would have loved to see Pullin, still in a Highlanders jersey, get in a stance against R.J. Davis or drive the lane on Armando Bacot, but he understands why his former star went looking for a greater challenge and is delighted he ended up at Florida alongside Golden, one of his best friends. 
 
"Zyon loves the moment. He has such a great poise about him and I'm really feeling it without him right now," said Magpayo, whose UCR teams won eight final-possession games the last two years, mostly because of the calm and steady play of their point guard. "When people would say after a win, 'Nice job, you out-coached them,' I'd say it was because I just got the ball in Zyon's hands."  He also helped put Pullin in Florida's hands.

Magpayo and Golden go back to their early coaching days. They were on the same staff at Columbia and had one season together at San Francisco before branching off on their respective paths. When Pullin entered the NBA evaluation process, Magpayo was pretty certain his floor leader had played his final game at Riverside. He was either going pro or going elsewhere. 
 
As it turned out, Pullin was one of the last underclassmen to exit the NBA eval process and after the Portsmouth Invitational games entered the transfer portal, where in June he was a late but very hot commodity. Xavier and LSU were deep in the mix, but the Gators had an advocate out west. Magpayo knew how much Golden's system mirrored Riverside's and that Pullin could flourish at Florida.
 
"It kind of made it an easy transition," Pullin said. "I didn't have the biggest spotlight over at Riverside, so just playing on that stage that Florida could offer was something that kind of jumped out to me and thought would be in my best interest." 
 
And now the Gators are whole.  With Pullin running point, Walter Clayton Jr. (13.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists per game) can move to his natural spot off the ball. Those two, plus Riley Kugel (14.0 ppg) and Richard (12.1 ppg), are going to put a lot of pressure on defenses, especially with Pullin's ability to get in the paint and either toss in a floater or deliver a lob to a rolling big man. Clayton is very good at that, too. Kugel is also a penetration threat. Now, opponents will need concern themselves with all three. 
 
In the loss to Virginia, Clayton played 35 minutes and Kugel 34 against elite on-ball defenders. That was too many and the effects showed up in the form of fatigue-induced turnovers late in the game. Adding Pullin will allow the Gators to distribute those perimeter minutes more evenly, but also give the team a prototypical point guard and standout defender.
 
"I just think he'll take a lot of the load off his teammates. His ability to guard and get us into offense will allow other guys on the team to be themselves and not to have worry about some things. It all balances out," UF assistant John Andrezejek said. "And ZP never gets too high, never too low. He's the rudder. He's going to steady the ship."
 
The Seminoles, under Coach Leonard Hamilton, always present a physical challenge at both ends. Hamilton's teams are large, lengthy and get up into opponents in the defensive halfcourt. 
 
Pullin can't wait for the challenge. He was built for this.
 
"Super excited," he said. "[After] sitting these past three games, now I get to put that jersey on."
 
A Florida jersey. Welcome to the big time.