Florida Gators

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Florida basketball team returned from holiday break Christmas night and right away began shaking off three days worth of rust to get ready to open the Southeastern Conference season three days later at reigning league champion Auburn. After two practices, though, the coaching staff didn't like what it was seeing from freshman guard Riley Kugel. 

"He just wouldn't do anything," recalled UF associate head coach Carlin Hartman. "He wasn't being difficult or anything like that. Maybe he wasn't ready to come back. Maybe he was missing his mom. I don't know, but we weren't going to play him."
 

A call went to Kugel's mother in Orlando, who was planning to make the drive to Auburn. She was told her son would sit that game and was explained why. Mom and Dad said they understood and took the news in stride. It was how Kugel reacted that got him to where he is right now.

And right now he's one of the hottest players in the league.  

The circumstances are pretty rich, actually. Kugel was a DNP at Auburn in his first SEC game. Ten weeks later, he'll start at guard for the Gators (16-15) when they take on Mississippi State (20-11) in their second-round matchup Thursday afternoon in the SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena. Kugel will do so having been named Monday to the conference's All-Freshman Team and in the midst of a Florida rookie scoring spree the likes of which has not been seen since current NBA star Bradley Beal wore a Gators jersey 11 years ago.

"If he wasn't as mentally tough as he's proven to be he wouldn't be in this position," Florida coach Todd Golden said of his prized 6-foot-5, 207-pound freshman and blossoming star. "He made the commitment to continue to practice really hard, have a great mentality, great mindset, achieve the different things we put in front of him as coaches and now he's reaping the benefits of that." 

[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]

Kugel, a top-50 national prospect who helped guide Orlando Dr. Phillips High to the 2021 Class 7A state championship, originally signed with Mississippi State — funny how things work out sometimes, given UF's Thursday opponent — but coaching changes in Starkville and Gainesville altered both his destination and destiny. The call from the new Gators' coach came just a few days after winning that state title. 

He was still on something of a high when Kugel answered his cell. 

"Best phone call I've ever had," said the Nebraska native who grew up in Kansas City, moved to Orlando with his family when he was nine and spent the last 10 years growing into one of the that area's best high school prospects of the decade. "As soon as I hung up I knew I wanted to be at Florida."

It would have been hard to envision Kugel's incredible trajectory from UF late-addition (he signed last May) to late-arrival (didn't show up on campus until August) to late-bloomer (read on). He was a picture of inconsistency early on, missing a maddening number of easy shots around the basket. As the game slowed down for him Kugel put better stuff on tape. Just over a month ago he was averaging 6.6 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. OK digits for a freshman, but nothing to make anyone stand up and take notice.

Since? 

"He got comfortable. Comfortable with being at UF. Comfortable with school. Comfortable with us as a staff," Associate Head Coach Korey McCray said. "And then when we needed someone to step up, he was comfortable with that too."

Kugel's ascension hit overdrive when the Gators lost forward and three-time All-SEC standout Colin Castleton to a season-ending broken hand. UF had to find production elsewhere. Kugel obliged. 

"The biggest thing for me, I think, was I just started playing harder," Kugel said. "I attacked every play 100 percent, where I think the first half of the season I'd take a play off here and there. I'm full-go now."

Here's what full-go Kugel looks like: Over the last eight games, including five since Castleton's injury, Kugel averaged 18.3 points per game (21.0 over the previous four), shot just shy of 54 percent from the floor and 41 from the 3-point line to go with 3.5 rebounds per game. He also flipped a negative assist-to-turnover ratio to the positive side. 

CHARTING THE GATORS — TALE OF THE TAPE 

A contrast of freshman guard Riley Kugel's numbers earlier this season vs. his current eight-game hot streak.

First 22 games	Statistic	Last 8 games
139 / 6.6 per game	Points / Average	146 / 18.3 per game
49-116 / 42.2 percent	Field goals-Attempts / Shooting percentage	55-102 / 53.9 percent
16-43 / 37.2 percent	3-point attempts / 3-pointer percentage	14-34 / 41.1 percent
52 / 2.5 per game	Rebounds / Per game	29 / 3.5
18 vs 31	Assists vs Turnovers	16 vs 10

In Saturday night's regular season-ending 79-67 home win over LSU, Kugel put the Gators on his back over the final 15 minutes by scoring 17 of his game-high 21 points, hitting six of his eight shots, four of five 3s, and doing so with the look of a guy who believes he can get his shot —a step-back 3, a pump-fake and drive, maybe a paint pull-up, finger roll or downhill Euro-step — any time he wants. 

"I can," he said. 

Well, OK then.

It's a trait not many Gators teams have had since Scottie Wilbekin and his 2014 SEC Player of the Year season (Tre Mann, Kevaughn Allen, maybe Chris Chiozza come to mind). Kugel definitely got 'em when he wanted last week in teaming for a pair of terrific performances alongside sophomore guard Will Richard in helping lead the Gators to a couple wins to wrap the regualr season after dropping three straight following Castleton's injury. Seeing Kugel and Richard scoring a combined 82 points and bombing 13 3s over the two games made for encouraging signs not just for a team that refused to merely ride out the year, but also for what the Gators have to build around for next season.  So, about that next season. His recent run of production — though a small sample size — has engendered speculation that Kugel could either test the NBA underclassmen process (a very possible scenario) or in this bold, new Name, Image and Likeness world see what the transfer portal has to offer (a potentially headache-inducing scenario). 

Kugel has been asked about all this recently. More than once. 

"I just want to get through the season and finish out good," he said Tuesday. "We can talk about that later." 

Golden, when asked, was adamant that a first-round NBA grade on Kugel would be a no-brainer to make the jump, but also looked at the bigger picture. A larger sample size, as in an entire sophomore season of this kind of production, could rocket Kugel up the draft boards. Way up. 

"First round, it's hard to turn that down, right? But if he's not, he shouldn't," Golden said. "If he comes back and has a great year, which he would, I think he could go really high and that's the thing he's got to think about. The great thing is Riley is happy here. He's got a great comfort zone, doing well academically and doing what we asked him to do. We'll keep working with him and supporting him and hope he continues to play really well down the stretch." The better he plays, the better the chances for the Gators, obviously. He's been really good at home and on the road of late, but now gets to take the SEC Tournament stage against the team he originally signed with. Kugel already has checked that matchup box, having tallied eight points and five rebounds amid a rain of boos in UF's 61-59 win at Mississippi State on Jan. 21. 

Now comes a rematch with the Bulldogs. If the Gators are fortunate enough to advance to Friday's quarterfinals their reward is a date against tournament top-seed, regular-season champion and No. 2-ranked Alabama. He had 15 points and six rebounds at Tuscaloosa last month, but his numbers were mostly window dressing in UF's 97-69 blowout loss. 

Florida is a very different team than it was in February. Castleton's loss is a big reason for that, obviously, but so is Kugel's coming off age, as the Gators have morphed from a low-post oriented team to a perimeter one, with a rising-star freshman is its alpha dog. 

"One thing I respect about him is that he's a chill, quiet young man. Doesn't get too high or too low and doesn't brag on himself, other than maybe putting some highlights on Instagram," McCray said with a grin. "And he comes to play in big games."

And that's what the Gators really, really like that about him.