Starting at a new school and joining a new team can be hit or miss. When a graduate transfer comes in, he can either gel with his teammates and be that one missing piece the team needed, or it can be an awkward fit and hurt team chemistry.
The Canyon Barry success-story from last season gave the Florida Gators high hopes for more graduate transfers in the future.
The Gators acquired Russian guard Egor Koulechov from Rice looking to get more of the same results this season, and early on, his story seems to be shaping out in a very similar way.
It’s not always easy for guys to come in and immediately make connections and fit in with players who have been playing together for years, but that part wasn’t a problem for Koulechov.
“The one thing is just having that chemistry with your team, and that’s the thing that’s probably been the easiest,” he said. “More just because the guys here are so great and that’s made the transition so easy for me.”
A lot of that has to do with Koulechov coming in and learning his role the right way. Mike White said he has watched him approach it in nearly the same way Barry did a year ago.
While he is technically a veteran, Florida is a completely new place to him. He knew he had to tread lightly to not step on any toes right away.
“Same thing I said about Canyon at this time last year, and they have differences, but these are some of the similarities,” White said. “I think Egor’s got some more leadership stuff than he’s showing right now, but I think he’s in a good place, because it’s organically evolving, and we’re allowing that to happen. I think he’s being smart about it. He’s getting to know his teammates and they’re getting to know him better, and it’s a process.”
Koulechov navigated through the process of building relationships and trust with his teammates well, but he still had to get through the process of learning a completely new scheme on the court and figuring out where his place is within that scheme. That was a little more difficult.
He scored 18.2 points per game last season at Rice, and he could probably make a three-pointer with his eyes closed if all the rumors are true, but when he got to Florida, he had to re-learn everything again.
While he said the offense was similar, the defense was completely new. It took him a while to adjust, but sometimes it just takes one moment to have a breakthrough.
White thinks Koulechov might have had that moment last week.
“He had one scrimmage where he really played well, and he has played well since,” White said. “It’s funny how that happens, you know. He kind of had his breakthrough practice, and you say that, but he is not a freshman. But as old as he is, it’s still a new environment and it is a new locker room. I think that his body language changed that next day coming into practice. I think he calmed down a little bit as though he felt at ease.”
Koulechov said he didn’t necessarily feel like he needed a confidence boost, but it felt good to know that all the work he’s put in since he got on campus is finally coming through. Whatever changed in that practice last week has carried over ever since.
“You just go out and work hard, practice the best way that you can,” Koulechov said. “I guess it kind of clicked the last week and I’ve been getting a boost of confidence from my coaches, my teammates. It’s worked out.”
Koulechov not only has potential to add to what is expected to be a much-improved offense, but he will also be looked at as a key on Florida’s defense. White even said recently that he’s trying to change his nickname from “3Gor” to “DGor” because the Gators need him on the defensive end.
How big his role on this team will be in his final year of eligibility is yet to be determined, but Koulechov is doing everything in his power to make himself the next great graduate transfer to come through Florida.