Florida guard Riley Kugel, after entering transfer portal is now a Kansas Jayhawk

I believe I originally said “I’m not sure he integrates well on this team.”
It has nothing to do with fairness.
I hope it works for him therefore I hope your prediction is correct because I like the kid.

 

It was awesome.

Now it would be a technical foul.

 

Ok look. This is a silly discussion we are having. When I said it’s not fair, I was saying that you were the one who said you didn’t think he would fit in. I said I think he would. Then you implied that I was the one taking a stance while you were neutral. I wasn’t talking about any fairness woth respect to Riley. It was about your characterization of our conversation. It’s all good though.

 

Bill Self is a great coach and if anyone can get Kugel to play within his system, it's this guy. Riley seems like a great kid with a very high upside and Self must believe he can take the great athleticism and turn him into a positive team contributor. Wish him the best unless he plays the Gators.

 

As a two degree alumni of Illinois I was glad to see him leave. He left a great team behind that almost won it all for a great coach that couldn't recruit Chicago.

 

Fair enough!

 

You were glad to see Bill Self leave Illinois?

 

AJ Storrs committed to Kansas and reportedly is getting NIL money in an amount between $750,000 and $1 million. It’s starting to look like Riley will be coming off the bench at Kansas.

 

It was pre-game....def a T if it happened during the game.

 

Were yall expecting him to start? Unless he improves drastically in the offseason, I sure wasn’t expecting him to start there. Maybe at a mid major.

 

I didn't expect him to start there. His elite athleticism has not been enough to overcome his several deficiencies. He has areas he can improve that might get him to where he wants to be but that'll take time. Might have been better served going to a program like a quality midmajor or a lower-tier P5 school, but then you're looking at a pay cut.
He was frustrating while here, but I actually wanted him to stay at UF because he could provide a spark off the bench and still has the potential to become a high-caliber player. He might come to regret leaving.
But, Mr. GatorPlanet, you ask, what things can he improve? Well, first, his 3-point shooting will probably never improve significantly. Some guys are naturally good shooters and some guys aren't. He's an "aren't." But he can become a better free-thrower with lots of work. You see guys get better at that. He can get better at finishing through contact, and if he does that concurrently with better free-throwing, that would be major. He can get a little better at ballhandling. Perhaps his biggest deficiency was decision-making, and that can be improved a lot...and needs to be. He can get a lot better at frame of mind.
The young man still has two years of eligibility. He might suddenly find his game like Casey Prather, who struggled with many of the same issues Riley does (and who also never became a good shooter).

 

Yeah if Riley is expecting to be “the man” somewhere, then go to a mid-major. Don’t go to a Blue Blood. Unless as someone mentioned that if it was a shoulder issue since Wake Forest then perhaps if that heals he thinks he can get back to his old self (though tough since shoulder injuries linger) and maybe start….and perhaps even excel….but who knows. Otherwise he sounds a bit delusional.

 

Decision making with shots, passing, defense, etc is by far number 1. His free throw shooting was just ok but won us a game going 6-6 at the line late if I remember correctly.

 

There’s chatter in the KU camp that Kugel may not qualify academically. Is that something he was having issues with?

 

Not that I know of.

 

Apparently Riley has yet to officially sign with Kansas

 

it would t shock me of Riley didn’t play at KU next year