Florida’s top priority in the transfer portal has been to find a guard that can absorb the minutes and shots taken by Walter Clayton, but they have also been looking at getting a true wing that can add size to the perimeter.
Enter Cedric Coward, a 6’6”, 190 pound wing who enters the portal from Washington State.
Coward has had an interesting path in his college career. Hailing from Fresno, California, Coward started his career at the D-III level where he scored 19.4 points per game as a freshman. This earned him the opportunity to transfer to Eastern Washington where he was for two seasons. After a strong start to his division one career with a productive role off the bench, Coward took off in 2023-24 where he averaged 15.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game for an Eastern Washington team that won the Big Sky regular season title.
Following that season, Eastern Washington’s head coach David Riley got the Washington State head job. Coward, among his other talented teammates, were thought by many to be poached by some of the top teams in the country. Surprisingly, Coward, along with some of his productive teammates, chose to follow Riley to Washington State.
Coward started the 2024-25 season just like he left off the year prior, averaging 17.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game. Then, sadly, Coward suffered a brutal shoulder injury and was hit with a four to six month recovery window–ending his season that was off to such a strong start.
Since hitting the portal, Coward has heard from a number of top programs who see his productivity and size translating to the highest level of the sport. After making some cuts, he has made his final list that consists of Florida, Alabama, Duke, Kansas, and Washington. He is also testing the NBA Draft waters, though he is fully expected to return to college.
As a player, Coward is known for his offensive versatility. Somewhat of a “bully” wing, Coward likes to play an old school style of taking his defender down on the low block and using his physicality to score on post moves. Largely playing the shooting guard or small forward position for both Eastern Washington and Washington State, Coward almost always had smaller players on him and he could take advantage of the physical mismatch in a way you just don’t see all that often in modern basketball. He also liked to use that physicality as a driver, as when he takes the ball to the rim he invites contact to either draw fouls or brush off his defender on the way to a lay up. Coward was one of the most efficient finishers at the rim in the country in 2023-24 at Washington State, and his length and muscle is a huge reason why.
Of course, Coward is not just an interior player having hit 39% of his three-point shots at the D-I level, and he looked to be off to his strongest shooting season ever in 2024-25 where he was hitting 40% on five attempts per game before his injury.
Defensively Coward has good length, though he isn’t particularly fast or flexible in a way that allows him to be a complete shutdown player on that end. While he’s not the type of dominant lockdown defender you’d love to see from a 6’6” wing he is still more than capable.
Coward might not be a flashy player that’s going to lead a high-major team in scoring, but he’s an excellent complementary scorer whose offensive versatility will allow him to fit in any system. It’s not yet known when Coward will make his decision but he is certainly a player to watch out for.