In the transfer portal era we are seeing more player movement than ever, and it’s been a rule that has benefited the Florida Gators greatly. You know all about the players that have come into the Florida program in recent years, but you may have forgotten about some of the players that have left.
Here is a look at how all of Florida’s outgoing transfers did at their new spots last season.
Julian Rishwain
After Florida’s staff took a flyer on Rishwain to see if he could make some shots off the bench he decided to leave and go to UNLV where he could get some more playing time. This resulted in Rishwain averaging 9.2 points a game, the highest in his six-year college career. Shooting the long ball remains his strength as he hit 37% of his threes on 6 attempts per game, so it was a great season in that regard–though it was a bit of a rough year for the Runnin’ Rebels.
Riley Kugel
During his time at Florida there were some flashes of brilliance for Kugel and some flashes where he struggled, and there was a big question as to what he’d look like at a different program as opposed to Florida. After going to Mississippi State, the answer is, well… he was pretty much exactly the same. After averaging 9.9 and 9.2 points per game at Florida he averaged 9.3 with the Bulldogs, and his efficiency was about the same. He did improve by a sliver in that area, as well as a sliver when it came to turnovers, so perhaps there has been a step forward. We will see what he does now as a senior.
Kowacie Reeves
Following his time with the Gators Reeves went to Georgia Tech where he could be closer to home, but it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. His first year there was a tough one for the team in the first year after a coaching change, and this past year he had a season ending injury after just 6 games. In those games he averaged 9.3 points per game–about the number he has settled into as a college player. Due to playing just 6 games he did get a medical redshirt and will return as a fifth year player this upcoming season.
Trey Bonham
Like Reeves, Bonham is in his second year with a new program–the Chattanooga Mocs. Chattanooga had an excellent season going 29-9 on their way to an NIT Championship, and Bonham was a leader averaging 14.6 points per game while hitting 35% of his threes. Last year, his first with the Mocs, Bonham averaged 16 points per game and could have gone to a lot of schools in the transfer portal and instead chose to stay with Chattanooga and it helped him have a very successful year.
CJ Felder
Felder never really seemed to get his footing under him in his two years at Florida with injuries playing somewhat of a role, and after his time in Gainesville he headed to McNeese State who was a mid-major power under Will Wade. Despite his two years at Florida, when he got to McNeese State he was a reserve player and he averaged 6.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.
Aleks Szymczyk
A late flyer for the Gators it was fairly clear that Szymczyk wasn’t going to be a high-major player, and he chose to go to Charlotte to try his luck against AAC competition. He wasn’t able to have much of an impact in his first year, getting into 20 games and averaging 4.9 minutes.
Niels Lane
Lane is in his second year at Delaware which has been a great spot for him after his time with the Gators. One of the better athletes in the Colonial Athletic Association, Lane averaged 13.7 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.
Tuon Gatkek
Now, we’re into some deeper cuts. Following his time at Florida Gatkek went to Texas State, then JUCO again, and ended up at Little Rock where he had a nice impact with 9.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game. He was also named Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player Of The Year.
Elijah Kennedy
This is a bit of a weird one. After spending the 2021-22 season at Florida, Kennedy transferred to Texas State, where he was for both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. He was listed as a rostered player–but he never got into any games. Not “he only played a few minutes of garbage time a few times”–he truly didn’t play a second, yet stayed on the roster for two seasons. Following those two years he ended up at Hampton where he played his first minutes since 2022, appearing in 11 games and playing about 6 minutes in each of those contests.
I hope you enjoyed a look back at some of these former Gators.