Florida fans were hit with an unexpected commitment from the transfer portal on Friday as guard Julian Rishwain announced his commitment to the Gators. There wasn’t much news regarding the Gators having interest in Rishwain but with the top end of the roster mostly filled it’s the point of the season where coaches are looking to round out their squads with role players–and Florida is banking on familiarity with this take.
Rishwain started his career at Boston College before transferring to San Francisco where he played for Todd Golden. Last season he suffered a devastating knee injury, derailing his senior season as he missed his final 14 games.
Golden will be banking on Rishwain regaining some of the catch and shoot magic he had in the 2021-2022 season where he hit 44% of his threes. Last season before going down to injury Rishwain struggled mightily from three hitting only 26% of his deep balls, but after 44% and 37% the two years prior, Florida’s staff is banking on some of that touch returning.
Rishwain is listed at 6’5” and hails from Los Angeles and will be entering his fifth season of college basketball. At 6’5” he’s got decent height for the two guard position where he can get his shot off against smaller defenders–something that will be important as he transitions to the SEC game. Finishing at the rim has never been a strength for RIshwain, and he knows that at Florida he’ll be there to space the floor and fill a role–exactly what the Gators need from a veteran bench piece. Given that Rishwain’s career high in points is 7.9 per game he won’t be commanding the ball or playing with an ego at Florida, he’ll be there to support Florida’s established offensive creators with his floor spacing.
With the portal being largely stripped of talent, and with the Gators already having a pretty clearly established top 7 rotation, going after a specialist role player was a tactical move by the Gators.
The key now for Rishwain will be to recover fully from his knee injury to be at 100% when the fall comes around. Rishwain already has the trust of Florida’s coaching staff from their time together at San Francisco where he knew exactly what was expected on the offensive and defensive side of the floor. His familiarity with Golden’s system will also help with all the other new players on the roster as his learning curve won’t be as steep and he’ll be able to assist some of the younger players in learning structures.
Florida now has one more scholarship remaining which they could use on a high school recruit they feel is underrated or an international prospect that might be under the radar.