As Florida continues to scour the globe for overlooked talent to bring to Gainesville their sights have moved to France, where they have recently offered a guard named Evan Boisdur.
Boisdur, currently 19 years old, is playing for club Gravelines-Dunkerque, splitting his time between the top club which plays the fantastic top division of French professional basketball and the “Espoirs” team–the U-21 development league that has been producing incredible talent. For years Espoirs has been known in European circles as one of the best places for young players to go and develop, and now that college coaches in America have found out about this they have sunk their teeth in and have started to pull some fantastic players to the NCAA, and starting this upcoming season you will certainly see some of these players explode onto the scene.
While he has had a few chances to jump on the top club and play a few minutes, Boisdur has spent much of his time at the Espoirs level where he can play more minutes and develop–and develop he has. This season he has averaged 21.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 2.5 steals per game performing as one of the top players in the league. He is shooting just 31% from three, but get this–he is averaging 9.1 attempts per game, which tells you a few things. First, he’s getting valuable reps, and second–he is going to be taking a lot of tough ones, just by nature of the ability to get that many shots up.
His ability to take 9.1 threes per game perfectly transitions into talking about what Boisdur is as a player. A lead guard who handled nearly all the point guard duties for his Espoirs team, Boisdur is someone who can handle a lot of usage whether in transition, as a pick and roll ball handler, or as an isolation player. Florida’s coaches have always loved the idea of “usage,” particularly after their first year in Gainesville where they didn’t have many players capable of shouldering much offensive load, and let me tell you–Boisdur is high usage. Watching Gravelines-Dunkerque the ball each play starts in the hands of Boisdur, and after he gives it up if they play dies for whatever reason it is ending up back in his hands where he can create a shot in the late clock. Listed at just 6’1” he is small–but he’s plenty athletic and has thrown down a number of highlight reel dunks this season that look all the more impressive given that they’re coming from a player without huge physical stature.
Looking at the advanced numbers, Boisdur is particularly skilled in transition and in pick and roll–something that Florida’s coaching staff has been looking for in lead guards.
The biggest issue with Boisdur is his lack of size as a skinny 6’1” guard. The vertical pop makes for some nice highlights but isn’t always enough when it comes to playing against size, and you’ve seen him struggle to convert in the paint and times. He is also someone who thrives with the ball in his hands but isn’t someone as good in a spot up role which is one of the reasons he hasn’t been super successful when playing with the top club (though, it should be noted that 19-year old players are seldom successful playing in top European leagues). This has been somewhat of an issue for Urban Klavzar who struggled to get in Florida’s rotation due to his role being best with the ball and him not being as comfortable away from the rock, but the Gators are willing to work with this archetype.
Much like year one Klavzar, Boisdur is likely someone who would be seen as more of a development piece than someone who could contribute right away, though he wouldn’t be all that uncomfortable on an SEC floor right away should he earn a reserve role.
Right now it’s not known who all is in talks with Boisdur, but the teams involved will likely try to keep things quiet so as to not build attention that would get more schools involved.