After his arrival back in March of 2022, Florida’s 36-year-old head coach Todd Golden hit the recruiting trail in an effort to add championship level players to a program looking to get back to national relevance.
“When we first got down here, we didn’t know anybody, and we were flying around trying to figure out who we were going to add to the program. The last stop on that first, you know, tour that Coach Kevin Hovde and Coach Jonathan Safir and I had was in Nashville to go see a Belmont transfer named Will Richard,” Golden said.
Richard, who spent one season at Belmont, averaged 12.1 points per game, six rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.2 steals during his freshman campaign in 2021-22. It wasn’t just Richard’s skillset and athleticism that caught Golden’s eye, but his leadership and impressive personal qualities. After a visit to Gainesville, Richard pledged to Florida, making him the first commit under Todd Golden.
“When we first met with him, we’re like, ‘dude, this guy seems awesome’. You know, he seems like our kind of guy. And great attitude, great eye-contact, just super mature, you know, like, if we can get this guy, you know, I think it’d be a really good start,” Golden said on recruiting Richard. “And he came down on a visit, committed and, you know, we got to meet Al and Helen and spend time with them. And we’re like, if we can get guys like this, like, we’re gonna be in good shape here, you know. And so I can’t say enough about him.”
Fastforward three years later, Richard leads the way in Florida’s National Championship win over Houston, scoring a team high 18 points on 5-10 shooting while adding eight rebounds to the stat sheet. Richard kept Florida in the game when the offense was struggling, scoring 14 points including four three pointers in the first half alone.
“Just trying to make plays to help us stay in the game, help us give our ourselves the best chance to win, Richard said postgame. “They were guarding Walter and other guys pretty hard. Will had seven assists. Even when they were guarding him so hard, I feel like he still made plays to help the team win. Just a good job by the team staying aggressive throughout that.”
Winning a National Championship is special, but doing so off the back of your first commit at UF is a unique story Gator Nation and Todd Golden will remember for a lifetime. Golden took a chance on a freshman from Belmont, and Richard repaid him by bringing his coach his first National Championship at age 39.
“It feels great. I mean, since I entered the portal, Florida stood out the most, Coach Golden stood out the most to me,” Richard said. “Playing for Florida, it means a lot. Being on the team, wearing that Gator logo, it means everything. We’re paying them back by winning. You want to win at a high level, get Florida back to national relevance. We’ve done a great job of doing that.”
Richard is the ultimate teammate. The 6’4 guard was never the go to piece in Golden’s offense, but that never bothered him. Richard got his chance vs Houston and delivered on the biggest stage in the sport.
“I just feel like putting the program over yourself, just giving up yourself for the greater good of the program. Going out there and fighting for 40 minutes every time you step on the court, playing for each other, having fun doing it, just trying to win games.”