By: Eric Fawcett -- May 22, 2025 It might have taken until deep into the transfer portal season but the Florida Gators finally landed a top target to complete their new backcourt with the addition of Arkansas’ Boogie Fland. Coming out of high school Fland was an elite recruit ranking 20th in the class of 2024. As a freshman he didn’t disappoint, averaging 13.5 points and 5.1 assists per game in 21 games–a year that was shortened due to a thumb injury that took Fland out of most of SEC play. He did return for the NCAA Tournament, but after about two months off he wasn’t able to immediately play his best basketball. After the freshman season at Arkansas Fland was looking for a new opportunity and the Gators gave him just that–a chance to play for the defending National Championships in a different offensive system that could give him the opportunity to showcase more of what his game has to offer. Let’s talk about what those different skills are. What Boogie Fland Brings The Gators | GatorCountry.com
Good stuff! I was particularly excited to read about Fland's 47% on catch-and-shoot 3s. Lee should be able to find him for a lot of those. So the starting lineup looks like 3 running bigs that dominate the boards, and 2 point guards that can score. This will be different and a lot of fun.
Nice article. I think we're going to be OK offensively next season. IMO, the defense is where there's concern. Fland is quick but thin. Eric points out that Lee is not a good defender. That's a huge change from this past season. It'll be interesting to see how it works out
Guys... all of our starters next year (assuming Condo returns) are true high quality NBA prospects. All 5 of them will be drafted. NUTS!!! This is going to be so fun
My concern the whole time as well but realize Golden knows what he is doing so im sure he considers every angle when building the roster.
Yep. But on the positive side for the defense... we'll have a bunch of erasers in the interior. Also, apparently, one of the selling points on UF for Fland is our strength and conditioning. He knows he needs to get stronger and was wowed by our staff and facilities. I imagine both Fland and Lee will bulk up a little. I was listening to a podcast yesterday that had Lee Humphrey on as the guest. They asked Lee about the perimeter defensive concerns for next year, but he wasn't overly concerned, pointing out that we do a LOT of switching and that should contain scorers. Get past that and you face the erasers. Still, no one knows until they suit up against good players.
This is what you call "sticking with the process." The three transfers could not complement one another better. Xavian Lee 51% at rim (47% FGA) 36% assist rate 55% efg off the dribble (76th percentile) 0.89ppp ball screen handler (74th percentile) 1.0ppp isolation (74th percentile) 0.98ppp spot up shooting (64th percentile) 0.93ppp dribble handoffs (63rd percentile) 0.88ppp transition (30th percentile) 40% efg catch and shoot (26th percentile) Boogie Fland 24% usage rate 38% at rim (22% FGA) 30% assist rate 74% efg catch and shoot (99th percentile) 0.84ppp ball screen handler (67th percentile) 1.12ppp transition (64th percentile) 0.99ppp dribble handoff (58th percentile) 0.94ppp spot up (58th percentile) 0.68ppp isolation (38th percentile) 38% efg off dribble (22nd percentile) AJ Brown 62% at rim (31% FGA) 60 efg% catch and shoot (88th percentile) 1.16ppp spot up (86th percentile) 1ppp ball screen handler (84th percentile) 1.16ppp transition (60th percentile)
Sure. We were the sixth-ranked pace adjusted defense in the country, so approximating that was always going to be a challenge. That said, we return our top three rated defenders (using Torvik's ranking) in Chinyelu, Handlogten, and Condon, as well as a Haugh who improved throughout the season. Those guys should all be better this year, which may give us the best defensive frontline we've had since 2014 (Yeguette, DFS, Young). That will go a long way toward protecting those guards. As long as we remain a top-10 offense (which I consider highly likely) and don't drop outside of that 20-30 range defensively, we should still be really, really good. Remember that last year, Golden said his goal was to be top 40-50!
If Golden brings in a one legged 600 lb guy with no arms from the portal Im great with it. I dont know crap compared to him and he must have a reason that I am too naive to figure out. Golden has earned that kind of respect from me after what he did last year and the prior years. Full unconditional faith in the guys moves top to bottom.
Yep. Let it sink in. Blueblood UNC offered MORE money, but Fland would rather be a Gator. He knows the eyes of the nation--and the world--are on the Gators, and the future is orange and blue.
