Florida basketball recruiting: Gators sign San Francisco transfer Julian Rishwain for 2023-24

Basketball

0

Image Credit: GatorsMBK / Twitter

One day after signing likely the last big-name transfer to join the Florida Gators ahead of the 2023-24 season, head coach Todd Golden received a commitment from one of the final pieces of his roster puzzle. San Francisco guard Julian Rishwain, whom Golden recruited to the Dons, decided to reunite with his former coach and sign with the Gators.

Unlike Florida’s five other transfers, Rishwain (6-foot-5, 190 pounds) is not expected to be a high-impact acquisition but rather a roleplayer to improve the team’s bench once he’s healthy.

“Julian was an integral part of our NCAA tournament team at San Francisco,” Golden said in a statement. “He’s an efficient shot maker who had some of his best games against top competition. He has been a part of successful teams and has a great understanding of what it takes to win.”

Rishwain actually started three games for Boston College as a true freshman before transferring to San Francisco. However, after averaging 7.7 points for the Dons across two seasons, including shooting 43% from 3-point range in 2021-22, he fell off massively last year. He started 11 games but averaged just 5.0 points and hit 24.3% of his triples before tearing his ACL. It is not expected he will be cleared for offseason practice, but a chance remains he can be for the start of the 2023-24 season.

“Coach Golden was the first coach to recruit me when he was an assistant at USF,” Rishwain said. “He offered me my first scholarship. I developed the best relationship with him amongst all the other coaches recruiting me. I ended up committing to Boston College but decided to transfer after my first year, and USF was the main destination because Golden was then the head coach and a rising star in the coaching world.”

Four-star Marshall center Micah Handlogten, the 7-foot-1 Sun Belt Freshman of the Year leads the transfer class as the No. 27 prospect in the portal. Four-star Iona G Walter Clayton Jr. (No. 68) — a unanimous All-MAAC first-team selection — and four-star UC Riverside G Zyon Pullin (No. 79), who averaged 18.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists last season, are the other immediate impact players.

Three-star Yale forward EJ Jarvis and three-star Seton Hall power forward Tyrese Samuel (not regraded) are also expected to be significant contributors as part of the Gators’ six-man transfer class.

The commitments of Pullin and Rishwain continue a string of positive news for Florida, which not only added the aforementioned transfers but also got star G Riley Kugel to eschew NBA Draft interest and return for his sophomore season following a breakout campaign.

UF also officially added Australian C Alex Condon, a 6-foot-10 high school prospect who spent last year playing for the NBA Global Academy, and three-star 2023 PF Thomas Haugh (Pennsburg, PA), the No. 189 recruit in the nation.

Florida, which at one point had nine of its 13 scholarships open following offseason departures, has now just one remaining. It is not yet known whether Golden plans to fill it with a high school prospect, international candidate or another transfer. Analytic experts believe the Gators have composed a roster that will set them up for significant success should the coaching bring all the talent together cohesively.

Editor’s note: OnlyGators.com mistakingly reported that Florida had only one scholarship available following Pullin’s signing. It actually had two available at that time.