Florida basketball: Gators in top five for senior transfer at guard

Florida basketball had been thought to be done in the transfer portal after essentially remaking its roster and filling in key holes at positions of need.

But Todd Golden and the Gators are making a run at one last guy in the portal who could add to their backcourt depth and run alongside Walter Clayton Jr.

Zyon Pullin, a transfer from UC Riverside has named his top five schools, with the Gators making the cut. Other teams on the list include LSU, Xavier, Gonzaga, and Michigan.

Each season with the Highlanders, Pullin has gotten better. He’s been playing 30+ minutes for three years and has gotten his numbers up to 18.3 points per game, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.2 assists.

His shooting percentage is also up throughout his career, now at 48.6%, and his three-point shooting has fluctuated but was an impressive 39.6% last season.

One thing he could stand to work on a bit is his free throw shooting. It isn’t bad by any means at 77.1%, but Golden would like his guards to have a higher make rate from the charity stripe.

But Zyon doesn’t always need free throws to score when it matters. Over his career, he’s dealt multiple lethal blows to the opposing team with game winners for UC Riverside.

If the Gators can close on Pullin, I think it would bump Will Richard out of the starting five. Pullin would run the backcourt with Clayton, Riley Kugel would get the start at the three, with EJ Jarvis and Micah Handlogten as the two big men.

This would take pressure off of Richard to be as high-volume a scorer as he used to be, and give the Gators a more dynamic player at the two-guard spot.

Golden has been elite in the portal all off-season, and finishing it off with Zyon would be spectacular for this Gators’ roster.

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