Florida Basketball: Riley Kugel lone Gator to get SEC preseason honors

There wasn’t much hope for Florida basketball when the AP and coaches preseason polls came out nationally yesterday. While the Gators picked a couple of stray votes, very few see the Gators as a top 25 squad this season.

Today, the SEC-specific media polls came out, and they confirmed that if Florida is to have a rebound season in 2023-24 under second-year head coach Todd Golden, it will need to lean on the play of sophomore Riley Kugel.

Florida Basketball: Freddy Kugel

Last season, Kugel, out of Orlando, averaged 23 minutes a game, putting up 9.9 points on a 45% shooting percentage. He was the third leading scorer on the team as a true freshman behind Colin Castleton and Will Richard.

While Richard is back, the SEC Media sees Kugel as the one to lead the Gators.

Kugel was named to the All-SEC Preseason 2nd Team, the lone Gator to be named to the squad.

As a team, Florida basketball was picked to finish 8th in the SEC, just ahead of Missouri and just behind Mississippi State.

Tennessee was picked first in the preseason poll.

With Kugel and Richard back and five new players picked up via the transfer portal, this is an important transition year for Golden to create positive momentum for the program. Last Florida had an up-and-down season but seemed on the verge of an NCAA tournament, but an injury to Castleton derailed the back end of Florida’s season. The Gators finished with a losing record after it lost to UCF in the NIT.

The Gators will kick off their season on November 2 with their Orange and Blue scrimmage before playing their first formal game against Loyola Maryland on November 6 at 8 PM.

Florida will have a busy November that includes the Hall of Fame Series vs Virginia, the NIT Season Tip-Off vs Pittsburgh, and the ACC/SEC Challenge vs Wake Forest.