![Florida infielder Cade Kurland (4) rounds second hitting a grand slam during the 2026 NCAA Baseball Championship Gainesville Regional championship baseball game at Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville, FL on Sunday, May 31, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_2544,h_1431/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01ktxwzphn7pans23za4.jpg "Florida infielder Cade Kurland (4) rounds second hitting a grand slam during the 2026 NCAA Baseball Championship Gainesville Regional championship baseball game at Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville, FL on Sunday, May 31, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]")
Last season, Florida fans got to experience the saga of Jack Pyburn transferring from the Gators to LSU. There were behind-the-scenes reports of demands over playing time and money, but the end result was having a solid and fun player to cheer for walk out the door straight to a core rival.
That scene is now playing out in baseball as a key starter over the past four years has opted to take his talents to Baton Rouge for the 2027 season.
Cade Kuland leaves Florida and transfer to LSU
Cade Kurland has announced that he will be transferring to LSU. This is after Kurland had stated his main plan was to pursue pro ball when he hit the transfer portal after Florida’s season ended.
As a true freshman in 2023, Kurland was a key cog for Florida’s run to Omaha and to the championship series. He ended the year with a .297 average and 17 home runs and looked poised to be a major contributor to make up for the loss of Wyatt Langford heading into 2024.
But that’s not what played out, and Kurland’s numbers took a nosedive across the board in 2024. He still had 14 home runs, but his average dropped to .245. In 11 NCAA Tournament games that season, he finished with just seven hits, all singles.
Kurland appeared to be regaining form in 2025, but he got hurt after just 14 games, and his season was done.
This year, he appeared in 49 games, and while his power numbers never caught back up, he did cut down on his strikeouts and had an on-base percentage of .384. Kurland also cut down on his errors in 2026 and had just one this past campaign.
In this current era of the transfer portal, players are free to go as they see fit, and Florida has had its fair share of talent transfer to Gainesville via the portal, so all is fair in love and war. But what Gator fans are taking note of is Kurland’s claim he wanted to pursue “pro opportunities,” only to wind up with LSU.
And so while Kurland was a productive Gator at times, he is no longer a Gator.
And much like with Pyburn, if you ain’t a Gator…
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