Will Richard Rising Up in Ranks Among Florida Gators Teammates

Gainesville, Fla. — Entering the 2024-25 season, the No. 5 Florida Gators men’s basketball team had their bonafide star in Walter Clayton Jr. Then, they added a defensive monster in former FAU guard Alijah Martin. These two were the talk around town the entire summer.

But, one player who may need more recognition, especially with how he’s performing this season, is Will Richard.

Richard has been right up there with both of these players in this campaign and has consistently been one of the go-to players for Florida in the big moments this season.

The first example is his play in the win over North Carolina. He was a bright spot in the first half and was a calming presence in the second when things looked bleak. He finished that game against the Tar Heels with a team-high 22 points, six rebounds and two steals.

Then, just two games ago for the Gators, he feathered in the game-winning layup over South Carolina in Columbia, SC., to complete the comeback.

Once again, he was the leading scorer in this game with 22 points and logged three steals. Also, he was responsible for five of the final seven points that were needed for the Gators to pull off what they did.

Additionally, he’s taken a big leap in his development as a senior which has resulted in it looking like the game has started to slow down significantly for him.

He's averaging a career-best 13.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game while also averaging 2.0 steals per game, which is a new career-high as well. And, for the offensive stats, he’s doing this despite being a tertiary option, as he’s taken the third most shots on the team.

It gets even better, though. When you take a look at his efficiency, his overall field goal percentage has skyrocketed from the previous season.

In 2023-24, Richard saw an increase in shots from when he first joined. He went from shooting 7.0 shots a game in his first year with the Gators to 9.1 in his second. This led to a dip in efficiency, going from 49.3 to 41.1. However, he managed to re-correct course through 20 games in 2024-25 and is now hitting his shots at a .505 clip on 10.1 field goals per game.

A big reason as to why this jump occurred is because of his improved finishing at the rim and midrange scoring ability.

On the season, Richard is shooting 69.1 percent on two-point field goals. To say the least, that’s very impressive for a player of his measurables (6-foot-4, 206 pounds).

Lastly, Richard is, on certain nights, getting some of the tougher assignments defensively. Just recently, he was going head-to-head against a surefire lottery pick in the upcoming NBA and he held him in check for the most part.

In Florida’s game against Texas, Richard had the pleasure of guarding Tre Johnson. Johnson finished that game 6-for-15 and 1-for-5 from 3.

“But he made everything really, really hard for Tre tonight,” Florida head coach Todd Golden said. “he was, what, six for 15 from the field, but only 16 points, a turnover, like, he wasn't as efficient as he would have needed to be for them to beat us in here today.”

So, despite Clayton Jr. and Martin getting most of the outside recognition — and, deservedly so — outsiders mustn’t forget about Richard, who is having just as good of a season even if the numbers aren’t exactly the same.