Florida guard Will Richard declares for 2024 NBA Draft, maintains college eligibility
Florida guard Will Richard has declared for the 2024 NBA Draft but will maintain college eligibility, he announced via social media on Wednesday.
Richard averaged 11.4 points per game during his junior season with the Gators. He began his collegiate career at Belmont and will have two years of eligibility remaining if he chooses to take his name out of the NBA Draft pool.
However, unlike many in his position, he will not be entering the transfer portal.
“I’m excited to announce that I will be declaring for the 2024 NBA Draft while maintaining my eligibility,” he wrote. “In the event that I return to college, I will be returning to (none) other than the University of Florida. I have every desire to fulfill my dreams of playing in the NBA and will allow for the process, and feedback from NBA teams to make a draft decision.”
Earlier this season, Richard eclipsed 1,000 career points in a win over Georgia in February. Scoring 20 or more points on six separate occasions, he was a key piece to the Gators’ efforts this past year. The Gators had a strong season under second-year head coach Todd Golden, going 24-12 (11-7). Florida advanced to the NCAA Tournament, before losing a heartbreaker to Colorado in the opening round.
Before college, Richard was unranked in the On3 Industry Ranking, which is a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services.
Florida forward Aleks Szymczyk also enters NCAA transfer portal
Florida forward Aleks Szymczyk has entered the NCAA transfer portal, On3 has learned.
Szymczyk missed all of last season with an injury. He appeared in 14 games as a freshman in 2022-23, averaging 2.1 points and 1.3 rebounds per game.
Szymczyk, who is from Frankfurt, Germany, signed with the Gators out of Gymnasium München-Nord-IBAM.
With Florida dealing with injury issues late in his freshman season, he played in the final seven games in 2022-23, averaging 3.4 points and 2.3 rebounds during that time. He finished with a career high 8 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals at Arkansas.
Szymczyk could have potentially seen a bigger role for the Gators in 2023-24, but he suffered a foot injury during preseason practice and missed the entire year. He was eventually able to return to practice, but he did not play in a game for Florida.
On3’s Matt Connolly contributed to this report.