Riley Estelle Kugel (born November 30, 2003) is an American
college basketball player for the
Mississippi State Bulldogs of the
Southeastern Conference (SEC). He previously played for the
Florida Gators
The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...
.
Early life and high school career
Kugel grew up in
Orlando, Florida
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...
and initially attended Central Florida Christian Academy. He transferred to
Dr. Phillips High School
Dr. Phillips High School is a public high school in Dr. Phillips, Florida, United States, near Orlando.
It serves the Dr. Phillips census-designated place (CDP), the Bay Hill CDP, and the residential portion of Lake Buena Vista.
History
Dr ...
after his sophomore year. Kugel averaged 16.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game as a senior.
Recruiting
Kugel was rated as a four-star
recruit. He initially committed and signed a National Letter of Intent (NLI) to play for
Mississippi State. Kugel was later released from his NLI upon his request after Mississippi State fired head coach
Ben Howland
Benjamin Clark Howland (born May 28, 1957) is an American college basketball coach who most recently served as the men's head coach at Mississippi State University from to 2015 to 2022. He served as the head men's basketball coach at Northern Ar ...
. He ultimately committed to play for
Florida.
College career
Florida
Kugel became a starter for the Florida Gators midway through his freshman season. He finished the season averaging 9.9 points and 2.8 rebounds per game and was named the
Southeastern Conference (SEC) All-Freshman team.
During conference play, he averaged 12.6 points, the most by a Florida freshman since
Bradley Beal's 14.4 per game in the 2011–12 season.
He considered entering the
2023 NBA draft, but ultimately decided to Florida for his sophomore season. Before the start of the 2023–2024 season, he was named to coaches preseason All-SEC first team. Kugel announced his intention to transfer out of Florida in March 2024.
Kansas
Kugel announced his commitment to
Kansas on March 31, 2024. He announced on May 8, 2024 that he would not play for Kansas after all.
Career statistics
College
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
2022–23
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...
, style="text-align:left;",
Florida
, 32 , , 17 , , 23.0 , , .456 , , .376 , , .663 , , 2.8 , , 1.0 , , .8 , , .2 , , 9.9
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
2023–24
, style="text-align:left;",
Florida
, 33 , , 11 , , 23.3 , , .394 , , .312 , , .696 , , 3.5 , , 1.5 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , 9.2
, - class="sortbottom"
, style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career
, 65 , , 28 , , 23.1 , , .423 , , .342 , , .678 , , 3.2 , , 1.2 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 9.5
References
External links
Florida Gators bio
2003 births
Living people
American men's basketball players
Basketball players from Orlando, Florida
Dr. Phillips High School alumni
Florida Gators men's basketball players
Point guards
Shooting guards
21st-century American sportsmen
{{2000s-US-basketball-bio-stub