Report: Riley Kugel won't play at Kansas, recruitment re-opened

Top transfer addition Riley Kugel will not play for Kansas in 2024-25 after all. According to Matt Norlander, the former Florida guard is back on the transfer market after initially committing to the Jayhawks.

Here was Norlander’s report from Wednesday on that development:

“Portal update: Riley Kugel won’t play at Kansas, per sources. Bill Self told Andy Katz Monday Kugel’s future w/ KU was ‘up in the air.’ Kugel (9.2 ppg @ Florida) is on CBS Sports’ list of notable 2024 transfers. He’s being recruited again by high-majors.”

Kugel was one of several notable additions for Kansas during the recent transfer portal cycle. Following a pair of promising seasons at Florida, there were flashes of a potential future star in college hoops with the athletic wing.

In two seasons at Florida, Riley Kugel played in 65 games, starting 28 of them. For his career to date, he’s averaging 9.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game. He’s also shooting 42.3 percent from the field during the course of his college career with a flair for taking and occasionally making tough two-point jumpers.

Prior to committing to transfer to Kansas, Kugel trimmed his list of transfer destinations down to Arizona, UConn, Houston, and Kansas. Along with the Jayhawks, that’s a list that included two of this season’s NCAA Tournament one-seeds as well as a two-seed. So, he clearly had a long list of teams currently at the top of the sport that were interested in adding him.

That list becomes quite relevant once again now that Kugel is out at Kansas as Norlander reports that high-major schools are expressing interest. Some of those schools have already made other additions but they all could still fit in a talent like Kugel somewhere.

There’s also a school like Illinois that could be a nice landing spot for Kugel. He fits right in the mold of your typical Brad Underwood guard as a highly athletic and talented wing who has some real streakiness to his game. That’s pure speculation, but after losing Marcus Domask to graduation and missing on some other wing targets, such as Kansas’ AJ Storr, Kugel could present a nice marriage for both sides: a team that needs a wing and a transfer that probably wants more guaranteed playing time.

Riley Kugel played his high school basketball at Dr. Phillips in Orlando, Florida. There, he was a four-star recruit in the Class of 2022, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He was also the 10th-ranked shooting guard and the 72nd-ranked player nationally in that cycle.