Will Richard gifts Florida fan his game-worn shoes after national championship

One lucky fan went home with a souvenir on Monday night in San Antonio. After Florida defeated Houston 65-63 in the National Championship, Gators guard Will Richard gifted his game-worn shoes to a young fan in the stands.

The starstruck kid looked on in awe as Richard signed the pair of sneakers and handed them over. It’s hard to blame the young fan for his reaction.

Richard was the best player on the court in the win, tallying a game-high 18 points and eight rebounds while shooting 5-10 from the field and 4-7 from beyond the arc. After the game, the senior guard reflected on his standout performance.

“Just trying to make plays to help us stay in the game, help us give our ourselves the best chance to win,” Richard said. “They were guarding Walter and other guys pretty hard. Walter had seven assists. Even when they were guarding him so hard, I feel like he still made plays to help the team win. Just a good job by the team staying aggressive throughout that.”

This kid just got Will Richard’s shoes —
signed — from the national championship game. pic.twitter.com/GO9lShOEWJ

— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) April 8, 2025

While Richard’s offense jumps off the stat sheet, his defense was equally pivotal down the stretch. Most notably, Richard stripped Houston’s Emanuel Sharp with 26 remaining in the game, causing the ball to bounce off Sharp’s leg and go out of bounds.

Houston was trailing Florida by one point at the time of the turnover. Richard’s heads-up play led to Florida making a bonus free throw on the end of the court, padding the Gators’ lead ever so slightly before Houston’s final possession.

Now, the Gators are national champions for the first time since 2007. After the game, Florida head coach Todd Golden reflected on Will Richard’s clutch defensive play.

“Down the stretch, we just made some big-time winning plays defensively,” Golden said. “It’s all kind of cloudy and a blur, but the one that sticks out is when I believe it was Sharp drove right off the right lane line, and Will was guarding somebody in the corner, ripped and stripped right off his leg with a minute 10 or a minute to go. That was a huge play for us.

“… We’ve stayed the course all year and worked really hard. My best answer is I’m just really proud. I’m proud to be the head coach of Florida. I’m proud of the way our players performed. I’m proud of the way our staff prepared our guys to become national champions.”