Florida PG Zyon Pullin not sweating All-SEC snub from AP voters

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — League coaches recognized graduate transfer Zyon Pullin this week as a first-team All-SEC selection. He’s the first Florida point guard to earn first-team honors since 2018 (Chris Chiozza).

However, the AP voters saw it differently. They didn’t vote Pullin on the first or second team for All-SEC. It marked the first time in school history that a player received first-team honors from league coaches but was shut out of the AP All-SEC team.

“I think that was a little bit of an oversight,” Florida coach Todd Golden said of Pullin’s snub. “I think it’s pretty clear to everybody who has followed the league that he’s one of the five best players in the league this year. The good thing, ZP is really mature and I don’t think he would care one bit about it. I don’t think it’s going to bother him or upset him.”

He leads the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (4.38) and ranks second in the SEC in assists per game (5.0), second to Tennessee’s Zakai Zeigler. As Golden suspected, Pullin wasn’t sweating the snub from the media.

In fact, Pullin didn’t even realize there were two different All-SEC teams and was informed that the AP voters didn’t include him before his Tuesday availability.

“They got their own opinions,” Pullin said with a smile. “But it’s cool to get that little recognition from the coaches, you know, the guys who see it every day.

“It’s great to see the hard work kind of paying off, people seeing the work. It was something that kind of just came. Not something I thought about too much.”

Pullin is on pace to post the SEC’s best single-season assist-to-turnover ratio this century. His scoring average and assist-to-turnover ratio combination of 15.7 ppg and 4.38 has only been surpassed once nationally since the 1996-97 season (Monte Morris, Iowa St., 2016-17, 16.4, 5.17).

“He’s been one of the most consistent players in America,” Golden said. “I think he’s obviously a great young man, but a very consistent worker in his approach. For you guys that are around the team a lot, he’s never too high, never too low. Steady, focused on the floor, very rarely displays any body language outside of his pretty standard approach.

“He’s just gotten better and better, too. More consistent numbers, assist-to-turnover has been great. We’ll miss him a lot next year, as everybody knows. He’s done a great job in this rip for the Gators. … I think he knows what he’s capable of and our program appreciates what he’s brought to the table. He was recognized by the league, which I think is the most important thing for us.” 

What makes Pullin the proudest from his lone season with the Gators? Not his postseason accolade or individual stats.

“I think the biggest thing is the winning,” he said. “That was the whole thing coming here to Florida was an opportunity to win, you know, seeing the team we had. And I think that the winning takes care of all the other stuff. And I think that was the biggest thing, you know, getting this team ranked and kind of trying to put Florida back on the map from where it used to be. Putting ourselves in position to be in the tournament and all that stuff, I’d say the biggest thing.”

Zyon Pullin Q&A

On Walter Clayton Jr. being recognized too and playing with him:

Pullin: “It’s been great. It’s been a whole lot of fun. Having a talented kid like that to play with in the backcourt, a guy you can rely on, you know, made my job a lot easier. So it’s been super fun and I’m glad he got his recognition too.”

On how he developed his jumpshot:

Pullin: “It really started working out back in the day with my dad, going out to the park and stuff like that. And it just kind of naturally developed to that. But it’s got me here and it’s worked so far.”

On making 44% of his 3-pointers:

Pullin: “Not too shabby.”

On whether he has hops:

Pullin: “It’s a sneaky bounce, but I can’t show it too much.”

On broadening his game with more 3s:

Pullin: “I think it just keeps continuing to get better. Not every game I’m going to be a super high-volume dude or whatnot. But just taking the ones that defense really gives me is the biggest thing, just being ready to knock them down. You know, (that’s) what I keep trying to show.”

On if he’s more selective with his shooting:

Pullin: “Yeah. I mean, that definitely plays a part. Just time, score, the flow of the game and I think really just taking the ones they do give me.”

On improving his draft stock at Florida:

Pullin: “I think just continuing to be a pro both on and off the court is the biggest thing. Just developing those habits daily from the way you work out to recovery, film and all that stuff. So, I’d say just keep learning, keep learning, build those habits now so when I get there, it won’t be an issue.”

On how he wanted to improve his game by coming back:

Pullin: “I think just trying to figure out my role. You’re not going to go in the NBA and shoot 20 shots nd stuff like that. So really, the biggest thing is how can I impact winning, which is what I’ve tried to do here, whether that’s, coming off the bench, starting, getting others involved, getting myself going, just all the little things, defending, having to defend certain guards and stuff like that. So it’s just doing whatever it takes to win and showing that I can be versatile in that aspect.”

On never getting too high or too low as a player:

Pullin: “I think I really heard that from my AAU coach, KP. He was very big on us (being) just never too high, never too low. And that’s something I really try to live by. The downs, the tough losses, you could say. And then the big moments, you know, win at Kentucky, beating Alabama, Auburn, stuff like that. Just trying to keep a level mind and just enjoy the process.”

On if that’s the perfect attitude for a point guard:

Pullin: “No doubt. I think just really trying to balance it, making sure we’re still locked in when things are going well. Picking things up when things aren’t going well is the biggest thing. I think it’s helped me. I’ve tried to help the guys that way.”

On the SEC Tournament:

Pullin: “I think this SEC season has shown us what we can do. It’s also shown that the games we don’t show up what can happen. That’s something we’ve learned from, which is good. We need to keep a level mind. I think we’re super confident. We know what this team can do. We’ve shown it. So, there’s no doubt in our minds what we can do.”

On winning being the ultimate goal:

Pullin: “No. doubt. You don’t play to lose. The goal is to win at all. I think we’ve just got to keep taking it game by game, not look down the road to Tennessee, Kentucky, stuff like that. Just take one game at a time. And I think the rest will take care of itself.”

On the tough flight home from Vandy:

Pullin: “Yeah, I mean, we’re definitely sick. But I think it’s one you’ve got to keep learning from. It brings you back to reality. It shows you that you could beat Alabama and one of the top teams and then you can lose to one of the bottom teams. I think that we’ve really got to lock in and understand that we’ve got to show up every single game and do the little things, the little things matter.”

On if he ever doubted that he could compete at this level:

Pullin: “No, I mean, I’ve been super confident in myself. Going through the pre-draft process and playing against some of the guards, some SEC guards for example, really showed me that 100% I can play at this level. It was just a matter being put in that position. So nothing surprises me. I just keep putting the work in every single day and let the results take care of themselves.”

On if one moment showed him he could play at this level:

Pullin: “I guess Florida State, coming back for that. It’s what I kind of expected, then the games carried forward. You know, Kentucky. I’d say those were the games.”

On his favorite quote, “Without struggle, there is no story.”:

Pullin: “It just suited me at the moment, the struggles with basketball and being under-recruited and stuff like that. And just the story now, how things keep getting and better. It shows the work I’ve continued to put in.”

On the benefit of playing a game before the double-bye:

Pullin: “I’d say I align with that more. Kind of getting the first game in and getting acclimated to the environment, the court and all that stuff. Clearly, the rest is a little nicer with one less game you’ve got to play. But I think it would be good for us to kind of lock in on this first game and see where we go from there.”

On the most games he’s played in a row at a tournament:

Pullin: “I want to say two or three, but nothing too crazy. I haven’t gotten that far. But, you know, the plan is to change that this year.”

On if there’s any advantage to playing a late-night game:

Pullin: “I don’t know. We’re going to find out, but we played a couple of late games at Riverside. I probably prefer to go out and play, but I’m fine with whatever. Whatever time we play, I’ll be ready to go.”