Transfer guard Julian Rishwain signs with Florida Gators
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida men’s basketball coach Todd Golden struck again in the portal Friday, landing one of his former players at San Francisco. Transfer guard Julian Rishwain announced his commitment to the Gators on social media.
Rishwain is the second portal addition this week for Golden and his staff. UF beat out LSU on Wednesday for top-60 overall transfer Zyon Pullin, who signed Thursday.
The 6-foot-5 Rishwain played for three seasons at San Francisco — including two under Golden — after his freshman season at Boston College. He produced his best scoring averages under Golden in 2020-21(7.9 PPG) and 2021-22 (7.4 PPG).
“Julian was an integral part of our NCAA tournament team at San Francisco,” Golden said. “He’s an efficient shot maker who had some of his best games against top competition. He has been a part of successful teams and has a great understanding of what it takes to win.”
A native of Los Angeles, Rishwain played 34 games in San Francisco’s NCAA Tournament season in 2021-22, shooting 43 percent from 3-point range (55-for-128). He posted a 20-point outing in the 2022 WAC Tournament championship game against top-ranked Gonzaga.
In 2022-23, Rishwain moved into the starting lineup for 11 of his 20 appearances before an injury ended his season in January. Now he reunites with Golden, and their relationship dates back to Rishwain’s recruitment while Golden was an assistant coach at San Francisco.
“Coach Golden was the first coach to recruit me when he was an assistant at USF,” Rishwain said. “He offered me my first scholarship. I developed the best relationship with him amongst all the other coaches recruiting me. I ended up committing to Boston College but decided to transfer after my first year, and USF was the main destination because Golden was then the head coach and a rising star in the coaching world.”
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Rishwain has totaled 28 double-figure scoring games and four 20-point outings, including a career-high 25 points at BYU in 2021. He’s made least four made 3-point field goals in nine career games.
Rishwain has 652 career points scored in 107 games, primarily coming off the bench with 14 career starts. He entered the portal as a grad transfer on May 31 and has one year of eligibility remaining.
Rishwain is the Gators’ sixth addition via the transfer portal this offseason, joining Pullin, Walter Clayton Jr., Micah Handlogten, EJ Jarvis and Tyrese Samuel. Florida’s freshmen signees, Thomas Haugh and Alex Condon, have already enrolled to take part in summer workouts.
“Excited to play again for [Golden] and his high-energy style,” Rishwain said. “He’s a player’s coach and has always had great relationships with all the dudes on the team. He brought the best out of me during his time at USF, so I’m really excited to get the opportunity to reunite with him in Florida.”
Rishwain also crossed paths with several other now-Florida staffers at San Francisco.
“Looking forward to reconnecting with coaches Kevin Hovde, Jonathan Safir, Victor Lopez and Kevin Olsen,” Rishwain said. “Having all these coaches at Florida was key to my decision to transfer and will for sure make the transition smoother.”
