Graduate transfers have been good to the Gator basketball program, so Mike White just added another one.
Former Rice shooting guard Egor Koulechov has announced his intentions to transfer to Florida. He chose the Gators over Oklahoma and Iowa State as the latest stop in his long winded world tour. Koulechov was born in Russia, spent most of his childhood in Israel, played his final two years of high school ball in Weston, Florida and played a year at Arizona State before transferring to Rice.
Because of the graduate transfer rule, Koulechov will be eligible to play immediately, which is excellent news for a team that already figures to be loaded.
As a junior at Rice, Koulechov chipped in 18.2 points per game, good enough for second on the team just behind fellow guard Marcus Evans (19.0). He also pulled down a team high nine rebounds a game and averaged 2.1 assists per game, and perhaps most impressively, shot 47% from three point land last season. He’s an all around player, which is exactly what the Gators need after the loss of Devin Robinson to the NBA. And his commitment to Florida will eradicate some of the learning that would otherwise have to take place with new, young guys stepping into larger roles.
Basically, Florida hit the jackpot with this Israeli grown transfer.