After a slow start, this former UK recruit is playing like a star for Florida
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Former UK basketball recruit Boogie Fland has been a star player for Florida this season.
- Fland was a class of 2024 recruit who was committed to play at UK for coach John Calipari.
- Fland played for Calipari at Arkansas as a freshman, before transferring to Florida.
When Kentucky basketball travels to Gainesville for Saturday afternoon’s Top 25 showdown against the Florida Gators, an old friend will be ready to face the Wildcats again.
Sophomore point guard Boogie Fland is a name plenty of UK fans are familiar with.
A five-star recruit and a McDonald’s All-American, Fland was originally committed to Kentucky as part of John Calipari’s six-player 2024 recruiting class (which included current Wildcat Jayden Quaintance). That recruiting group never materialized at UK following Calipari’s departure to Arkansas. In the aftermath, three of those six recruits, including Fland, followed Cal to Fayetteville.
Fland’s freshman season with the Hogs was a success — he was averaging 15.1 points and 5.7 assists per game — before a right thumb injury derailed things and forced him to miss two months. While Fland returned for Arkansas’ three NCAA Tournament games, he wasn’t the same player.
Then came an offseason filled with twists and turns. Fland entered his name into both the NBA draft and the transfer portal. Despite being projected as a second-round pick in the draft, the expectation was that Fland would be turning pro.
That didn’t happen.
Fland attended the start of the NBA draft combine, but withdrew his name from draft consideration during the event. By the end of May, he was committed to play his sophomore year at Florida.
“Boogie, really hard worker, coachable. I think came in with a great mentality, is allowing us to guide him. A great competitor,” Florida head coach Todd Golden said of Fland prior to the season at SEC media day.
In landing with the defending NCAA champions, Fland joined senior guard Xaivian Lee (formerly of Princeton) as part of an elite pair of backcourt additions from the transfer portal. The importance of their arrival was heightened by the departure of senior Denzel Aberdeen, a key bench player who hit the portal — ultimately committing to UK — shortly after Lee committed to Florida.
Despite being a celebrated transfer addition, Fland got off to a slow start at Florida. During nonconference play, Fland had three games in which he recorded more turnovers than assists. The Gators went 1-2 in those games, with losses to TCU and Duke.
But Fland has rounded into form since the start of SEC play.
In conference action, Fland is averaging 11.5 points and 5.0 assists per contest. Fland has hit the four-assist mark in five of Florida’s past six games.
In the Gators’ most recent game — a Wednesday night win at Georgia — Fland went for 15 points, including his first made 3-pointer since Jan. 13. But Fland had no assists in the 20-point Florida win, marking the first conference game this season in which he had more turnovers (two) than assists.
After dropping its opening SEC contest at Missouri, Florida has won nine of its past 10 games on the way to occupying first place in the SEC standings.
As the head of the snake, Fland holds plenty of responsibility at both ends of the floor. His improved consistency on offense hasn’t come at the expense of his defensive skill. The 6-foot-3 Fland is averaging 2.0 steals per game.
“Obviously, he’s a terrific offensive player. On film, I’m impressed with what he’s doing defensively,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said Thursday. “Like, I’m really impressed with his impact on the game defensively. He’s a steals guy. He’s a passing-lane guy. He’s pesky... On film, it looks like he has some length. It’s problematic. He’s challenging passes out of ball screens. He’s kind of having a real impact on the game there.”
Putting aside the right thumb injury that took him out of action last season, Fland has enjoyed a solid two-year run at point guard in the toughest conference in college basketball. But that’s not projected to earn him an NBA draft spot this year.
At this stage, Fland isn’t likely to be selected in this summer’s draft, which is set to feature one of the strongest draft classes in recent history. This means Fland will likely spend at least one more season in college, whether that’s at Florida or elsewhere.
For Kentucky’s purposes, neutralizing Fland’s offensive playmaking while being cognizant of his defensive abilities on Saturday is all that matters. And the Wildcats will be tasked with taming Fland again March 7 in the regular season finale at Rupp Arena.
While Fland spent his first college season at Arkansas, he was out injured and didn’t play in the Razorbacks’ rousing win at Rupp Arena last season. This means Saturday will be the first time Fland plays against the college he nearly attended.
