ORLANDO, Fla. — Riley Kugel’s basketball journey started at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando.
He spent his first two years of college basketball at Florida before transferring to Mississippi State last year. For his senior year, he came back home to play for UCF.
What You Need To Know
Orlando native Riley Kugel transfered to UCF for his season season.
Kugel spent two seasons at Florida and last year at Mississippi State.
He is the Knights leading scorer so far this season, averaging just under 18 points a game.
“It just felt right,” Kugel said. “It was one of those things, like a full-circle moment. I would say we always had that connection, growing up over here. It feels good every time I put this jersey on. I just want to represent it well.”
Kugel is off to a solid start this season, leading UCF in scoring with close to 18 points a game. He is also averaging three assists a game.
“(We’re) excited about Riley being a part of our program,” said UCF men’s basketball head coach Johnny Dawkins. “He’s a hometown guy, and he wanted to come back home. He wanted to do something special in his hometown, and I respect him a great deal for that.”
UCF sixth-year forward Devan Cambridge simply calls Kugel “the guy every night.”
Kugel said he is excited to be a part of a talented team.
“You can see we have the talent. We have the pieces. We can do it for sure. It’s just how bought in we are. There’s going to be adversity. Everybody has adversity during the year so it’s just how well we attack it,” Kugel said.
Dawkins said the important part now is blending all that talent together.
“He is just continuing to grow with our players getting chemistry and continuity with the guys on his team. But as far as an individual talent, the young man is very, very talented and I think he’s a player that can help us as we go into the Big 12 play,” Dawkins said.