Will Richard's return to the state of Florida was a special occasion. Not only did Richard, a second round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft who has carved out a role early into his rookie season with the Golden State Warriors, make an impactful appearance despite the Warriors' 121-113 defeat to the Orlando Magic β he received a national championship ring from Florida's coaching staff in front of his newfound teammates in San Francisco.
Florida head coach Todd Golden and associate head coach Carlin Hartman traveled to Orlando ahead of the contest to surprise Richard with his national championship ring in front of the entire Warriors' organization ahead of Tuesday night's contest in Orlando.
Itβs cool Will Richard received his championship ring yesterday infront of the whole team ππ pic.twitter.com/s85yQqDWYW
β aly βΆ (@jinthirty) November 19, 2025
Richard was seated next to UF legend Al Horford as he received his ring after Golden addressed the Warriors' franchise.
Undoubtedly, Florida's run to the national championship during the 2024-25 season wouldn't have happened without Richard's presence, including in the national championship game.
In Florida's 65-63 victory over Houston in San Antonio, the 6-foot-4 Richard accounted for 14 of Florida's 28 first-half points against the Cougars, on a night where the opening 20 minutes were plagued by ineffective play and uncharacteristic mistakes by the Gators.
Along with finishing the game with a team-high 18 points, Richard led the way on the glass for the Gators, with eight rebounds, along with a block and two steals, an indication of his improved defensive acumen.
Less than three months later, Richard would go on to be selected with the 56th overall pick by the Memphis Grizzlies in the second round of the 2025 NBA Draft, where he was then traded to the Warriors in exchange for the draft rights to the 59th pick, the draft rights to Justinian Jessup and a 2032 protected second-round pick.
So far, the Draft-day deal for the Warriors has proved to be a wise move, as Richard has been one of the top rookies in the class considering his Draft status, with a 30-point performance in his first-ever star in the Warriors' 121-116 loss to the Sacramento Kings. Richard and Philadelphia 76ers guard VJ Edgecombe, a first round pick out of Baylor University, are the lone rookies thus far to record 30 points or more thus far this season.
"I watched the first half because once I kind of heard that Steph (Curry) and Jimmy Butler weren't playing that night, I figured he'd get some good minutes, and he started," Golden said of Richard's 30-point outing against the Kings. "And the thing that we're really proud of in our building is, like, you watch Steve Kerr talk about Will, and it's like, 'This guy's talking about him, like he's an eight-year vet that he can trust, rely upon and knows he can throw him in the game, calls him a connector linux,' and that's what we preached to Will for the last two years. Like this is, playing this way will get you in a really good spot in the NBA and it's worked out really well for him. But he's doing a really good job.
Richard has started the previous four games for the Warriors ahead of Golden State's contest tonight in Miami.
Florida fans looking to take home a national championship ring of their own can look no further than UF's sold-out contest against Merrimack University, where all fans in attendance will receive a replica ring commemorating the program's third-ever national championship.