Florida guard Will Richard celebrates after winning the national championship, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
With 26 seconds left in Monday’s college basketball national championship game, and Florida clinging to a 64-63 lead, senior Will Richard did his best to guard Houston’s best player, L.J. Cryer, who had already scored 19 points on the night. But as Houston’s Emanuel Sharp drove toward the basket to Richard’s right, the Florida senior took a risky swipe at the ball.
He timed it perfectly. Richard hit the ball right into Sharp’s knee, and it bounced right out of bounds. Florida ball.
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Florida’s Denzel Aberdeen hit a free throw on the ensuing possession for a 65-63 lead with 19.7 seconds remaining. On the Cougars’ final attempt to tie or win the game, Richard again denied Cryer, which led to another Sharp turnover. Game over.
Despite being down 12 at one point in the second half, despite holding the lead for only 64 seconds the entire game, Florida claimed the 2025 national championship. It’s the program’s third NCAA Tournament title, adding to the back-to-back crowns in 2007 and ’08.
The 12-point comeback marks the third-largest comeback in a national championship game, and it wasn’t entirely new territory for the Gators. They also came back from 10 down against Texas Tech in the Elite Eight, and nine points down against Auburn in the Final Four.
And not only did Richard make big defensive plays, he led his team in scoring (18 points) and rebounds (eight). In a first half where Florida All-American Walter Clayton Jr. couldn’t get a bucket, Richard poured in 14 points, including four 3-pointers. It marked the highest-scoring game of the tournament for Richard, who averaged 13.2 on the season (third on the team).
“We don’t have any quit and I feel like as long as there’s time on the clock, we’re going to give ourselves a good chance to win as long as we just stay the course and keep taking it possession by possession,” Richard said in the postgame press conference. “So I just like our resiliency and how we fought through adversity throughout the game.”
Moments after raising the championship trophy, Richard posted on X, “God the Greatest!! This for y’all Gator Nation.”
Sharing about his faith publicly has become common for Richard, who displays “Proverbs 3:6” in his cover photo on X. He also has that verse tattooed on his upper-right arm: The words “In All Thy Ways Acknowledge Him And He Shall Direct Thy Paths” — the King James Version of the verse — are next to three crosses.
He also has John 13:7 tattooed on his lower right arm, and he puts Ephesians 3:20 in his Instagram bio. Richard was asked by CBN Sports at the Final Four what that latter verse means to him.
“Just knowing that God can do exceedingly and abundantly above anything that you ever asked or thought about,” he said. “So just knowing that when you have God on your side, anything is possible. It’s just a confidence and boldness just knowing that.”
Even his jersey number is a nod to his faith. Upon arriving at Florida, he chose No. 5.
“Five in the Bible is talked about as having God’s grace, so I wear it just knowing that God’s grace is upon me,” he recently told “The Walk” podcast. “I used to wear it as a kid too, so it definitely brought me back to times when I played as a kid.”
Richard was the first player to commit to head coach Todd Golden and his staff after they took over in March 2022. Richard started 30 games and averaged 12.1 points and 6.0 rebounds as a freshman for Belmont before transferring after the 2021-22 season. He’s averaged 10 points or more each of his three seasons in Gainesville.
“Will Richard is an elite culture setter for a program,” Golden said in a press conference prior to the Sweet 16.
Soon after joining the Gators, Richard spoke with His Huddle in 2022, recognizing his platform as an elite college basketball player gave him a chance to tell people about Jesus.
“I just hope when people see me play they know it’s all God,” Richard told His Huddle. “Everything I’m able to do on the court comes from Him and without Him I’d be nothing.”
Richard moved around to a few states growing up, and ultimately went to high school in Georgia. He leaned on his faith throughout.
“I grew up in a family that always had God as number one, so faith has always been an important part of my life. My family really emphasized having a relationship with God even from a young age,” he told His Huddle.
That translated over to the basketball court as well.
“Faith plays a huge part in my basketball career,” he said. “Just knowing that all my gifts come from God makes me want to work much harder and give Him the glory every time I step on the court.”
Richard said he saw growth as a person and as a believer during his freshman year at Belmont, when he started to make his faith his own.
“I would say my faith really got stronger my freshman year of college because I was on my own so I couldn’t just go to church with my parents every week,” he said. “I had to take the time out myself to spend time with God. Learning how to make time on my own really benefited me and allowed me to get closer to Him.”
Now, with his college career coming to an end, Richard will look to the NBA Draft on June 25. He’s not projected as a lock to be selected, but his defense and shooting — as he showed Monday night — could transfer well to the next level.
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