College basketball's NIL era has made transfer portal players expensive acquisitions, but Florida's high-priced guards Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee are struggling to find their shooting touch this young season.
In the era of college athletics’ Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals, transfer portal players essentially have become guns for hire.
New Florida Gators guards Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee arrived at Florida with NIL contracts worth millions and championship expectations.
Fland, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, transferred to UF from Arkansas. According to CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander, his NIL deal is “north of $2 million.”
The 6-4 Lee, a senior, switched from Princeton. Multiple sources have reported that Lee’s contracts with Florida and Chinese sneaker maker SeriousPlayerOnly exceed $6 million.
But so far, these hired guns are shooting mostly blanks.
They have combined to make eight of 51 three-point attempts and most of their shots aren’t coming close. We’re talking bricks.
For additional context, the average 3-point field goal percentage for college basketball guards is 33-36 percent. Fland and Lee’s conversion rate is 15.6 percent.
Let’s be clear: The sample size is small. We are four games into the Gators’ 2025-26 season. UF has played three Power 4 conference opponents and has won three consecutive games. The Gators are currently ranked No. 10.
But when you win an NCAA title and return one of the nation’s best frontcourts, the expectations are great.
Fland and Lee are succeeding Walter Clayton Jr. and Will Richard, the dynamic backcourt duo that helped lead Florida to last season's national title.
Clayton and Richard each made more than a third of their three-pointers last year for the Gators. This year, they are seeing regular playing time with their respective NBA teams, the Utah Jazz and Golden State Warriors.
So, it’s little wonder that Fland and Lee’s stat lines are raising eyebrows and skewing Florida’s overall numbers.
As a team, UF is converting 23.7 percent of its three-point attempts — 354th among Division I schools.
“I don’t think dancing around any sort of shooting slump or trying to Band-Aid it is the solution,” Golden said after Florida beat Florida State by two points on Nov. 6. “When you have some issues or you’re not achieving as well as you want, you got to stare it right in the face and attack it. I think our guys are doing that. I think our staff is doing that.”
There is reason for Golden’s cautious optimism.
Last year's championship team opened with similar struggles. In the Gators’ first three games, the Gators made 19 three-pointers in 73 attempts — a 26 percent conversion rate. In this season's first three games, Florida made the same number of three-pointers on a slightly smaller shot volume.
The difference, arguably, is that last year's team had Clayton and Richard, seniors who knew how to work through adversity.
Fland and Lee are adjusting to new roles, new teammates, new system, higher bar. Golden and assistant Taurean Green, a starting guard on the Billy Donovan-coached teams that won back-to-back national titles in 2006 and 2007, have simple advice for improving their guards’ aim.
"The only way to get out of a shooting slump is to shoot the ball," Green said after Florida’s win over Miami on Sunday. "So, shoot it! Please!"
Fland and Lee have been putting in extra time. After recent games, they've stayed on the court, taking repeated shots from distance, working on their mechanics. And, hopefully, building confidence.
The schedule intensifies in early December — Duke and UConn, both top five teams. Southeastern Conference play begins in January.
Every opponent circles the Gators game on their schedules. Every team wants to knock off the champs.
Yes, the Gators have their talented bigs – 6-foot-9 Thomas Haugh, 6-10 Rueben Chinyelu and 6-11 Alex Condon – all back from last year’s titlists.
But at some point, Florida needs their expensive transfer guards to justify the investment and knock down shots.