Women’s Basketball Adds Transfer Nina Rickards
April 22, 2023 | Women's Basketball
Rickards was a four-year player at Florida
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Head coach Jeff Walz has announced the addition of graduate transfer guard Nina Rickards on Saturday. Rickards comes to the Cards from Florida, where she played the first four years of her collegiate career and will be eligible for her final college season in 2023-24.
"We are excited to announce the signing of Nina Rickards, an explosive guard, who was a four-year starter and has Power-5 SEC experience behind her," said Walz. "She is a durable guard that played in all but two games of her four-year career. Nina is well equipped to compete as she has performed at the highest level in high school and college. Nina has an uncanny ability to create off the bounce and utilizes her athleticism to get to her sweet spot in the mid-range. She is also an elite defender on the perimeter and will provide toughness and tenacity in an up-tempo game. Cardinal Nation you will love her energy and passion she provides every time she steps on the floor!"
In her four seasons with the Gators, she played in 120 career games and started in 103 of them. Over her four seasons in Gainesville, she played in all but two of Florida's games. She tallied 1,041 career points and was active on the boards, tallying 592 career rebounds to go with 194 assists and 129 steals for her career.
In her final season with the Gators, Rickards played in all 34 games with 30 starts. She had career-best marks with 412 points and 12.1 points per game, 49 steals and 66 assists. She was second on the team in scoring and steals while she finished third in rebounds and assists. She scored in double figures 22 times and eclipsed the 20-point mark four times. She scored a career high 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting in the second round WNIT win over ACC foe Wake Forest. She tallied two double-doubles on the year with 24 points and 11 rebounds against Dayton and 12 points and 10 rebounds against UNCG.
In her junior season, she played in 32 games and had 30 starts. Rickards averaged 8.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.0 steals per game. She led the Gators with 46 offensive rebounds on the season. She scored a season-best 17 points on the road against LSU and in the NCAA Tournament First Round matchup with UCF. Rickards also tallied a season-best nine rebounds against the Tigers and also against Georgia. She scored in double figures 14 times, led the team in rebounding seven times and led the team in scoring twice.
She played in 24 games and had 22 starts in her sophomore season with the Gators. She averaged 8.6 points, a career-best 6.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game for the season. Rickards tallied eight double-figure scoring games, four double-digit rebounding games and had two double-doubles. Her first career double-double came against Texas A&M with 14 points and 10 rebounds. The other double-double also came against an SEC opponent with a season-best 19 points and 10 rebounds against Kentucky. She had a career-high 17 rebounds against Tarleton State and followed it up with 15 rebounds versus North Florida.
Rickards played 30 games and made 21 starts in her first season with Florida. She started each of the last 21 games of the season and averaged 5.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. She was lethal from behind the arc during SEC play as she led the team with .412 shooting percentage from three. She scored 10 or more points five times and four of those games came against SEC opponents.
Rickards hails from Queens, New York and played at Christ the King Regional High School. She led the Royals to two-straight Catholic School state titles. In her final season, she guided Christ the King to a New York AA Federation Championship and was a McDonald's All-American Game nominee.
"We are excited to announce the signing of Nina Rickards, an explosive guard, who was a four-year starter and has Power-5 SEC experience behind her," said Walz. "She is a durable guard that played in all but two games of her four-year career. Nina is well equipped to compete as she has performed at the highest level in high school and college. Nina has an uncanny ability to create off the bounce and utilizes her athleticism to get to her sweet spot in the mid-range. She is also an elite defender on the perimeter and will provide toughness and tenacity in an up-tempo game. Cardinal Nation you will love her energy and passion she provides every time she steps on the floor!"
In her four seasons with the Gators, she played in 120 career games and started in 103 of them. Over her four seasons in Gainesville, she played in all but two of Florida's games. She tallied 1,041 career points and was active on the boards, tallying 592 career rebounds to go with 194 assists and 129 steals for her career.
In her final season with the Gators, Rickards played in all 34 games with 30 starts. She had career-best marks with 412 points and 12.1 points per game, 49 steals and 66 assists. She was second on the team in scoring and steals while she finished third in rebounds and assists. She scored in double figures 22 times and eclipsed the 20-point mark four times. She scored a career high 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting in the second round WNIT win over ACC foe Wake Forest. She tallied two double-doubles on the year with 24 points and 11 rebounds against Dayton and 12 points and 10 rebounds against UNCG.
In her junior season, she played in 32 games and had 30 starts. Rickards averaged 8.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.0 steals per game. She led the Gators with 46 offensive rebounds on the season. She scored a season-best 17 points on the road against LSU and in the NCAA Tournament First Round matchup with UCF. Rickards also tallied a season-best nine rebounds against the Tigers and also against Georgia. She scored in double figures 14 times, led the team in rebounding seven times and led the team in scoring twice.
She played in 24 games and had 22 starts in her sophomore season with the Gators. She averaged 8.6 points, a career-best 6.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game for the season. Rickards tallied eight double-figure scoring games, four double-digit rebounding games and had two double-doubles. Her first career double-double came against Texas A&M with 14 points and 10 rebounds. The other double-double also came against an SEC opponent with a season-best 19 points and 10 rebounds against Kentucky. She had a career-high 17 rebounds against Tarleton State and followed it up with 15 rebounds versus North Florida.
Rickards played 30 games and made 21 starts in her first season with Florida. She started each of the last 21 games of the season and averaged 5.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. She was lethal from behind the arc during SEC play as she led the team with .412 shooting percentage from three. She scored 10 or more points five times and four of those games came against SEC opponents.
Rickards hails from Queens, New York and played at Christ the King Regional High School. She led the Royals to two-straight Catholic School state titles. In her final season, she guided Christ the King to a New York AA Federation Championship and was a McDonald's All-American Game nominee.
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