Florida basketball famously won back-to-back national championships in 2006-07, and Todd Golden’s group could be one addition away from repeating the feat, according to The Athletic.
College basketball writer Jim Root broke down the five teams he sees capable of making the Final Four next year, albeit before much of the transfer portal movement takes place, and Florida is one of those programs. BYU, Duke, Purdue and Texas Tech are the others.
“As of now, the reigning national champion Gators return arguably the deepest frontcourt in the country,” Root wrote. “Alex Condon, Thomas Haugh, Rueben Chinyelu and Micah Handlogten all bring size and physicality, and Haugh’s bubbling skill level means Florida has some spacing, as well.”
Root assumes Condon returns for his junior year, but he could very well head to the NBA this summer. It all depends on the feedback he gets well testing the draft waters, and Golden knows it could go either way. Still, Chinyelu, Handlogten and Haugh are all very talented and were core members of the 2025 championship run.
Golden has to find quality replacements for its backcourt Big 3, though. Finding a one-to-one replacement for Walter Clayton Jr. might be impossible, and Alijah Martin’s NCAA Tournament was invaluable in March. Will Richard knew Golden’s system the best after being the first transfer to come over under the new coach, and he single-handedly kept Florida in the title game.
Florida returns Denzel Aberdeen, who flashed a ton of skill off the bench last season, and Isaiah Brown should get a shot to start at wing, assuming he takes a step forward in the summer between his freshman and sophomore seasons. Urban Klavzar is another piece of the backcourt that will see increased playing time, but he’ll have to be a bit more consistent at the point to get minutes. Klavzar can drain it from 3-point range, but he turned the ball over 14 times to 21 assists last year. Right now, he’s a scoring guard rather than a ball-handler.
The question mark is at point guard, and the obvious answer is Princeton’s Xaivian Lee, who was on campus last week for a visit. He’s the “crown jewel” of the remaining guards in the transfer portal and would help solidify Florida’s starting five. Dylan Darling (Idaho State), Duke Miles (Oklahoma) and Malachi Smith (Dayton) are a few other options Florida is looking out, but none are considered the slam dunk addition that Lee is.
There’s also a pair of top-50 freshmen to consider, wing CJ Ingram and guard Alex Lloyd. Golden hasn’t played freshmen a ton at Florida, opting to add starting talent from the portal and allow his “rookies” to develop before thrusting them into the fire. However, this is the strongest recruiting class Florida has brought in since 2019.
There’s plenty of talent on Florida’s roster, but returning Condon and adding Lee seem to be the two obvious necessities to enter 2025-26 as Final Four favorites.
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