The 2025 NBA draft is just a few days away, and while the Gator Nation feels confident that at least one of the members of this season’s men’s basketball national championship team — guard Walter Clayton Jr. — will be among those selected, there is another who lurks in the shadows who should be selected as well.
Florida’s guard Alijah Martin, who transferred to UF from the Florida Atlantic Owls during the previous offseason, is the other former member of the program expected to be picked at the end of this week after Rueben Chinyelu and Alex Condon decided to return to school. There is also fellow backcourt swingman Will Richard who is hoping to hear his name called, but Martin appears to be a better bet.
Well, at least according to a handful of college basketball coaches surveyed by The Athletic’s CJ Moore, who suggested that the title-winning Gators guard could go at No. 43 in the draft. However, the overall outlook for Martin is not terribly optimistic.
Florida guard Alijah Martin (No. 43)
“He’s going to be a G-League guy. He’s a 6-2 small forward, and I just don’t think that really translates in the NBA,” Moore offers. “The one thing that could be said about him is that he’s a winner. He’s been to two Final Fours, won a national championship, and so he impacts winning on both ends of the floor.”
Alijah Martin’s 2024-25 campaign highlights
Martin was a key member of Florida’s roster during his lone season in Gainesville, averaging a career-high 14.4 points per game along with 4.5 rebounds, 82 assists and 79 3-point field goals. He started 36 of his 38 appearances with the Orange and Blue, and his 546 points rank 17th in Florida history in a single season and the third-most by a transfer.
His efforts helped him become the first player to start in a Final Four for two different teams.
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