Florida basketball: All-SEC forward Alex Condon returning for junior season

Florida basketball forward Alex Condon is returning for his junior season, a move that vaults the defending national champion Florida Gators back into national championship contention for 2025-26.The 6-foot-11, 230-pound Condon earned All-SEC second-team honors as a sophomore, averaging 10.6 points and 7.5 rebounds with a team-high 49 blocked shots and seven double-doubles in scoring and rebounding.With Condon's return, Florida now brings back two starters (Condon and center Rueben Chinyelu, who pulled his name back from the NBA Draft last week) and a key reserve (forward Thomas Haugh) from a team that went 36-4 and won the school's third national title in school history.

That should put UF in consideration for a preseason top five ranking to enter the 2025-26 season.the big man is BACK#GoGatorspic.twitter.com/0hM0nT4CxY Florida Gators Mens Basketball (@GatorsMBK) May 27, 2025Florida addressed losing its three starters in the backcourt last season (All-American Walter Clayton Jr., Will Richard and Alijah Martin) by signing Princeton guard Xaivian Lee, Arkansas guard Boogie Fland and Ohio guard A.J.

Brown from the transfer portal.

"We're going to miss all three of those guys," Florida basketball coach Todd Golden said.

"You can't replace them.

I think that's the one thing that we've been talking about as a staff a lot.

Youre not going to find somebody that's Walter Clayton.

Youre not going to find somebody that's Alijah Martin.

Those guys are all unique and really dynamic players and were all really impactful in different ways.

But I do think the guys we brought in, they'll be different, but they have great characteristics as well.Florida will begin defense of its national title against Arizona in Las Vegas on Nov.

3 at T Mobile Arena in the Hall of Fame series.Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Suns Florida beat writer.

Contact him at [email protected].

Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1.

Read his coverage of the Gators national championship basketball season in CHOMP-IONS! a hardcover coffee-table collectors book from The Sun.

Details at Florida.ChampsBook.comThis article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida basketball forward Alex Condon returning for junior season.

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