Copyright The Independent Florida Alligator
A Walter Clayton Jr. deep three, Alijah Martin slam dunk and Will Richard catching fire from beyond the arc are some moments Gators fans enjoyed last season with the team's trio of senior guards. With all three drafted into the NBA, there’s been a shift in leadership on this year's team. Florida saw all four of its rotation frontcourt players return. With Thomas Haugh transitioning to small forward, coach Todd Golden's team will lean on its experienced frontcourt to drive its success. “The four big guys coming back, I like a lot," Golden said. "My expectation and the rest of the staff's expectation is for them to lead the way for the rest of the guys in terms of the work ethic and what the expectation is for practice every day." Thomas Haugh (Small Forward) At the heart of Florida’s team is Thomas Haugh. Last year, he spent most of the season coming off the bench to replace Alex Condon. However, the 6-foot-9 forward played an important role in the team's success, reaching double-figure scoring in seven of Florida's nine postseason games. Following this late-season success, he tested at the NBA pre-draft process but then realized coming back to Gainesville for a third season was best. "I just knew deep down that I needed more stuff to prove myself as a player," Haugh said. However, this season, instead of competing for minutes with Condon, Haugh moved to small forward to work alongside the Aussie. On the wing, Florida will look at Haugh to create matchups on both sides of the ball. "Defensively, it just gives us incredible length and athleticism," Golden said. “Offensively, Tommy has proven the ability to be a good wing. He knows how to shake up and get a catch-and-shoot." As a wing, Haugh will have to prove he can shoot beyond the arc. In his freshman season, he shot 25.5% from distance. Last year, he improved to shooting 34% from three and 41.2% in five starts. One game in particular in which Haugh showed his ability to hit from distance was Florida's Elite Eight matchup against Texas Tech, where he shot four of six from beyond the arc, fueling Florida’s comeback after trailing by nine points with less than three minutes to go. Despite the change from playing near the rim to now playing on the wing, Haugh said his new position is something he looks forward to taking on. "I think it's working out great, getting a lot more comfortable," Haugh said. "It was a good team summer. I was able to stay on the wing a little bit and work on that stuff and pick up." Alex Condon (Forward/Center) The 6-foot-11, 236-pound product from Perth, Australia, is entering his third season at UF with his fair share of hype. On Oct. 27, Alex Condon was named to the Associated Press All-American team, becoming the first Gator to reach this list since Joakim Noah in the 2006-07 season. After a first year that ended with SEC All-Freshman honors, Condon finished his sophomore season with 10.6 points and a team-high 7.5 rebounds per game. The junior forward also logged 103 offensive rebounds, the third-most in program history in a single season. Along with a rebounding presence, Condon brings an ability to make plays in the paint. In Florida's 99-94 victory at No. 7 Alabama, Condon had a career high, dropping 27 points, including two threes on four attempts, and 10 rebounds. However, toward the end of the season, Condon struggled offensively, reaching double digits in only three of Florida's nine postseason games. Still, he played an essential role in Florida's Final Four matchup against Auburn, holding Johni Broome to three points in the second half. Condon also tested the NBA pre-draft process, which included workouts with seven teams. Still, he said he returned to Florida to ensure he is a first-round draft pick next season. Coming into his third season, Condon looks to further expand his game by providing Florida with more offensive consistency and health. Last season, he suffered two ankle injuries. "The plan is to stay healthy this year," Condon said. "I'm going to be playing at my best, playing at my most confident, too." Condon added that he spent a lot of time during the offseason working on his three-point shooting and staying as lean as possible. "I feel like I'm a different player this year, offensively and the amount of work I put in in the offseason," Condon said. "The guys we had coming back here were too good, and it was another opportunity to compete for a national championship." Rueben Chinyelu (Center) Transferring from Washington State, Chinyelu joined the Gators and filled the void for Handlogten, who missed most of the season with a leg injury. The 6-foot-10 center started in all of Florida's 40 games during the 2024-25 season, becoming one of five Gators in program history to do so. Last season, Chinyelu was Florida's rim protector, averaging six points and 6.6 rebounds per game along with 34 total blocks. In Florida's upset win over No. 1 Tennessee at home, the Nigerian grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds. He also tested NBA waters for a short stint before returning to collegiate basketball to focus on expanding his offensive game. "Offensively, I've worked on my shooting, more on getting to my spot and reading and making good decisions offensively," Chinyelu said. "It has been a work in progress, which has turned out to be something good." With the senior guards from last year's team gone, Chinyelu will be a leader of this year's group. One way Chinyelu has done this is by being at the forefront of setting the tone at practice each day, especially when he takes on Handlogten. “It's a beautiful thing, just being able to just go out there and play with guys like that,” Chinyelu said. “Just being able to play hard, play against guys that want to play hard, it helps everything. Chinyelu rounds out Florida's starting lineup, looking to bring offensive improvements while maintaining the rim-protecting abilities he showcased last season. Micah Handlogten (Sixth man) When it comes to having an experienced and reliable sixth man, Todd Golden could not have asked for a better option than Micah Handlogten. The 7-foot-1 center comes into his fourth season and third with the program. Handlogten transferred to Florida after a first year at Marshall, where he was named Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year. In the 2023-24 season, he totaled 108 offensive rebounds, marking the second-highest single-season total in program history. But, his sophomore season ended abruptly when Handlogten fractured his leg in the 2024 SEC Tournament championship game against Auburn. As a result, the center missed a majority of his junior season and was planning on redshirting. However, in February, he decided to forgo the redshirt. Handlogten finished the season with 2.6 points, 4.9 rebounds per game and totaled 10 blocks in 16 appearances. Handlogten said he wanted to use this offseason to get back in shape. As a result, he cut his body fat from somewhere between 17% to 18% to 9%, he said. "I'm hovering right around 260 pounds now, feeling strong, feeling mobile, which is the biggest thing for me as I wanted to gain strength but to keep mobility," he said. "I definitely can hold my own a lot more." Off the court, Handlogten will be at the center of laying the foundation for the program's future, cementing himself as a leader on this year's team. "We realized that we obviously don't have those three senior guards that were our leaders, and so someone had to step up," he said. "We all kind of took it upon ourselves as the returners to take that step." Fighting for minutes With a potential last spot in the frontcourt, brothers Isaiah and AJ Brown are competing with each other for a chance to get minutes as a potential backup small forward. AJ, a redshirt junior transfer from Ohio, is coming off a campaign where he averaged 13.2 on 38.8% shooting from distance. His season was cut short after he tore his labrum. AJ was cleared days before fall camp started, so the staff will want to see more from him before he gets time on the court. “He still needs to get in better shape,” Golden said. “From a physicality standpoint, he's where he needs to be to be able to play.” Younger brother Isaiah was a member of last year’s team but spent most of the season on the bench. The four-star recruit appeared in 19 games for the Gators, totaling 36 points. After a year on the bench, Isaiah is doing his part to be a more consistent option for Golden with the hopes of making an impact off the bench. "My word of this season is consistency," Isaiah said. "I'm staying consistent with everything I do, as playing hard, hitting shots and doing the little things that the team needs is something I've been working on." A Fan Favorite At a towering 7 feet and 9 inches tall, Olivier Roux is entering his second year at Florida after redshirting last season. The Terrebonne, Quebec, native represented Canada over the summer in the FIBA U19 World Cup, where he averaged 1.6 points in 9.1 minutes per game. Golden and his staff want to see more from Rioux on the conditioning side of things before he makes an appearance on the court. When he does, you’ll know, because he will be the tallest player to compete for a D1 school in NCAA history.
