Gators Lose First Player to Transfer Portal

Reserve guard Kajus Kublickas leaves the Florida Gators after two seasons.

Florida guard Kajus Kublickas (30) drives past Arkansas guard Joseph Pinion (5) during the second half of an NCAA basketball game in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, January 13, 2024. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun] | Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- The first player from the Florida Gators national championship roster is set to leave the program through the NCAA Transfer Portal.

Sophomore guard Kajus Kublickas, who played in 13 games over the last two seasons, will enter the portal, basketball analyst Jeff Goodman reported Monday. The Lithuania native will have two years of eligibility remaining.

NEW: Florida guard Kajus Kublickas plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, @GoodmanHoops reports.

https://t.co/T0DdANvxzZ pic.twitter.com/S3rLlyxrkO

— Transfer Portal (@TransferPortal_) April 14, 2025

Although he rarely saw the court in his two seasons with Florida, during which he averaged 0.84 points across his 13 appearances in mop-up duty, Kublickas is well-known for his performance in international play, especially in his home country of Lithuania.

Prior to attending Florida, he starred for Zalgiris II, where he averaged 9.1 points and 3.3 assists in 37 games and helped the team to a second-league championship. He also spent last summer participating in the FIBA U20 EuroBasket, leading Lithuania to a 5-2 record and a fifth-place finish in the event after averaging 11.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game.

"So, it was a good experience,” he said. “It was my fourth tournament because I was previously in U15, U16. And now, it was my last U20... in general, it was good to play. It was good to compete against different countries, and I like that.”

Kublickas joined Florida in the summer of 2023, filling the Gators' final scholarship spot at the time.

“I dug a little bit into Gators history and what the club is," he said in October. "I acknowledged that this is a really big university with a really big history, and I thought this is the place I wanted to be."

Should Kublickas officially enter the portal, he would be the fifth scholarship player to depart from the program for the time being. Florida is set to lose senior guards Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and Will Richard, and sophomore forward Alex Condon will declare for the NBA Draft while retaining his collegiate eligibility, head coach Todd Golden announced Saturday.

The Gators are set to return guards Denzel Aberdeen, Isaiah Brown and Urban Klavzar on scholarship while adding high school signees Alex Lloyd and CJ Ingram. Florida is also expected to be active in the portal to rebuild its guard rotation.