Golden Tasked with Rebuilding Gators' Roster

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – While Florida Gators head coach Todd Golden will certainly be basking in the glory of winning a national championship, that doesn’t mean his job is done.

College basketball never sleeps.

Golden’s new task at hand will be to re-recruit his players on the roster for the 2025-26 season and to attack the transfer portal to fill the team’s holes now that the guard trio of Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and Will Richard have departed.

“We're in this position because we retained Walter, Will, (Alex Condon), Tommy (Haugh) and Denzel (Aberdeen),” Golden said. “We were able to fit and bring in the right pieces. I think it's going to be similar for next year. We have a lot of guys we can bring back and build around, then pepper in what we need to.”

The Familiar Faces

The guard position little light compared to the return Florida had going into the 2024-25 campaign. The main returnee is going to be rising senior Denzel Aberdeen, who played in all 40 games this season and made five starts, averaging 7.6 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists a game.

He should be elevated into the starting lineup next year either replacing Clayton Jr. at the point or Martin at shooting guard, both of which he made starts at last year.

However, after him the experience takes a little dip in the backcourt.

Denzel Aberdeen runs the point during the Florida Gators' win over Houston in the national championship. | Kyle Lander / Gators Illustrated

Joining Aberdeen at the guard spots, as of now, will be Urban Klavzar and Isaiah Brown. Both guys will most likely have enhanced roles for the Gators next season after primarily being depth pieces.

Klavzar does have some experience going into next year, but he was in and out of the lineup for the Gators throughout this past year. He appeared in 27 games and averaged 10.0 minutes per contest. Additionally, he averaged 3.1 points per game on 36.3/34.0/66.7 shooting splits.

Meanwhile, the freshman Brown was used very little for the Gators. He did appear in 19 games but only logged an average of 3.7 minutes. The young guard is thought of highly by his head coach, though.

“I think he's going to be a really, really good player for us,” Golden said.

While the returning production in the backcourt is a little underwhelming, if all goes well, the players expected back in the frontcourt could make up for it.

Golden and the Gators will have to fight off NBA suitors for both Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh this summer. The pair might test the draft waters to receive some advice and see where they need to get better, but both could stay in the draft depending on what they hear.

History favors Florida, though, in this case after both Clayton Jr. and Richard do this a year ago before returning, and both completely raised their individual draft stocks after this season.

Condon and Haugh could very well benefit from an extra year of development, but for Golden and the Gators, it's vital the two return.

Florida Gators' forward Thomas Haugh has become one of the nation's top sixth-men in his sophomore campaign. "Tommy, I thought, played with great energy. He took good shots, didn't shoot it well from the perimeter, but did what he does, making winning plays for us and zero turnovers," head coach Todd Golden said. | Kyle Lander / Gators Illustrated

Condon had a career-year in Gainesville as a sophomore, scoring 10.4 points while bringing down 7.5 rebounds per contest. Furthermore, he nearly doubled his assists per game, averaging 2.3, and proved to be fearless defender, which was made evident in his title-clinching dive towards a loose ball in the final seconds against Houston.

Haugh had his best season at the college level, as well, averaging a career-best 9.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists while shooting 34 percent from deep. The rising junior become one of the nation's top sixth-men and could find himself in the starting lineup next season.

The Gators will also see Rueben Chinyelu, Micah Handlogten and Sam Alexis return, giving Florida five key bigs to hold it down.

Positions to Replace

It’s going to be very difficult to find the next Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and Will Richard.

That doesn't mean the Gators won't try, though.

Significant NIL funds have been available for Florida's men's basketball program this offseason through Florida Victorious after a pair of high-level donations, including a $1 million donation from booster Gary Condron.

Golden will likely be zeroed in on the guard position, and he has already reportedly eyed his potential replacements for the three outgoing seniors.

At the top of the list should be Princeton transfer Xaivian Lee, who has been on the NBA radar at times in his time with Princeton. As a junior, he averaged 16.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.5 assists. Furthermore, he’s also connecting on 36.6 percent of his 3-point attempts.

The Gators have also reportedly been looking at former Ohio guard AJ Brown, the brother of current UF guard Isaiah Brown. The former Buckeye averaged 13.2 points per game and shot 38.8 percent from deep this year.

Florida is also set to add a pair of guards in Alex Lloyd and CJ Ingram through its high school class.

Golden made it clear that Florida would be ok with missing out on recruits who committed to other schools while the Gators were on its run to a national championship, and now with the title clinched and offseason upon them, expect him to be extremely active in revamping his roster for another title run.

The Familiar Faces

Positions to Replace

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