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SAN ANTONIO ― When Florida basketball won its first two national championships in school history, the Florida Gators did so in back-to-back seasons.
UF's back-to-back national title teams in 2006 and 2007 left in indelible mark on college basketball history. Fast-forward and Florida's 2025 national title squad also will go down as memorable for its comeback ability. The Gators had to rally back from deficits in the second half of four of its six NCAA Tournament wins, including coming back from down 12 points to beat Houston 65-63 in the national title game.
Which begs the question ― can the Gators to go back-to-back and win another national title in 2026?
Florida returned all five of its players, including three NBA Draft Lottery picks across the frontline in Al Horford, Joakim Noan and Corey Brewer, which fueled UF finishing off its quest to repeat as national champs in 2007.
Buy Florida basketball championship book, page prints, gear
Florida's 2025 squad will lose its backcourt trio of senior All-American guard Walter Clayton Jr., senior guard Alijah Martin and senior guard Will Richard, all of whom will be tough to replace. The trio accounted for 46.9% of UF's scoring in 2024-24, plus 51.5% of its assists and 56.8% of its steals.
They were regarded as the best guard trio in the nation by many college basketball analysts and proved it on the biggest stage in March Madness. Clayton became the first player to score 30 or more points in the Elite Eight and national semifinals when he scored 30 points against Texas Tech in the Elite Eight and 34 points against Auburn in the Final Four.
“We’re losing three important guys but we’re bringing back a really good core," Florida sophomore forward Thomas Haugh said. "Trying to get it back-to-back.”
UF's entire frontcourt rotation ― sophomore forward Alex Condon, sophomore forward Thomas Haugh, sophomore center Rueben Chinyelu and junior center Micah Handlogten ― are expected to come back for UF in 2025-26. The 6-foot-11 Condon (10.6 ppg, 7.5 rpg) earned second-team, All-SEC honors in 2024-25 while posting seven double-doubles on the season but none in the NCAA Tournament.
The 6-foot-9 Haugh (9.8 ppg, 6.1 rpg) emerged as a star off the bench for UF, making clutch shots and big plays throughout the NCAA Tournament. Haugh is skilled enough the potentially move to the wing in 2025-26, giving UF a frontline of three starters 6-foot-9 or taller, with Condon and 6-foot-10 returning center Rueben Chinyelu.
"I’m capable of doing it," Haugh said. "Wherever they need me to go out there and do, I will.”
Chinyelu (6.0 ppg, 6.6 rpg) developed better offensively throughout the 2024-25 season but needs to learn to cut down fouls to stay on the offseason. The 7-foot-1 Handlogten (2.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg) returned in February from a compound fracture and should benefit from a full offseason to further his development.
Aberdeen (7.7 ppg, 1.4 apg) came up with some big baskets and big plays down the stretch against Houston in the national title game. The 6-foot-5, 190-pound Aberdeen projects to take one of the starting jobs in UF's backcourt in 2025-26 going into his senior year.
As a junior, Aberdeen said he learned playing behind the guard trio of Clayton, Martin and Richard. He made the first five starts of his career during an early February stretch when Clayton and Martin were dealing with injuries.
“They set a great example for me, stuff that I got to take in, stuff I got to write down and just cherish it for next year, stuff I got to work on," Aberdeen said. "But, man, I'm just glad we got to win right now."
Sophomore guard Uban Klavzar (3.2 ppg, 34% shooting from 3-point range) also showed promise off the bench late in the SEC season but didn't play in UF's final three NCAA Tournament games, while freshman guard Isaiah Brown (1.9 ppg, 3-of-8 from 3-point range) showed promise and athletic ability late in blowout games too.
"You’ve all seen flashes of them this year and I’m actually ready to see them in a full-time role next year," Clayton said. "Obviously with some of us leaving and those guys come in every day, we’ve got a group of guys that don’t complain, they come in every day, even in practice those guys basically made us the players we are."
Florida will likely look for one or two more experienced players in the backcourt from the transfer portal to add to the roster. The Gators also are bringing in two incoming freshmen ― guard Alex Lloyd and wing player CJ Ingram ― but neither may be ready to contribute right away.
The Gators sent some feelers out on former UNLV point guard Dedan Thomas, who UF recruited out of high school. But Thomas chose to commit to LSU during UF's national championship run, because Florida head coach Todd Golden made the right call and focused on the team he was coaching first.
Quimari Peterson, the Southern Conference's player of the year from ETSU and another potential UF target, committed to Washington four days ago.
Florida could turn its attention to Princeton point guard Xaivian Lee and UC-Riverside combo guard Barrington Hargress, who averaged 20.2 points and 4.0 assists per game and has two seasons of eligiblity remaining. UF has familiarity with the UC-Riverside program, having plucked Zyon Pullin from there. Pullin was UF's starting point guard for the entire 2023-24 season.
Clayton said based on his transfer experience from Iona to UF, there should be no shortage of playmaking guards wanting to come to the UF program.
“I think there’s gonna be some players wanting to come here," Clayton said.
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun's Florida beat writer. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Looking ahead to whether Florida basketball can enjoy more success in 2025-26
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UF's back-to-back national title teams in 2006 and 2007 left in indelible mark on college basketball history. Fast-forward and Florida's 2025 national title squad also will go down as memorable for its comeback ability. The Gators had to rally back from deficits in the second half of four of its six NCAA Tournament wins, including coming back from down 12 points to beat Houston 65-63 in the national title game.
Which begs the question ― can the Gators to go back-to-back and win another national title in 2026?
Florida returned all five of its players, including three NBA Draft Lottery picks across the frontline in Al Horford, Joakim Noan and Corey Brewer, which fueled UF finishing off its quest to repeat as national champs in 2007.
Buy Florida basketball championship book, page prints, gear
Florida's 2025 squad will lose its backcourt trio of senior All-American guard Walter Clayton Jr., senior guard Alijah Martin and senior guard Will Richard, all of whom will be tough to replace. The trio accounted for 46.9% of UF's scoring in 2024-24, plus 51.5% of its assists and 56.8% of its steals.
They were regarded as the best guard trio in the nation by many college basketball analysts and proved it on the biggest stage in March Madness. Clayton became the first player to score 30 or more points in the Elite Eight and national semifinals when he scored 30 points against Texas Tech in the Elite Eight and 34 points against Auburn in the Final Four.
“We’re losing three important guys but we’re bringing back a really good core," Florida sophomore forward Thomas Haugh said. "Trying to get it back-to-back.”
Florida basketball will bring back experienced, deep frontcourt in 2025-26
UF's entire frontcourt rotation ― sophomore forward Alex Condon, sophomore forward Thomas Haugh, sophomore center Rueben Chinyelu and junior center Micah Handlogten ― are expected to come back for UF in 2025-26. The 6-foot-11 Condon (10.6 ppg, 7.5 rpg) earned second-team, All-SEC honors in 2024-25 while posting seven double-doubles on the season but none in the NCAA Tournament.
The 6-foot-9 Haugh (9.8 ppg, 6.1 rpg) emerged as a star off the bench for UF, making clutch shots and big plays throughout the NCAA Tournament. Haugh is skilled enough the potentially move to the wing in 2025-26, giving UF a frontline of three starters 6-foot-9 or taller, with Condon and 6-foot-10 returning center Rueben Chinyelu.
"I’m capable of doing it," Haugh said. "Wherever they need me to go out there and do, I will.”
Chinyelu (6.0 ppg, 6.6 rpg) developed better offensively throughout the 2024-25 season but needs to learn to cut down fouls to stay on the offseason. The 7-foot-1 Handlogten (2.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg) returned in February from a compound fracture and should benefit from a full offseason to further his development.
Denzel Aberdeen ready to take on a bigger role in Florida basketball backcourt
Aberdeen (7.7 ppg, 1.4 apg) came up with some big baskets and big plays down the stretch against Houston in the national title game. The 6-foot-5, 190-pound Aberdeen projects to take one of the starting jobs in UF's backcourt in 2025-26 going into his senior year.
As a junior, Aberdeen said he learned playing behind the guard trio of Clayton, Martin and Richard. He made the first five starts of his career during an early February stretch when Clayton and Martin were dealing with injuries.
“They set a great example for me, stuff that I got to take in, stuff I got to write down and just cherish it for next year, stuff I got to work on," Aberdeen said. "But, man, I'm just glad we got to win right now."
Sophomore guard Uban Klavzar (3.2 ppg, 34% shooting from 3-point range) also showed promise off the bench late in the SEC season but didn't play in UF's final three NCAA Tournament games, while freshman guard Isaiah Brown (1.9 ppg, 3-of-8 from 3-point range) showed promise and athletic ability late in blowout games too.
"You’ve all seen flashes of them this year and I’m actually ready to see them in a full-time role next year," Clayton said. "Obviously with some of us leaving and those guys come in every day, we’ve got a group of guys that don’t complain, they come in every day, even in practice those guys basically made us the players we are."
How will Florida basketball attack the transfer portal this spring?
Florida will likely look for one or two more experienced players in the backcourt from the transfer portal to add to the roster. The Gators also are bringing in two incoming freshmen ― guard Alex Lloyd and wing player CJ Ingram ― but neither may be ready to contribute right away.
The Gators sent some feelers out on former UNLV point guard Dedan Thomas, who UF recruited out of high school. But Thomas chose to commit to LSU during UF's national championship run, because Florida head coach Todd Golden made the right call and focused on the team he was coaching first.
Quimari Peterson, the Southern Conference's player of the year from ETSU and another potential UF target, committed to Washington four days ago.
Florida could turn its attention to Princeton point guard Xaivian Lee and UC-Riverside combo guard Barrington Hargress, who averaged 20.2 points and 4.0 assists per game and has two seasons of eligiblity remaining. UF has familiarity with the UC-Riverside program, having plucked Zyon Pullin from there. Pullin was UF's starting point guard for the entire 2023-24 season.
Clayton said based on his transfer experience from Iona to UF, there should be no shortage of playmaking guards wanting to come to the UF program.
“I think there’s gonna be some players wanting to come here," Clayton said.
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun's Florida beat writer. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Looking ahead to whether Florida basketball can enjoy more success in 2025-26
Continue reading...
