Will Florida basketball forward Alex Condon stay or go in the 2025 NBA draft in June?
Will Florida basketball forward Alex Condon stay or go in the 2025 NBA draft in June?
The 2024-25 men's college basketball campaign was one to remember for Florida fans after the Gators brought home the bacon with their third-ever national championship. The achievement was a result of talented players being coached by a sensational staff, which ultimately amounted to a sum greater than its parts.
Among the cornerstones of the Orange and Blue's epic run last season was sophomore forward Alex Condon, an athletic 6-foot-11-inch, 230-pound bruiser from Australia who elevated his game to anchor one of the best front courts in the sport. Last month, he decided to test the NBA draft waters but has yet to decide whether or not to take the plunge.
The Athletic's Jim Root recently took a look at 11 NBA draft stay-or-go decisions that will play a huge role in how the 2025-26 season plays out. On his list, Condon comes in at No. 4.
Looking at Alex Condon's NBA draft option
"The Gators' shocking run to the national title came in large part due to a supremely talented trio of shot makers on the perimeter. Clayton, Alijah Martin and Will Richard all had major moments of brilliance during their March run. But Florida's deep and physical frontcourt was an overlooked aspect of its success," Root begins.
"Todd Golden could cycle body after body in the paint to bludgeon opponents and wear them down over 40 minutes, and Condon and Rueben Chinyelu, the Gators' two starters, were crucial parts of that rotation. Chinyelu is also gauging NBA interest but is generally expected to return to school; however, the physical Australian Condon is much more of a true toss-up," he continues.
"He struggled in the NCAA Tournament after an ankle injury late in the season, so he could be best served to return to school and show off his talents once more while leading the Florida front line for what would be a top 10-15 team heading into the year."
It is worth noting that according to Torvik's Roster Cast tool, the Gators rank ninth with Condon while falling all the way to 19th without the power forward.
Condon's collegiate career stats, accolades
Over two seasons in Gainesville, Condon played in 74 total games while starting exactly half of them (37), averaging 9.1 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 blocks per appearance.He played in all 36 games and earned SEC All-Freshman honors last season, totaling 277 points, 229 rebounds and a team-leading 45 blocked shots. Condon was the first Gator in program history to make his first career start in the NCAA Tournament against the Colorado Buffaloes in 2024.
This year, the multi-talented forward averaged 10.6 points and 7.5 rebounds per game while cementing his status as a starter in Florida's rotation. He was recognized as the SEC Player of the Week three times during the 2024-25 campaign and was named third-team All-SEC.
Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
10 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Thunder have 5 players on the court. The way they see it, 18,000 helpers are in the stands
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — There is something different about Oklahoma City Thunder fans, and players aren't afraid to say that. The crowd of 18,000 or so always arrives early. They stay late. They show up in the middle of the night at the airport to welcome the Thunder charter flight home and maybe get a wave or a fist bump from a player, even though a chain-link fence separates the team from the fans. It's like a college atmosphere at Thunder games at times. It will be a raucous atmosphere on Thursday: Game 1 of the NBA Finals is coming to Oklahoma City, and the top-seeded Thunder — big favorites over the Indiana Pacers in this series — freely say that the fans have factored into the team's success. 'I think the fans put the wind at our players' backs,' Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. 'There's not a level of judgment. There's no level of skepticism.' It is ... well, unusual. In a good way. Daigneault tells the story of a game on Oct. 26, 2021, as one of the best illustrations of what the relationship is like between the city and its team. The Thunder were 0-3 to start that season, the three losses by 21, 33 and 12 points. Golden State visited Oklahoma City that night; the Thunder led by 11 at the half, before eventually losing by eight. 'They gave us a standing ovation at the end of the game,' Daigneault said. 'And it was a week into the season. We had not won a game. As great as they are right now, and they are unbelievable right now, that's the one that I always go back to because it really struck me. It certainly was unexpected.' The Thunder have given fans plenty of reasons to cheer since. They're a league-best 43-7 at home this season; the last four teams to win at least 40 home games in a full season — Toronto in 2018-19, Golden State in 2021-22, Denver in 2022-23 and Boston last season — went on to win the NBA title. And this year's club is winning home games by an average of 16.9 points per contest. That's on pace to be the second-biggest such differential in NBA history, behind Milwaukee's 18.1-point average home margin in 1970-71. MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said keeping the home crowd happy is on his mind all the time, and he was thinking of it when the Thunder closed out Minnesota at home in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals last week. 'I didn't want to go back to Minnesota, travel-wise,' Gilgeous-Alexander said. 'And then I wanted the fans to be able to enjoy the moment with us. I wanted them to be able to see it unfold in front of their eyes. I wanted them to be to celebrating in our building, go home, get drunk, whatever they do. I wanted them to have fun with the moment. ... I just wanted to make sure I could give my energy and my effort to try to give these fans what they deserve.' ___ AP NBA:
Washington Post
13 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Scott Foster picked to work NBA Finals for 18th time, one of 12 referees selected for the series
OKLAHOMA CITY — Scott Foster was selected to officiate the NBA Finals for the 18th time, the league said Tuesday when announcing the roster of 12 officials and two alternates that were picked to work the title series between Indiana and Oklahoma City. Foster is the most veteran of the group. Tony Brothers and Marc Davis were both picked for the 14th time, James Capers for the 13th time, Zach Zarba for the 12th time and John Goble for the ninth time in his career.
Fox Sports
15 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
Scott Foster picked to work NBA Finals for 18th time, one of 12 referees selected for the series
Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Scott Foster was selected to officiate the NBA Finals for the 18th time, the league said Tuesday when announcing the roster of 12 officials and two alternates that were picked to work the title series between Indiana and Oklahoma City. Foster is the most veteran of the group. Tony Brothers and Marc Davis were both picked for the 14th time, James Capers for the 13th time, Zach Zarba for the 12th time and John Goble for the ninth time in his career. David Guthrie is now an eight-time selection for the finals, while Josh Tiven was picked for the sixth time, James Williams for a fifth time and Sean Wright for a second time. There are two first-time selections this season: Tyler Ford and Ben Taylor. They were alternates in each of the last two seasons. 'We are grateful for these 12 individuals and their dedication to serving the game at the highest levels throughout the season,' said Byron Spruell, the NBA President for League Operations. 'Being selected to work the NBA Finals is the top honor as an NBA official, and I congratulate this exceptional group on a worthy achievement.' Courtney Kirkland and Kevin Scott were picked as alternates. Foster has officiated the most NBA Finals games among this year's referees with 25, while Davis has worked 21 and Brothers has worked 17. If previous form holds, each of the 12 will work one of the first four games in the series as part of a standard three-person crew. If the series goes past Game 4, the NBA will continue assigning as needed from the same pool for the remainder of the matchup. NBA Finals officials were selected based on their overall performance throughout the first three rounds of the playoffs. Officials were evaluated by the NBA Referee Operations management team after each round to determine advancement in this year's postseason, the league said. The crews for each game are typically announced around 9 a.m. Eastern on game days. ___ AP NBA: recommended in this topic
