Florida Basketball is almost back, baby!
After a thrilling regular season and a successful tournament run resulting in their third national championship, the Florida Gators men’s basketball team is gearing up for its return to the court. The 2025-2026 season is bound to be filled with many more big wins, memorable dunks and, of course, second-half action. What exactly does this season have in store? Read on to find out!
Who’s back?
Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu, two of last season’s superstar starters, will play for the Gators once more after choosing to abstain from the NBA draft. Condon is best known for stopping Houston from taking the ball in the championship game’s final seconds, and Chinyelu played a key role in the penultimate game with his five rebounds.
Everyone’s favorite “sixth man” Thomas Haugh is back, too. Entering his junior year, Haugh will finally be on the starting lineup – hopefully – and continue to put up impressive stats like 20 points and 11 rebounds in the pivotal Elite Eight game versus Texas Tech.
Fan favorites Micah Handlogten and Urban Klavzar are returning and so are Viktor Mikic, Isaiah Brown and Cooper Josefsberg. The same goes for the tallest player on the team: Olivier Rioux. Rioux didn’t play in any games last year because he was redshirted, so it’ll be interesting to see if he gets onto the court this time around.
Who’s gone?
All three “Golden Guards” graduated, meaning Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and Will Richard won’t be donning orange and blue uniforms this season. Fortunately, they were selected during the 2025 NBA draft 18th, 39th and 56th overall. Walk-on Bennett “Buckets” Andersen, who shined at the tail end of the Maryland game, graduated as well. Talk about ending your college basketball career on a high note!
There were four additional departures prior to the season’s start. Sam Alexis transferred to Indiana, Kajus Kublickas transferred to Pacific and Denzel Aberdeen transferred to Kentucky. Alexis and Kublickas had minimal playing time for Florida, so transferring to a lower-tier team in exchange for more prominence makes sense. On the other hand, Aberdeen simply cashed out.
As for walk-on Kevin Pazmino, his departure is unknown and no details have been revealed yet if he will transfer to another team.
Who’s joining the team?
Boogie Fland, a sophomore guard from Arkansas, is easily the most coveted transfer Florida secured. Fland was a five-star recruit before committing to the Razorbacks, and he played phenomenally last year. He averaged 13.4 points per game, started in 18 of the 21 games he played in and made 83.3% of his free throws. Fland will definitely be a valuable asset to the team as a guard who will fill in for the senior superstars who recently graduated.
Princeton standout Xaivian Lee will also be joining the roster. Lee, who played in high school at Perkiomen School with Haugh, will be wearing the “1” jersey worn by the one and only Walter Clayton Jr. during his time on the team. Rounding out the transfers is Isiah Brown’s older brother AJ, a redshirt junior from Ohio.
Rounding out the new additions are freshman Cornelius Ingram Jr. and Alexander Lloyd. Both four-star recruits from both Rivals and 247Sports, so they’re skilled players to say the least.
What are the biggest non-conference games?
The Gators start their season on a high note with a showdown against the Arizona Wildcats Nov. 3 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Another exciting matchup takes place against UMiami less than two weeks later, and it’s yet another neutral-site game, this time in Jacksonville.
December kicks off with a trip to Durham, North Carolina, pitting the Gators face-to-face against the Duke Blue Devils, who lost out on a spot in the championship game to Houston by three points last year. This game is part of the third annual ACC/SEC Challenge, and the Gators are looking to improve their record to 2-1 following a win versus Virginia last year and a loss to Wake Forest in 2023.
However, arguably the best college basketball game of the entire season will see Florida clash with basketball royalty: UConn. The Gators will play the Huskies at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 9. This game will be part of 2025’s Jimmy V Classic, an annual event started 30 years ago to honor the late and legendary NC State coach, Jim Valvano. Clemson will play against BYU as part of the event, too.
What are the best SEC games going to be?
Last spring, the Gators traveled to “The Jungle” where they took on and successfully defeated No. 1 Auburn. This time around, the Tigers will be coming to the O’Dome on January 24, marking their first time playing against each other since their semifinal meetup.
The following week, a rare Sunday game will take place at home against Alabama, another top-tier SEC opponent. The game is already announced to be broadcasted on ABC, so expect it to be intense.
Of all the SEC teams, only one of them can be considered a basketball “blue blood,” and it’s Kentucky. With eight national championships, they only rank behind UCLA in terms of total tournament victories. Kentucky basketball is a dominant force, so the Gators better be ready when they welcome the Wildcats on Valentine’s Day!
How will the season play out?
Expect the Gators to perform similarly to last year this time around. Out of the 13 scheduled non-conference games, ten should be locked. The matchups against Arizona, UConn and Duke should be close. As for conference play, the Gators play 18 games, and there should be five losses at most. This prediction accounts for any potential upsets, as seen in the Missouri and Georgia road losses last season. Playing Kentucky on the road is going to be a challenge, but thankfully, the match at home against the Wildcats may cancel out a loss if it happens.
That’s pretty much all you need to know for now until the first home game versus North Florida on Nov. 6. Until then, get ready to get rowdy!