Florida basketball forward Thomas Haugh sinks a 3-pointer during UF’s open shootaround before its NCAA Tournament game on Friday, March 20 at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa.
Florida basketball starting forwards Thomas Haugh and Alex Condon understand how seasons can hinge on one shot and one play in the Men’s NCAA Tournament.
As freshmen, Haugh and Condon were part of a Florida Gators squad that was knocked off by Colorado 102-100 on a last-second shot by KJ Simpson in the opening round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
Then, as sophomores, Haugh and Condon helped fuel UF’s run to its third national title in school history, which included four second-half comeback wins in six games.
As juniors, the 6-foot-9 Haugh and 6-foot-11 Condon will be counted on again for production and leadership in their third NCAA Tournament appearances in a Florida uniform.
“We took what we learned from that Colorado loss my first year here and just built on it,” Haugh said. “You can’t take any games for granted in the tournament. Every team that’s here is good. They deserve to be here. That’s the main thing I learned from it.”
With Haugh and Condon as starters, Florida enters NCAA Tournament play as a No. 1 seed for the second straight year and will face No. 16 seed Prairie View A&M on Friday, March 20, at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa. At 26-7, Florida cruised to its first SEC regular season title since 2014, winning 12 straight before a 91-74 loss to Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament semifinals.
“We’ve been doing a lot of winning,” Condon said. “We won last year. And we can’t get complacent this year. It’s a different year. We’ve got to be hungry every game.”
How Florida forwards Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon have led UF this season
Haugh has successfully adapted to the wing position in his first year as a starter, averaging 17.1 poins, 6.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists to earn consensus second and third-team All-American honors.
“I’m definitely not the most vocal guy on the team, but I think I just try to lead by example,” Haugh said. “Just do the right things off the court, do the right things on the court.”
Condon, meanwhile, initially struggled with expectations as a preseason All-American. But the Perth, Australia native has played his best basketball of late, scoring 20 or more in five of his last eight games. He’s averaged 19.9 points and 6,6 rebounds during that stretch.
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The Sun’s Kevin Brockway and Noah Ram discuss Florida basketball heading into March Madness and the 68-team field with Mike DeCourcy from The Sporting News.
Condon said he’s tried to take on more of a leadership role by holding teammates accountable and communicating with head coach Todd Golden.
“Especially at practices,” Condon said. “You practice how you play; is what Coach says all the time. So we’ve got to have elite practices. And then if I’m seeing anything out there, I’ll talk to Coach, plays that we can run, any defensive schemes, just stuff that I have out on the court, just to get the group in a huddle and have a chat to them, let guys explain what they’re seeing, too.”
Starting Florida center Rueben Chinyelu also brings two years of NCAA Tournament experience, with one year at Washington State and one year at UF. All three will play pivotal roles to UF’s chances to repeat as national champions.
“They’ve experienced a wide range of experiences and emotions in the tournament,” Golden said. “And I feel like they’ve done a really good job of kind of leading our guys over these last couple days, especially the guys that weren’t in our program last year and the guys that didn’t play a big role on our team, in terms of getting them prepared to compete in March.”
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com