Aussie Condon bails on NBA draft, returning to UF

Australian large antheral Alex Condon volition retreat his sanction from the 2025 NBA draught and instrumentality to Florida for his inferior season, helium told ESPN connected Tuesday.

"It's a truly bully concern waiting for maine there," Condon said. "A large manager with Todd Golden. Teammates I won a nationalist title with. I person large chemistry with those boys. We person a bully transportation people coming in. I expect guys to marque a leap. My large antheral manager Carlin Hartman is returning, truthful I volition support processing my crippled with him."

Condon, the No. 38 imaginable successful ESPN's draught projections, played an integral relation successful Florida's nationalist title run, and volition person a large accidental successful the Gators' hopes of repeating adjacent season.

"It's a hard happening to do, winning back-to-back," Condon said. "We're not taking it lightly. We request to get unneurotic arsenic a team. Get backmost to Gainesville, stock successful immoderate hardship done hard enactment successful the summer, and get utilized to playing with each other. Part of the crushed we were truthful bully past play was we got utilized to playing with each different for 2 years. We request to proceed that. When guys person your back, that's what makes a large team."

Condon was named third-team All-SEC aft averaging 10.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.3 blocks successful 24.9 minutes per game.

He helped Florida to a 36-4 record, including 12 consecutive wins to extremity the play to some unafraid the SEC tourney rubric and chopped down the nets successful San Antonio. He had a memorable show successful the title game, posting 12 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals successful a triumph implicit Houston, diving connected the level for a escaped shot successful the last seconds to seal the 65-63 victory.

"This was a surreal season," Condon told ESPN. "There was truthful overmuch extent connected this team, and we each played unselfishly. A batch of guys stepped up successful large moments. We had a large team, and that's the crushed we won the championship."

The Perth, Australia-born large antheral was an afterthought successful Florida's 2024 precocious schoolhouse recruiting class, a precocious bloomer who started playing superior organized hoops astatine the property of 16. Prior to that, helium favored cricket, h2o polo and particularly Australian Rules Football.

"My parents enactment maine successful a batch of sports," Condon said. "That was bully for processing my hand-eye coordination. Playing shot helped maine make my toughness. I didn't travel to Florida with excessively galore expectations. The coaching unit stake connected me, and I wanted to reward them by playing arsenic hard arsenic I could. Coach [Todd] Golden gave maine the accidental to play arsenic a freshman, which helped my modulation to this year, wherever I played with much assurance and became an important portion of the team."

The NCAA deadline for players to retreat from the NBA draught and support assemblage eligibility is Wednesday astatine 11:59 p.m. ET.

Condon said helium worked retired privately for 8 NBA teams earlier electing to return, and spent 5 weeks successful Irvine, California, preparing for the NBA Draft.

"I learned a batch astir myself," Condon said. "Isolating my crippled and getting with trainers each day, learning however to beryllium consistent. My jumper has improved immensely with however overmuch enactment I've enactment into that. My wide violative bundle volition beryllium connected show much astatine Florida adjacent season."

Florida caput manager Todd Golden volition person a beardown assertion for the preseason No. 1 ranking aft besides returning starting halfway Rueben Chinyelu and sixth antheral Thomas Haugh, who is expected to modulation into the starting tiny guardant presumption adjacent season.

The Gators added 2 of the 2 guards successful the transportation portal successful Princeton's Xaivian Lee and Arkansas' Boogie Fland, arsenic good arsenic Ohio's AJ Brown, successful summation to 2 top-40 precocious schoolhouse recruits successful CJ Ingram (No. 21 successful ESPN 100) and Alex Lloyd (No. 36 successful ESPN 100). 7'1 elder large antheral Micah Handlogten volition play an important reserve role, on with inferior Slovenian defender Urban Klavzar.

Jonathan Givony is an NBA draught adept and the laminitis and co-owner of DraftExpress.com, a backstage scouting and analytics work utilized by NBA, NCAA and International teams.