Fresh off winning the national championship, Florida sophomore Alex Condon told ESPN that he will enter the 2025 NBA draft while maintaining his NCAA eligibility.
“This was a surreal season,” Condon said Wednesday. “There was so much depth on this team, and we all played unselfishly. A lot of guys stepped up in big moments. We had a great team, and that’s the reason we won the championship.”
Condon, the No. 29 prospect in ESPN’s NBA draft projections, was named third-team All-SEC after averaging 10.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.3 blocks in 24.9 minutes per game.
He helped Florida to a 36-4 record, including 12 straight wins to end the season to both secure the SEC tournament title and cut down the nets in San Antonio. He had a memorable performance in what might be the final game of his college career, posting 12 points, seven rebounds and four steals in a win over Houston, diving on the floor for a loose ball in the final seconds to seal the 65-63 victory.
“That was a crazy play,” Condon said. “Walt [Clayton Jr.] did a great job of getting out on [Emanuel] Sharp to deny his 3-pointer. The whole stadium paused because no one knew what was happening. I saw a Houston player running over to try and make a play to win it, so I did what I do best. Dive on the floor and get it back to Walt until time ran out. It was all based on instincts.”
The Perth, Australia-born big man was an afterthought in Florida’s 2024 high school recruiting class, a late bloomer who started playing serious organized basketball at the age of 16. Prior to that, he favored cricket, water polo and especially Australian Rules Football.
“My parents put me in a lot of sports,” Condon said. “That was good for developing my hand-eye coordination. Playing football helped me develop my toughness. I didn’t come to Florida with too many expectations. The coaching staff bet on me, and I wanted to reward them by playing as hard as I could. Coach [Todd] Golden gave me the opportunity to play as a freshman, which helped my transition to this year, where I played with more confidence and became an important part of the team.”
Condon carved out a real role as a freshman, but he emerged as arguably Florida’s most important player as a sophomore, a significant conduit in its continuity ball-screen offense with his ability to be a playmaker out of dribble handoffs, allowing them to invert the offense and put multiple big men on the floor. While he didn’t always post huge scoring numbers, his strong feel for the game was evident with the way he passes and plugs gaps defensively off the ball, while his nonstop intensity running the floor and crashing the offensive glass set the tone for teammates.
“We play through the bigs at Florida,” Condon said. “My job is to get the ball to our guards and then crush the glass. My defense is NBA-ready. I already know how to switch ball-screens and stay in front of smaller guards, which you need to do in the NBA. I still have a lot of room for improvement, especially offensively. Most guys have been playing a lot longer than me. The next thing I need to tap into is my shooting. I shoot very well in drills but need to transfer that to games. If I come back to school, I will shoot it with more confidence.”
Condon has until May 28 to decide whether to withdraw his name from the draft. Should he remove his name at the deadline, he says he will return to Florida next season.
“There’s no way I could go to any other school,” Condon said. “If I have confirmation from NBA teams that I’m in the 15-30 range, if something is guaranteed, I will consider keeping my name in. I have a great situation at Florida. It would have to be something pretty special, my family would have to agree that we can’t turn that down.”
The NBA draft combine will be held in Chicago from May 11-18.
Jonathan Givony is an NBA draft expert and the founder and co-owner of DraftExpress.com, a private scouting and analytics service used by NBA, NCAA and international teams.
