Source: ESPN Sports
How Florida built the right roster to defend its title – ESPNSkip to main contentSkip to navigation<>A chance run-in and exception to a rule: How Florida prepared its title defenseFlorida Gators22mMyron MedcalfMen’s NCAA basketball megapreview, predictions for 2025-26James Madison Dukes5dJeff Borzello, +3 MorePurdue enters hoops season as betting favoritePurdue Boilermakers1hDoug GreenbergNCAA gambling inquiry widens pre-hoops seasonArizona State Sun Devils3dDavid PurdumCongress wants info on NCAA letting players bet3dDan MurphyWoodward out as LSU AD amid Landry’s criticismLSU Tigers4dPete ThamelNCAA hoops tourneys to use availability reports4dDavid PurdumLucas lands Gaskins, 1st 5-star as Miami coachMiami Hurricanes4dJeff Borzello and Paul BiancardiStorylines to watch in all 31 men’s college basketball conferencesChattanooga Mocs4dMyron MedcalfMen’s college basketball betting: Will Purdue win the title and the Wooden with Braden Smith?Purdue Boilermakers3h17 men’s college basketball teams that could win 30 games in 2025-26Gonzaga Bulldogs3dMyron MedcalfTop 100 men’s NCAA basketball players ranked going into 2025-26Missouri Tigers11dJeff Borzello and Myron MedcalfplayFlorida’s Golden on retiring Pearl, new additions of Fland, Lee (3:10)Todd Golden relives beating his close friend Bruce Pearl in his final game, while expressing his confidence in Steven Pearl and talks replacing the Gators’ elite backcourt last season. (3:10)Myron MedcalfNov 3, 2025, 09:30 AM ETCloseMyron Medcalf covers college basketball for ESPN.com. He joined ESPN in 2011.Follow on XEmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsGAINESVILLE, FLA. — THIS OFFSEASON,months before theFlorida Gatorscould focus on its pursuit of back-to-back national titles, a feat the program had previously achieved in 2006 and 2007, head coach Todd Golden first needed another championship roster.He had known the best backcourt in America would graduate and push for spots on NBA rosters, but he couldn’t predictDenzel Aberdeenreceiving NIL offers that would turn Florida’s new potential leader into what Golden called a “cap casualty,” ultimately departing for Kentucky. At that point, he didn’t know whetherAlex Condonwould remain in the 2025 NBA draft or return to Gainesville.Through that draft process, though, not only did Condon decide to return, but he crossed paths with former Arkansas starBoogie Flandand tipped the scales of Florida’s title defense.”I was like, ‘Come to the Gators. We might have to all run it back,'” Condon told ESPN of their conversation at a Brooklyn Nets workout. “So I don’t know if that swung his decision at all, but seeing him [commit to Florida] really helped me out with my decision.”Fland clarified: “For sure, it added to my decision, especially when I knew everybody was coming back.”That fortuitous meeting between Condon and Fland wasn’t the only stroke of luck Golden’s Gators benefited from as they prepared to chase another ring. To have a realistic chance at etching their names next t…
Published: 2025-11-03T14:41:25
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