March 20, 2026, 5:04 a.m. ET
Florida basketball beginning forwards Thomas Haugh and Alex Condon perceive how seasons can hinge on one shot and one play in the Men’s NCAA Tournament.
As freshmen, Haugh and Condon had been a 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 spherical of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
Then, as sophomores, Haugh and Condon helped gasoline UF’s run to its third nationwide title in faculty historical past, which included 4 second-half comeback wins in six video games.
As juniors, the 6-foot-9 Haugh and 6-foot-11 Condon will probably be counted on again for manufacturing and management 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 stated. “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 12 months and can 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 common season title since 2014, profitable 12 straight earlier than a 91-74 loss to Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament semifinals.
“We’ve been doing a lot of winning,” Condon stated. “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 efficiently tailored to the wing place in his first 12 months as a starter, averaging 17.1 poins, 6.2 rebounds and a pair of.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 stated. “Just do the right things off the court, do the right things on the court.”
Condon, in the meantime, initially struggled with expectations as a preseason All-American. But the Perth, Australia native has performed his finest basketball of late, scoring 20 or extra in 5 of his final eight video games. He’s averaged 19.9 factors and 6,6 rebounds throughout that stretch.
Condon stated he is tried to tackle extra of a management position by holding teammates accountable and speaking with head coach Todd Golden.
“Especially at practices,” Condon stated. “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 middle Rueben Chinyelu additionally brings two years of NCAA Tournament expertise, with one 12 months at Washington State and one 12 months at UF. All three will play pivotal roles to UF’s probabilities to repeat as nationwide champions.
“They’ve experienced a wide range of experiences and emotions in the tournament,” Golden stated. “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 author. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1. Read his protection of the Gators’ nationwide championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s ebook from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com
