Wednesday basketball uf1/29/2024 Golden loves their individual skill sets, as well as their all-around feel for the game. UF coach Todd Golden, with just one returning "big" (seldom-used 6-10 sophomore Alex Szymczyk) from last year's 16-17 squad, vowed to fix things up front and both Condon and Haugh are part of the plan. Florida Gators Men's Basketball May 15, 2023 When the 6-11 Castleton suffered a season-ending broken hand in February, the Gators became both undersized and overwhelmed down low.įresh on campus □ #GoGators /D4yrnCCVBc And that was with three-time All-Southeastern Conference forward Colin Castleton in the post for nearly three-quarters of the year. They'll be here soon enough, with their collective experience and past production expected to translate immediately for a team that posted some of the worst rebounding numbers - 285th defensively and 320th on the offensive glass - in the country last season. Additional front court help is on the way in the form of a trio of seasoned transfers in 6-11 fifth-year Tyrese Samuel (by way of Seton Hall), 6-8 grad-transfer EJ Jarvis (Yale) and 7-1 sophomore Micah Handlogten (Marshall). Now as true freshmen playing Division I basketball, their projected impact, at least externally, probably is tempered. Both were considered late-bloomers in their development. Haugh (pronounced "Howk") signed last November, while Condon took an official visit in the fall, committed almost immediately and officially signed in April. "And the coaches have been awesome transitioning me from the other side of the world." ![]() "It's been really good to make connections with the boys," Condon said. ![]() Same for Condon, a native of Perth, the fourth-largest city in Australia, and product of the NBA Global Academy, a prestigious basketball factory Down Under. I love being here," said Haugh who hails from New Oxford, Pa., but prepped at Perkiomen School in the Lehigh Valley outside Philadelphia. "I think my friends back home had their senior prom last week, but this is great. Usually, new arrivals check in for Summer "B," but the ever-changing landscape of college basketball made a path for both rookies to be earlier than any Florida freshmen in … well … a long time. Now that competitive nature is officially part of the team - several weeks early, in fact - with Condon, the 6-foot-11 center from Australia, and Haugh, a 6-9 forward from Pennsylvania, having arrived on campus for Summer "A" classes last week and tipped off the Gators' offseason program Monday with weight-lifting in the morning and on-court drills (the NCAA allows four hours per week) in the afternoon. ![]() That competitiveness jumped out at the Florida staff when they scouted the two front court prospects, long before the UF coaches realized how sorely they would need a hefty infusion of size and ferocity in their program. "They compete," said Jonathan Safir, Florida's director of basketball strategy and analytics. On at least two, perhaps three, instances during Monday's first offseason workout, the freshmen tandem of Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh, matched against one another in 2-on-2 drills, got tangled up, with both spilling to the floor at the same time.
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