Condon to go into NBA draft, keep NCAA eligibility

• Jonathan GivonyApr 16, 2025, 08:47 AM ET Close NBA draft analyst and writer Signed Up With ESPN.com in July 2017
  Creator and co-owner of DraftExpress.com, a personal hunting and analytics service used by NBA, NCAA and global teams

Fresh off winning the championship game, Florida sophomore Alex Condon told ESPN that he will go into the 2025 NBA draft while keeping his NCAA eligibility.

“This was a surreal season,” Condon said Wednesday. “There was so much depth on this team, and all of us played unselfishly. A great deal of guys stepped up in huge minutes. We had a fantastic group, which’s the factor we won the champion.”

Condon, the No. 29 possibility in ESPN’s NBA draft projections, was named third-team All-SEC after averaging 10.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.2 helps and 1.3 blocks in 24.9 minutes per game.He assisted Florida to a 36-4 record, consisting of 12 straight wins to end the season to both protect the SEC tournament title and lower the internet in San Antonio. He had a memorable efficiency in what might be the last game of his college career, posting 12 points, seven rebounds and 4 takes in a win over Houston, diving on the flooring for a loose ball in the final seconds to seal the 65-63 victory.Editor’s Picks

1 Associated” That was a crazy play,”Condon said. “Walt [Clayton Jr.] did a fantastic job of getting out on [Emanuel] Sharp to reject his 3-pointer. The whole arena stopped briefly since no one knew what was occurring. 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 flooring and get it back to Walt up until time ran out. It was all based on impulses.”

The Perth, Australia-born big guy was an afterthought in Florida’s 2024 high school recruiting class, a late bloomer who began playing severe arranged basketball at the age of 16. Prior to that, he favored cricket, water polo and especially Australian Guidelines Football.

“My moms and dads put me in a lot of sports,” Condon said. “That was good for establishing my hand-eye coordination. Playing football assisted me develop my toughness. I didn’t concern Florida with a lot of expectations. The coaching personnel bet on me, and I wanted to reward them by playing as tough as I could. Coach [Todd] Golden gave me the opportunity to play as a freshman, which assisted my shift to this year, where I had fun with more confidence and became an important part of the group.”

Condon took a real role as a freshman, but he emerged as perhaps Florida’s crucial player as a sophomore, a considerable avenue in its connection ball-screen offense with his capability to be a playmaker out of dribble handoffs, allowing them to invert the offense and put several huge males on the flooring. While he didn’t always post substantial scoring numbers, his strong feel for the game was evident with the way he passes and plugs spaces defensively off the ball, while his continuously strength running the floor and crashing the offensive glass set the tone for colleagues.

“We play through the bigs at Florida,” Condon said. “My task is to get the ball to our guards and after that squash the glass. My defense is NBA-ready. I already know how to switch ball-screens and stay in front of smaller guards, which you require to do in the NBA. I still have a lot of space for improvement, particularly offensively. Many guys have been playing a lot longer than me. The next thing I need to tap into is my shooting. I shoot extremely well in drills but require to transfer that to games. If I come back to school, I will shoot it with more self-confidence.”

Condon has up until May 28 to choose whether to withdraw his name from the draft. Ought to he eliminate his name at the deadline, he states he will go back to Florida next season.

“There’s no other way I could go to any other school,” Condon said. “If I have confirmation from NBA groups that I’m in the 15-30 range, if something is ensured, I will consider keeping my name in. I have a terrific circumstance at Florida. It would have to be something pretty special, my household would need to agree that we can’t turn that down.”

The NBA draft combine will be kept in Chicago from May 11-18.

Jonathan Givony is an NBA draft professional and the creator and co-owner of DraftExpress.com, a private searching and analytics service utilized by NBA, NCAA and international teams.