Hear Florida basketball coach Todd Golden speak about Boogie Fland and other Gators offseason moves
Florida basketball is six weeks removed from the program’s third national championship and has quickly reloaded in the offseason with Xaivian Lee, AJ Brown and Boogie Fland.
Fresh off a trip to the White House on May 21, Florida basketball coach Todd Golden also continued his offseason makeover of the roster this week.
The Florida Gators signed Arkansas transfer and former five-star recruit Boogie Fland, completing a new-look backcourt that includes Princeton transfer guard Xaivian Lee and Ohio guard A.J. Brown.
The defending national champion Gators are looking to replace the production lost from senior starting All-American guard Walter Clayton Jr, guard Alijah Martin and guard Will Richard. UF will get a first glimpse to see how the three newcomers fit in the backcourt when summer workouts start on June 9.
“We wanted to be really thorough in kind of evaluating the options out there and seeing what guys we thought would fit,” Golden said. “Getting Boogie to join us was really important. I think the combination of those two guys in the backcourt gives us the playmaking, the leadership, the ability to attack offensively that we need to pair with, obviously, the really talented and deep front court that we have coming back.”
Golden is confident the pairing of Lee and Fland, two scoring point guards who are used to having the ball in their hands in big moments, will work. The 6-foot-4 Lee averaged 16.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.5 assists in earning All-Ivy League honors at Princeton last season, while the 6-3 Fland averaged 13.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists.
“I see it working really, really well,” Golden said. “I’m excited about it. To have two guys that can play so well with the ball in their hands, they make plays for themselves but also for others really, really well. They both have great assist rates. They both take care of the ball really well. When you have two point guards that are out there making plays, I think it makes your offense really dynamic.”
The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Brown, a 38.8% 3-point shooter at Ohio last season, brings perimeter scoring ability to the backcourt as well.
“He’s just really an efficient scorer,” Golden said. “A guy that can finish from 2, really shot the ball well from 3 last year. And a guy, as we’re kind of putting the pieces to this puzzle together, will provide a scoring punch for us and a guy that can make shots.”
Todd Golden respecting predraft process of Florida basketball forward Alex Condon
Golden said he’s respecting the process of Florida starting forward Alex Condon, who has until May 28 at 11:59 p.m. to decide whether to return to UF for his junior or stay in the NBA Draft. Condon reportedly has predraft workouts with teams scheduled for May 23 and May 24.
“He’s been great in terms of communicating with us, in terms of where everything’s at,” Condon said. “I’m cautiously optimistic, but we’re going to, again, be very mindful of his process. He’s getting great workouts of teams. He’s looked good in different combine events. I think we’ll find out, my hope is on the 27th – the day before the deadline – and I’m hoping for good news for the Gators.”
The 6-foot-11 Condon, from Perth, Australia, started 35 of 37 games for UF in 2024-25, averaging 10.6 points and 7.5 rebounds with a team-high 49 blocked shots to earn second-team, All-SEC honors. His return would solidify a frontcourt that includes rising junior 6-9 forward Thomas Haugh, senior 7-1 center Micah Handlogten and junior 6-10 center Rueben Chinyelu, who pulled his name back from the NBA Draft earlier this week.
Chinyelu started all 40 games for Florida at center last season, averaging 6.0 points and 6.6 rebounds per game while excelling in his role of setting screens to create driving lanes for teammates to the basket.
“People that really understand basketball and follow our program appreciate what he brought to the table for us last year,” Golden said. “Just a consistent winner, just a guy that started every game, you know, was there for us every night. Just brought physicality, great energy, enthusiasm to our program. And was definitely a leader by example, in terms of how hard he played.”
Todd Golden on entire Florida basketball team attending White House trip
Golden said he was pleased that the entire squad attended UF’s trip to The White House on May 21 to celebrate its national championship season. That includes Denzel Aberdeen and Sam Alexis, who entered the portal and transferred to Kentucky and Indiana this offseason.
“Both guys gave us great impact in terms of winning the national championship,” Golden said. “We’re not petty. We appreciate everything they’ve done for us, and we wanted them to be part of it, and their teammates wanted them there.”
Golden said one of the highlights of the trip was the tour of the Oval Office following the championship ceremony.
“Everybody in our program, everybody on our team, it was just a surreal moment that these guys will be able to have for the rest of their lives,” Golden said. “It was just really unique, and it was awesome, and you know, we were so happy to be there.”
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com