The Florida Gators are still riding the high of their incredible NCAA Tournament run that resulted in their first national championship since the Billy Donovan days.
From the heroics of Walter Clayton Jr., to the key defensive stops by the whole team, everyone on Florida stepped up and created a magical month for themselves.
Now that the season has concluded, they are attacking the transfer portal to attempt to replace the guards they are losing, including Will Richard, Alijah Martin and Clayton.
They have been in talks and in pursuit of former USC Trojans guard Desmond Claude, and On3 Sports’ Joe Tipton announced they will no longer be pursuing the four-star guard who averaged 15.8 points per game last season.
It comes as a bit of a shock, as almost any team would be vying for Claude’s scoring ability, especially a team losing key guards who led the team in scoring.
However, looking at the Gators’ current recruiting class (including transfers), they have four incomers, all of which are guards.
Their two highly regarded incoming freshman CJ Ingram and Alex Lloyd will be joining Princeton and Ohio transfers Xaivian Lee and AJ Brown.
Brown is the brother of current Gators guard Isaiah Brown. At Ohio, he averaged 13.2 points per game, and will look to replicate that scoring in the SEC.
Lee had similar production to Claude, averaging 16.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 5.5 assists last season at Princeton, and can lead the Gators offense very effectively.
Brining in the two freshman on top of two proven ‘veteran’ college athletes can create one of the best backcourts in the country.
They may need to find replacements for Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh, who has entered the NBA Draft, however they kept their college eligibility and could come back for their junior years.
Head coach Todd Golden and the rest of the Gators have their backcourt figured out, and if Condon and Haugh return for their junior year, could easily make another legendary championship run next March.
