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While celebrating the program’s third national championship during halftime of the annual spring game, head coach Todd Golden told fans and media that it was time to “get back to work.” Golden did just that, hosting former two-time All-Ivy League point guard Xaivian Lee, on an official visit. Wednesday night, Lee announced his commitment to the Gators.
Lee is a 6’4, 180 lb scoring point guard that played high school ball with fellow Gators forward Thomas Haugh in Perkiomen, PA.
As a junior at Princeton, Lee averaged 16.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 5.5 assists. In 2023-24, he averaged 17.1, 5.7, and 3.7. Lee shot 44% from the field including 37% from behind the three-point arc.
Lee helps Florida fill a major hole after the entire starting backcourt (Walter Clayton, Jr., Alijah Martin, Will Richard) exhausted their eligibility. While a large percentage of production will be leaving, the Gators do return Denzel Aberdeen to the backcourt.
Golden will likely be looking to add two to three more players from the portal to fill the roster. Florida has been mentioned as players for Ohio’s AJ Brown and Washington State’s Cedric Coward.
Following a sophomore season that resulted in an NCAA title, Florida big man Alex Condon has declared for the 2025 NBA Draft. Condon will maintain his NCAA eligibility and has until May 28 to remove his name from draft consideration. He did mention that should he return to the college game, it will be at Florida.
via @alexcondonn | IG
The Perth, Australia native joined the Gators as part of the 2024 high school recruiting cycle but was largely considered a project upon arriving in Gainesville.
In 2024-25, Condon was selected All-SEC third team and put up 10.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.3 blocks per game.
The 6’11, 230 lb big man helped the Gators to a 36-4 overall record that included winning the last twelve games en route a SEC Tournament title and an NCAA championship.
Condon came up with the loose ball in the waning seconds of the national championship game that clinched the Florida win.
According to ESPN’s projections, Condon is the No. 29 prospect in this year’s draft. The NBA Draft Combine will take place in Chicago from May 11-18. The 2025 NBA Draft will be held in Brooklyn, NY on June 25.
Florida baseball is on the precipice of something that’s never happened under the direction of coach Kevin O’Sullivan. Sitting at 20-14 with a 1-11 conference record, and being swept for a consecutive home conference series for the first time since 2004 — and the first time being swept at home by Vanderbilt period — UF is in serious jeopardy of missing the postseason for the first time in 16 years.
The Gators were close last year, too, but 13 SEC wins and a record just above .500 helped subside concerns about a weak non-conference resume and cleared a path for Florida to reach the College World Series for the second year in a row. Thirteen wins will probably get the job done here, but UF needs to go 12-6 over its final 18 conference matchups, including sweeps of Mizzou and Mississippi State over the next two weekends, to make it happen.
Here’s two major fixes the Gators need to make in order to get 13 conference wins:
Situational hitting
The Gators are not untalented at the plate. But they’re playing like it. Florida went 4-for-29 with runners and scoring position and left the bases stranded full five times over the weekend. In addition, UF seemed incapable of getting rebound runs following frames where Vandy scored.
“It’s been the same old story all year about giving up rebound runs,” said a clearly frustrated O’Sullivan after Sunday’s loss.
Catcher Luke Heyman has been the one bright spot in conference play, batting .386 with four homers and 11 RBIs. Colby Shelton isn’t far behind him at .333, but hasn’t put away many clutch runs until this weekend when he hit back-to-back jacks with Bobby Boser.
If another hitter (a.k.a Brendan Lawson or Brody Donay) can join up with those three in hitting better situationally, the Florida bats will be okay.
Three outs, not two
It’s almost hard to watch the Gators play baseball when the opponent is on offense with two outs. Their playmaking and decision making strays so far from a winning team’s, it’s horrific. I’d like to bring out some nifty stat to show you it’s okay or a way to make it right, but there isn’t one. Florida simply needs to start making pitches and finishing plays behind their arms.
“We’ve talked about it. There’re certain points in a game you gotta rise up and you gotta make pitches. That’s part of it,” O’Sullivan said.
Florida has a big chance to turn things around at home Tuesday against Florida State at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
Florida is 1-11 in the SEC, has been swept in two consecutive home conference series and have a long road ahead to turn the 2025 season into a positive.
The Gators lost 11-3 to No. 23 Vanderbilt to go 0-3 on the weekend. It’s the first time the Commodores have ever swept Florida at home.
“It’s really hard to watch,” said Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan. “It was not good at all.”
Vanderbilt got on the board first in the top of the second after an RBI single dropped fair in a crowd of three UF fielders. Gators third baseman Bobby Boser tied things up in the bottom third, scoring outfielder Hayden Yost from third on an RBI single. Florida couldn’t add any more runs and sent starting right-hander Alex Philpott out for the fourth in a 1-1 ballgame.
Philpott was pulled after loading the bases in the top fourth. Caden McDonald came in and got the outs, but not before three Vanderbilt runs scored and made it a 4-1 game. Florida loaded the bases in the bottom frame but left all three runners stranded.
Florida led off the bottom fifth inning with back-to-back jacks from Boser and Colby Shelton. After five frames, the Gators trailed 4-3.
Left-hander McCall Biemiller was brought in for the seventh to sit a lefty at the plate and gave up a one-pitch single. After a walk with nobody out, he was pulled for right-handed sophomore Jake Clemente. He picked up two outs on a double play which let a runner score, and he was subsequently pulled for Billy Barlow. The Clemson transfer represented Florida’s third arm of the inning.
Barlow balked in the runner from third before closing the frame. Florida stranded the bases loaded for a second time to keep it 6-3 after seven innings. Vandy did the same through the top eighth.
In the top of the ninth, Florida had a 6-3 deficit to maintain to keep the game open headed into the final frame. Instead, Barlow let up a solo home run and an RBI single to make it 8-3 before he was pulled for righty Christian Rodriguez.
“There’s certain points during the game, you’ve got to rise up,” said O’Sullivan. “It’s been the same old story the entire year, honestly.”
The Gators will take on No. 4 Florida State at home Tuesday in the midweek series finale. The game will broadcast on ESPN2 at 7 p.m.
Florida guard Walter Clayton, Jr. continues to write his name throughout the program’s record books. He will have one more opportunity on Monday when he leads the Gators into the national championship game. Florida defeated the nation’s No. 1 overall seed, Auburn, 79-73 to advance to their first title game since 2007.
Clayton finished the game with 34 points (on 11-18 from the field) and 4 rebounds to lead all scorers.
The first half of the contest was very back and forth with neither team grabbing a lead of more than a few points, either way. Despite the back and forth nature of the period, Florida only possessed two leads, 11-10 and 23-22) and entered the intermission trailing 46-38.
Auburn fed talented big man Johni Broome early and often and the NBA Draft prospect took advantage of his size to bully the Gators in the paint. The Tigers scored 24 first half points in the paint, dominating Florida in that area early on.
The Gators opened the second half with much more energy than they had previously displayed. Center Rueben Chinyelu opened the scoring with a jumper that cut the deficit to just six. Florida then rode an 11-0 run to their first lead since midway through the first half at 51-49.
The rest of the second half saw the lead seasaw between both teams. Auburn led by as many as four points at 55-51 with 12:06 to play. Florida possessed a 71-68 lead with just two minutes remaining. Florida would make 4-8 from the free throw stripe to clinch the victory in the final moments of the game.
For the game, Clayton was joined by Alijah Martin (17) and Thomas Haugh (12) in double-figures in the scoring column. Chinyelu led the Gators with 9 rebounds while Haugh added seven more. The Gators shot 47% from the floor and made 8 of 21 from behind the three-point arc.
The Gators now have the opportunity to become just the third team in program history to claim a national title. Florida will play the winner of the Duke-Houston game that took place shortly after their matchup on Monday in San Antonio.
The Gators entered the bottom ninth inning with much more than a game on the line. It was about avenging their head coach, who was ejected at home for the first time in his career. It was about stopping the bleeding on the worst SEC start in program history. It was about getting one step closer to the 13 conference wins Florida would undoubtedly need to make the postseason.
How did they respond? By striking out to close the inning with a runner stranded at second.
Florida (20-113, 1-10 SEC) fell to No. 23 Vanderbilt (23-8, 6-5 SEC) 3-2 Saturday to drop the weekend series.
Florida chose to not make any coaches or players available postgame.
Right-handed freshman Aidan King made the start on the mound for the Gators. He sat his first two batters faced before picking up what he thought was the third strikeout of the game. It wasn’t called that way and King gave up a single the next pitch. He then tried to make a pick play at first, but the challenged call was upheld as safe.
On the next pickoff attempt, King was called for a Balk to advance the runner. A bang-bang play at home eventually turned the third out. Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan emerged from the dugout to give home plate umpire John Brammer an earful. After more chatter from the dugout, O’Sullivan was ejected. He went out one more time to get his time’s worth before heading into the locker room.
The Gators went 1-2-3 through the bottom first and King induced the same result from Vandy in the top second, picking up his second strikeout of the afternoon.
Freshman infielder Brendan Lawson got things going for Florida in the bottom frame with a one-out double into deep center field. He was left stranded and UF was tied with Vanderbilt at 0-0 headed into the third inning of the afternoon.
The Commodores got on the board first once again Saturday with a leadoff blast from shortstop Jonathan Vastine in the top of the third inning. King would let up a single and a walk before getting out of the frame. Florida went 1-2-3 through the bottom third to end the inning down 1-0.
After a quiet fourth, King took the hill for the fifth. He let up a walk, advanced the runner on a wild pitch and then relinquished an RBI double with two outs. King punched the final out of the frame when Vanderbilt outfielder RJ Austin leaned into a pitch. The righty had some words as he exited the diamond towards the dugout.
The Gators carried the momentum over, scoring Landon Stripling on an RBI single from Justin Nadeau. Bobby Boser dug in with two outs and runners on first and second. He took a walk to load the bases for Colby Shelton, who would take on a new pitcher in lefty Miller Green.
RIght-handed reliever Luke McNeillie took over for King in the sixth. He plunked the leadoff hitter before striking out the first out and working a double play on his own to get out clean.
Florida took back over on offense in the bottom frame and quickly loaded the bases with one away. Nobody could get the job done, and three Gators were left stranded to keep it 2-1 headed into the closing third of the ballgame.
The Gators gave themselves the best chance of winning all day in the bottom seventh after putting two runners on with no outs and the heart of the order up. Luke Heyman came through with an RBI single to score a runner, while Nadeau was gunned at third for the second out. Florida couldn’t add any more and ended the seventh tied at 2-2.
Both teams went scoreless through the eighth, and right-hander Billy Barlow took over for McNeillie in the top ninth inning. He gave up the go-ahead home run with two outs before getting the third and turning the game over to Florida’s bats with a one-run hole to dig out of.
Florida couldn’t get it done and relinquished the series.
The Gators will look to salvage the weekend at noon tomorrow on ESPN SEC Network+.
If tonight’s Florida baseball game felt a lot like last year, you’re not alone.
All last season, the Gators pitching staff struggled with bonus at-bats thanks to two-out walks. Friday night, UF walked 10 batters, gave up five runs in two-out situations and fell to Vanderbilt, with a miraculous postseason run like 2024’s seeming increasingly unlikely.
Florida (20-12, 1-9 SEC) fell to No. 23 Vanderbilt (22-8, 5-5 SEC) 6-0 in the series opener.
“I’ve never quite seen anything like this,” said Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan. “This is about as disappointing of a game as I can remember.”
Liam Peterson made his usual Friday start for the Gators. It started with a slight scare as a single, a stolen base and a walk put runners on the corners with two outs. He punched the final out to escape the jam. Florida went up to hit for the first time Friday with a clean slate.
Gators shortstop Colby Shelton would lay down a two-out single for Florida’s first knock, followed by a walk drawn by outfielder Blake Cyr. They’d both end up stranded as Peterson headed back out for the second with the score still knotted at zeroes.
Peterson had a much smoother second frame, retiring the side in order and tossing his second strikeout of the game to hand it back over to UF’s bats.
The Gators put a runner on as Brody Donay walked and stole second. Nobody could hit him around and the game stayed scoreless after two innings as Peterson took the hill once again.
He worked two quick outs with the help of a nice diving catch in center field by Justin Nadeau. Vandy kept the inning alive with a walk before sending another ball into deep center. Nadeau almost made another great grab before colliding with the wall and letting up an RBI triple.
Peterson walked another before picking up the third out. Florida infielder Bobby Boser would single with one out, before Shelton singled behind him but inexplicably turned the corner for second and was thrown out. His choice proved costly as Cyr grounded out at first to end the inning and strand Boser.
After three innings, the Gators trailed 1-0.
Florida’s defense held up behind Peterson, who picked up his third strikeout in the fourth frame, picking up a double play after a successful challenge to end the top fourth without any added insurance for the Commodores. The Gators went 1-2-3 through the bottom frame to end the fourth inning down 4-0.
After letting up his fourth walk of the night to start the fifth inning, Peterson gave up a pair of RBI knocks before closing the frame down 3-0. The Gators would strand two on the bases in the bottom frame to end the fifth inning and send Peterson out for his sixth and final inning.
Peterson picked up his sixth strikeout after a leadoff single, but was pulled for left-handed reliever Jacob Gomberg. The sophomore tossed a four-pitch walk and was quickly swapped for Jake Clemente. The right-handed starter-turned-reliever punched out the last two outs to escape the bases-loaded jam.
“[The pitching] was not good,” said O’Sullivan.
Heyman would lay down a two-out single in the bottom frame but was left stranded. After six innings, the Gators still trailed 3-0. Clemente held firm on the other end for the Gators, stranding two and picking up two Ks in the top seventh. The Gators got nothing in the bottom frame and sent him back out for the eighth inning.
Clemente would let up a leadoff walk in the top frame and was pulled for righty Christian Rodriguez. He’d pick up one out before letting up an RBI single to make way for Jackson Barberi. He let up a 2-RBI single of his own to make it 6-0 after the top eighth.
UF was retired in order to end the eighth inning, and entered the final two frames down 6-0 with Barberi manning the mound. He got through the top frame cleanly, setting up a 6-0 deficit with three outs remaining for Florida. Vanderbilt completed the shutout and the Gators were handed their 12th loss of the season.
“We have to have some urgency,” said O’Sullivan. “I’m upset about it. I’ve been upset about it.”
Florida will look to even up the series tomorrow at 1 p.m. on ESPN SEC Network+.
Billy Napier and the Florida Gators picked up a late addition to the 2025 recruiting class as 4-star CB J’Vari Flowers announced his commitment Monday evening. Flowers reclassified from the 2026 recruiting cycle back in January and picked the Gators over Miami, Georgia, Notre Dame and many of the nation’s top programs.
The Miami Northwestern product is ranked the No. 82 overall prospect according to the 247Sports composite rankings and is listed as the No. 12 cornerback in the 2025 class.
Since the beginning of March, Flowers has toured some of the programs that showed the most interest. On March 10, he visited Gainesville on an official visit. He also visited North Carolina, Auburn, Syracuse, and Georgia. Most recently, the talented prospect visited Miami.
Flowers is listed at 5’10.5 and 165 lbs and is a state champion on the track in the 100 meter dash and was part of the title winning 4X400 relay.
Flowers joins a defensive backfield that includes 2025 prospects Ben Hanks and Otis Konanbanny. The addition of the South Florida prospect moves the Gators up to ninth in the 2025 247 team rankings.
The Florida Gators traveled to Auburn, Alabama for a conference series against the Tigers. The Gators swept Auburn with one of the games being shortened to six innings due to the run-rule.
Overall, the Gators are 33-5 and 6-3 in SEC play. Auburn fell to 0-12 in conference action and 22-14 overall. Florida has five conferences series (15 games) remaining this season.
Game One: Florida 11, Auburn 7
Florida opened the series with an offensive shootout, winning 11-7. The Gators opened the scoring in the top of the second with three runs, highlighted by Kenleigh Cahalan’s solo home run. The Tigers would get one back in the bottom of the second and third before Florida struck again. The Gators struck for eight runs over the final four innings to claim the victory. Mia Williams crushed her twelfth homer of the season in the sixth.
On the day, Taylor Shumaker finished 3-3 with two doubles and two RBI. She is now up to 54 RBI, just six back of the Florida program record for a freshman. Reagan Walsh, Rylee Holtorf, and Cahalan each recorded multiple hits in the win.
In the circle, Katelyn Oxley pitched three innings, allowing three runs (two earned) and striking out two. Kara Hammock (8-1) came on in relief and pitched 1.1 innings to pick up the win. Ava Brown closed out the game with the final 2.2 innings.
Game Two: Florida 10, Auburn 0 (6)
Florida ace pitcher Keagan Rothrock (9-1) returned to the circle for the first time since February 22 and dazzled against the #25 Tigers. The sophomore tossed 4.1 innings and struck out seven while not allowing a run.
The Florida offense was spectacular again, this time recording ten runs over the six innings of play.
While Florida opened the game with a pair of runs in the second on a Rylee Holtorf homer, the Gators did much of the damage in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. Florida added four runs to the ledger in the fourth inning, another in the fifth and three more in the sixth that put the game into run-rule territory.
Kendra Falby, Korbe Otis, and Holtorf each collected multiple base hits and Shumaker added a pair of RBIs to increase her season total to 56.
Game Three: Florida 4, Auburn 3
Florida completed the sweep of Auburn with a 4-3 win on Sunday. The Tigers got on the scoreboard first with a two-run homer by Nelia Peralta in the second inning. The Gators responded in the top of the third with four runs that included a two-run double by Reagan Walsh and a pair of RBI singles by Kenleigh Cahalan and Korbe Otis. Auburn would inch closer in the sixth on a solo home run by KK McCrary before Katelyn Oxley (S, 2) could close out the victory.
For the Gators, Kendra Falby (3-4), Walsh (2-4), and Otis (2-3) each recorded multiple hits.
In the circle, Kara Hammock got the start and lasted two innings before turning the ball over to Ava Brown (W, 8-0). Brown pitched 3.2 innings and collected her eighth win of the season before Oxley completed the sweep of Auburn.
On Deck:
The Gators will travel to Tallahassee to take on rival Florida State in midweek action Wednesday. The Gators then return home to Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium where they will take on Arkansas in SEC play. The series starts Friday at 6:00 PM.
With just 2:59 remaining in the game and Florida trailing 75-66, sophomore forward Thomas Haugh collected a massive offensive rebound off Walter Clayton’s missed three pointer. Haugh then moved beyond the arc and was gifted an open look, which he knocked down to cut the deficit to six. On each of their next three possessions, the Gators made threes (one more by Haugh and two by Clayton) that put Florida ahead 78-77 with less than a minute left in regulation.
The Gators utilized an 18-4 run over the final 2:50 to clinch a berth into the national semifinals, or Final Four.
The Red Raiders came out hot from the start knocking down their first three attempts from three-point land and claiming an early 9-3 advantage. While Florida did eventually take the lead, Texas Tech led for much of the first half and by as many as six points. The Gators, however, finished the first half strong and entered halftime with a 40-37 lead.
Florida opened the second half shooting extremely cold, going nearly five minutes without a field goal. In that timeframe, the Red Raiders took advantage and maintained a 48-44 lead before a Micah Handlogten dunk. After being tied at 55, TTU went on a 12-2 run that extended the lead to 67-57 with 7:48 to play. The Gators continued to cut into the lead, but could never mount a run of more than a couple of points until the final three minutes of play.
The Gators were led by Clayton, who finished with 30 points and four assists, and Hough, who added 20 points and 11 rebounds off the bench. Guard Alijah Martin was the only other double-digit scorer for Florida, with ten points and seven rebounds.
For Florida head coach Todd Golden, the last two games have been somewhat a homecoming. Golden got his first head coaching job with San Francisco University and played at fellow bay area school, St. Mary’s.
The Gators advanced to the Final Four with the 84-79 win. Florida will take on the winner of Sunday’s Auburn – Michigan State game from San Antonio next Saturday.
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