CJ Ingram, Alex Lloyd Ready to Grow Behind Florida’s Stacked Roster
Florida men’s basketball will enter the 2026-27 season as a title favorite after returning four starters who led the charge on scoring last season, accounting for more than 60% of points scored per game.
Florida kept its most versatile player when projected lottery pick Thomas Haugh forwent the 2026 NBA Draft on April 21. The junior led the team, averaging 17.1 points per game, while ranking third in defensive rebounding (136) and steals (36). Most impressively, the Gators’ entire dominant frontcourt stayed intact, with 2026 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Rueben Chinyelu and All-SEC Alex Condon returning.
The added return of guard Boogie Fland, who made plays on both sides of the ball, leading the team in steals (61) and tied for third in points per game (11.6), as well as the reacquisition of sharpshooter Denzel Aberdeen, who posted a career-high 36.3% from the 3-point range with Kentucky, explain the high hopes surrounding this year’s Gators team.
But coach Todd Golden’s focus on retention stretched past his starting five, maintaining 11 players from the 2025-26 roster, including sophomores CJ Ingram and Alex Lloyd. Despite spending the majority of their freshman season on the bench, their value shouldn’t be understated.
“We want them to know how important they are and how important that role is to us for us to win,” associate head coach Korey McCray said. “So we value role players just as much as we value impact players because you need everybody to win a championship.”
Golden’s embarrassment of riches will force the pair to continue carving roles out for themselves. Fortunately, when on the court, both showed flashes of talent.
Ingram established himself as a reliable shooter from behind the arc last season, going 8-for-16, well above the team’s 31.2% three-point shooting percentage that scraped the bottom of the SEC at No. 15. In his 21 appearances, he averaged 5.4 minutes while tallying 46 points.
Lloyd spent even less time on the floor, averaging 4.7 minutes across 17 games. He proved himself last season when he played a season-high 15 minutes in his collegiate debut against North Florida, and recorded four points, four defensive rebounds and one steal. Lloyd earned more time on the court in the Gators final exhibition game against Stetson, logging 17 minutes, 2 points, 2 assists and a steal. Though he did leave room for improvement, going 0-for-4 from the three and 0-for-2 from the line.
In the offseason, Golden echoed similar messages about the jump he wants to see the sophomores make this season and how he sees them developing into pillars of the program.
“Being a key card for the future,” Ingram said. “Make winning plays, play hard, defend, rebound, make open shots, which sounds easier than it is, but that’s what’s asked for.”
“He wants me to make a jump and be a part of this team,” Lloyd said. “Just making the right plays [and] being an uplift to the team, wherever it takes. He wants me to be ready and be ready for the moment.”
Luckily, the two have another season to develop under veterans, who postponed their jump to the NBA, allowing Lloyd and Ingram to sharpen their skills against NBA talent and size. With the veterans entering their fourth year of college basketball and a national title under their belt, they give Lloyd and Ingram an added safety net when on the court.
“Those guys [Haugh, Condon and Chinyelu] are good leaders,” McCray said. “It gives the guards confidence that they can just be themselves, even if they make a mistake. Those guys cover up a lot of mistakes so they can just play the right way.”
Though Ingram will battle for minutes behind Haugh at the small forward position, he’s treading a similar path. Before his All-American junior season, Haugh developed his skills from the bench as a freshman and sophomore before former Gators and current Golden State Warriors guard Will Richard handed over the reins.
Haugh made his presence known whenever rotated in, especially during high-stakes situations. When the Gators trailed by nine points against Texas Tech in the 2025 NCAA Elite Eight, Haugh ignited the comeback, sinking back-to-back 3-pointers to bring the game within reach and finish with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Haugh’s return impacted Ingram the most, but Ingram doesn’t view the damper on his minutes negatively. Once he caught word of the forward’s potential return, he called Haugh to see where his head was at.
“He was thinking about coming back, and he told me that he really wanted me to stay,” Ingram said. “I always wanted to play with him still, so him telling me he really wanted me to be a part of the team with him coming back was pretty special for me.”
Ingram, a Hawthorne native, didn’t need much convincing to keep Gainesville his home, but Haugh’s support only further cemented his decision. One day after Haugh sent shockwaves through the college basketball world, Ingram followed suit, announcing his return on April 22.
Lloyd didn’t need as much time, making his return official on March 30. The two didn’t plan on shying away from returning to a team that’s in a national title-or-bust situation after falling out of the NCAA tournament in the second round.
“I feel like if I’m doing what I’m supposed to do and we’re clicking on all the cylinders, I don’t think a team in the country can beat us,” Ingram said.
And the duo was no stranger to high expectations as freshmen, joining a national championship-defending squad as top-ranked prospects with Ingram at No. 22 and Lloyd at No. 42, according to 247Sports.
But the jump from high school to SEC competition came with a steep learning curve. The game sped up, and competition grew stronger, forcing the two to become comfortable with no longer being the go-to guy.
“I definitely had to mature going into this [with] people that proved themselves in college [on a] national title team,” Lloyd said. “You definitely have to put your pride to the side and be mature about it, which I have, and just continue to get better every day, knowing the work you put in from high school to now.”
At 6-foot-6 and 205 pounds, Ingram entered college already fitting the SEC mold physically. The small forward’s focus heading into his sophomore season wasn’t necessarily on building his freakish athleticism, but rather on how he could use it to his advantage when tasked with making quicker decisions.
“Just being athletic doesn’t help you,” Ingram said. “You got to know the game. You got to understand the spots, where to be at certain times, so being under the program for a year has really helped me see everything in a slower perspective, and the game is coming more natural for me.”
While Ingram made the gym his personal playground throughout high school and into college, he also has his dad, former Gators football national champion and basketball player Cornelius Ingram, to thank for his elite athleticism.
Following in his dad’s footsteps, Ingram grew up as a dual-sport athlete playing quarterback and basketball. Cornelius saw Ingram’s potential from an early age, sharpening the intricacies of his game, like footwork, from age 8.
“We knew, once he was able to grow into a sport and when he got older, he got bigger, stronger and faster, that he would be a force to reckon with, not only on the football field, but of course on the basketball court as well,” Cornelius said.
It also didn’t hurt that Cornelius and Ingram’s uncle, Greg Bowie, led the football and men’s basketball programs at Hawthorne High School, respectively, allowing Ingram to grow up understanding the game from a coach’s perspective.
The one-on-one workouts with his son weren’t just for Cornelius to develop Ingram’s skills but his mindset as well. While he coached Ingram in football throughout his childhood, he knew the dynamic would eventually change.
“My job was to never let anyone else break CJ,” Cornelius said. “I could say things. I could do certain things to push him to make sure he didn’t fold at certain moments, and so, him not playing a whole lot last year, I don’t want to say it was nothing to him, but he’s a team player. He’s always been the ultimate team player.”
Similarly, when Lloyd joined the Westminster Academy boys’ varsity team as a freshman in 2022, coach Ehren Wallhoff knew he had a special player on his hands. Lloyd established himself as an offensive juggernaut immediately, leading the team in scoring with 23.7 points per game.
“[He] was one of those kids that you knew was going to be special right from the start because his talent level was at such a high level for his age group,” Wallhoff said. “He was able to come into our program and be a difference maker right from the start, and I think that developed his leadership skills.”
Lloyd instantly proved his command of the court, which allowed him to enter his sophomore season with a larger leadership role as a team captain. Wallhoff’s trust in Lloyd stretched past his reliable playmaking on the court because Wallhoff knew he could also trust Lloyd to lead by example off the court as well.
“We were a K-12 school [and] he would go down and read to the younger kids because they looked up to him so much,” Wallhoff said. “If it was conditioning, Alex would push people more than anybody I’ve ever had in my program, and he would always want to be first and he didn’t need to be.”
Lloyd’s motor never wavered in high school. Even though he cemented his spot on the court as one of Westminster’s top scorers across his four seasons, the Miami native continued getting extra reps in before and after practice while leading the charge in conditioning as he chased improvement each day. And that motor keeps running at the collegiate level as he aimed to grow his presence both physically and vocally.
“He did a great job with [Associate Director of Athletic Performance Victor Lopez] getting in the weight room and just getting stronger and focusing on his body,” McCray said. “He’s made a huge jump. A lot of times in high school, guys don’t talk as much as we talk in college, so he’s much more vocal. He’s much more confident in what we want to do, both offensively and especially defensively.”
For Ingram, speaking up has always been a strength. After Ingram’s first three years in high school were starting to look like the same chapter out of his dad’s book: playing at the same school, in the same jersey number and the same two sports, he decided to carve out his own destiny.
Despite the pre-written narratives swirling around that Ingram would become the family’s second multi-sport Gator, he voiced his opinion to his dad and turned the page ahead of his senior year, transferring to Montverde Academy to focus primarily on basketball.
“I couldn’t imagine the weight on his shoulders, but he went about it every single day, working extremely hard [and] he pulled others along with him,” Cornelius said. “For CJ to want to create his own path and do it his way, I couldn’t have been more proud because he was a mature teenager who wanted to make this decision.”
Though Ingram and Lloyd are looking to fill different spots within the rotation, they established a connection, rooming together their freshman year. In the offseason, Ingram homed in on slowing the game down and cashing in open shots while Lloyd worked on supplementing his offensive prowess with defensive skills.
Despite the different focuses, the pair share a similar goal for their sophomore seasons that doesn’t revolve around individual minutes or points.
“I want to win,” Lloyd said. “Whatever it takes, I’ll do it and handle it.”
“Winning, that’s the main thing that I want to do,” Ingram said.
Category: Gator Sports, Gators Men's Basketball
