Gators Basketball Looks to Revive 2000s Blueprint

Florida’s 2025 national championship squad was headlined by dynamic guards Walter Clayton Jr., Will Richard and Alijah Martin. Above every other storyline, backcourt play defined the Gators.

But, entering the 2025-26 campaign with their three leading scorers gone, coach Todd Golden’s squad faces a new challenge: finding a fresh identity. With key frontcourt contributors Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon, Ruben Chinyelu and Micah Handlogten back in Gainesville, Golden and his staff have embraced a clear direction. 

This version of the Gators will be built around size, strength and interior dominance.

“Thomas Haugh is a core player,” Golden said. “We’re going to play him more at the three this year. We hope we get his running mate Alex Condon back, and if we do, we’ll play really big this year — Haugh at the three, Condon at the four and one of the other bigs at the five.”

Golden announcing that Haugh would slide down to small forward, joining Condon and Chinyelu in the starting lineup, was no surprise. However, the trio forms one of the tallest frontcourts in college basketball, all standing 6-foot-9 or taller.

Golden’s decision to revive a “bully-ball” approach is one of the more intriguing stories for this college basketball season. A Florida team with four key returning bigs, built around rebounding, rim protection and post play, could pose matchup nightmares for opponents. Still, queries loom as to whether this new-look lineup can sustain long-term offensive success in an era dominated by spacing and pace.

Golden believes that Florida’s size can break the mold.

For Florida Fans, This Style of Play Is Familiar

Billy Donovan’s back-to-back Florida squads in ’06 and ’07 were the last time a team centered around forwards reached the mountain top. A trio of Corey Brewer (6’9’’), Al Horford (6’10’’) and Joakim Noah (6’10’’) headlined one of the more dominant college basketball squads in recent memory.

The entire starting five from the ’06 championship team returned for the Gators in ‘07, a still unprecedented decision in college sports, even with NIL and revenue sharing keeping players in school longer. While this year’s Gators squad didn’t do the same, the team’s core frontcourt remains intact.

But what truly separated Florida’s ’06/’07 frontcourt on the quest for back-to-back titles was its complementary play styles. Noah headlined the interior defense and provided elite rim protection, similar to what Chinyelu’s anchor role is for the current Gators. Horford had a powerful post presence and provided consistent offensive skill, which aligns with the versatile scoring role Golden’s counting on Condon to fill. And Brewer was an athletic forward who was a three-level scorer and elite defender, a dynamic two-way role that Haugh hopes to shift into this season.

Haugh’s improvement may be what Florida maintaining dominance hinges on, as his adjustment to small forward is the largest change to Florida’s style. Shifting from a post player to a multi-dimensional scorer is not an easy adjustment, but Haugh showed flashes of shooting during last year’s NCAA Tournament. Most memorably, Haugh hit two consecutive 3-pointers in UF’s Elite Eight contest with Texas Tech, keeping the Gators in striking distance before their comeback in the final minutes. 

“We’re gonna move Tommy down to the three and use his athleticism, his length, his physicality,” Golden said, drawing some glowing comparisons. “He’s just been shooting the ball so well that it gives us that Corey Brewer-esque type wing.”

Nearly two decades ago, Brewer was the glue guy who made Florida’s big lineup work by hitting timely shots, defending wings and playing with relentless effort. Haugh brings that same intangibility, and Haugh understands how his role needs to change if Florida wants to reach the promised land once more.

“Shooting is what I’ve really focused on. I have to be really comfortable shooting the ball,” Haugh said. “Defenses have to respect my shot. That will open up space, get them to close out, and allow me to cut and make plays.”

In today’s basketball landscape, the revolution of three-pointers and guard play leads the headlines. So Florida’s approach this season feels like déjà vu. The last team to win a national title while starting three players 6-foot-8 or taller was the 2017 North Carolina Tar Heels, featuring Justin Jackson, Isaiah Hicks and Kennedy Meeks. Four other championship teams also relied on size-heavy lineups, including UConn in 2014 and 2011, Kentucky in 2012, and Duke in 2010. However, those teams did not have the sheer height and size that the Gators will showcase. Only Donovan’s back-to-back teams compare.

The Gators’ journey to defend their crown and redefine their identity begins Monday night when they face No. 13 Arizona in Las Vegas. It’s a fitting opening challenge, testing whether the triple big-man lineup can succeed against an elite opponent.

The last time Florida leaned into its size and physicality, it became a blue-blood.

Now, nearly 20 years later, Haugh, Condon, Chinyelu and Handlogten will try to bring that same formula back to life, once again proving that sometimes, old ways still work.

Category: Basketball, Gator Sports, Gators Men's Basketball