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Todd Golden comments on Florida’s transfer portal plans as 2025-26 roster takes shape
By Andrew Olson
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Florida will try to go back-to-back as national champions in 2025-26, but it won’t be easy. Unlike the 2006-07 campaign, UF will not be returning its starting lineup.
The Gators have the tall task of replacing starting guards Walter Clatyon Jr., Will Richard and Alijah Martin next season. Denzel Aberdeen, who was expected to step into a starting role, opted to transfer to Kentucky. To help address those departures, Todd Golden turned to the transfer portal to land Xaivian Lee (Princeton) and AJ Brown (Ohio).
Big men Alex Condon and Reuben Chenyelu, meanwhile, are testing the NBA Draft waters. Golden, though, is optimistic that the Florida frontcourt will be back for the 2025-26.
We’ve done a great job retaining our frontcourt. Knock on wood, we should get all those guys back. We’ll see how Alex’s pro prospects go over the next couple weeks,” Golden said Monday appearing on The Sideline with Andy Katz.
“But the backcourt’s going to be new and getting Xaivian was huge. Xaivian Lee from Princeton is a huge addition. Him and (Thomas) Haugh were teammates back in prep school and so he has a really good understanding of how we operate and what we do. We have some really good young ones in the program. I think of (returning guard) Isaiah Brown as a guy that should be a really impactful riser from freshman to sophomore year. AJ Brown, his brother, is a really good shooter scorer from Ohio that’s coming in.
With 2 transfers already (Lee, Brown) and 2 incoming freshmen (CJ Ingram, Alex Lloyd) plus expected returning players, Golden feels Florida’s 2025-26 roster is mostly set. He told Katz that the Gators are looking to add 1 more player from the portal, but they’re not going to rush the decision.
Our goal is to add one more guy,” Golden said. “I think if we can do that over the next couple weeks—and we’re not trying to rush; want to be picky—but if we can add another impact guard, I think this team has a chance to be really good next year.
By playing for the national championship, Florida fell a bit behind in the transfer portal. Plenty of fans are wondering if the next portal piece may be a player testing the NBA Draft waters.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
