One of the early hallmarks of the Todd Golden Era that has fans at least hopeful that Sunday’s loss to Iowa is a mere bump in the road and that Florida will be back to contend in the 2027 edition of March Madness is his propensity to land talent that fits Florida’s playstyle out of the transfer portal.
Last year’s national title run was fueled by the guard trio of Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin, and Will Richard, all guys that Golden grabbed out of the transfer portal. Up until yesterday’s collapse, Rueben Chinyelu had been a key stalwart of Florida’s run, and he too was a transfer portal find.
This year’s two notable portal additions, Xaivian Lee and Boogie Fland, end the 2025-26 season with mixed reviews. Final play notwithstanding, Lee actually had a solid offensive game against Iowa and had been much better than the start of the season. Fland, meanwhile, was up and down all year but never morphed into the massive pickup fans were expecting when he first landed with Florida.
It’s with that in mind that Golden does have some looming choices to make in the transfer portal as the Gators get ready for the offseason.
Florida begins roster construction for next season
On paper, Lee and Micah Handlogten are the only two Gators who will be out of eligibility for next season, though Handlogten is exploring trying to get an extra year from the NCAA. Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon, and Chinyelu are all potential candidates for the NBA Draft, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see all three of them explore the draft process.
Haugh is seen as a potential lottery pick, so it’s hard to see him coming back. Condon stated earlier this week he was 50/50 on returning, while Chinyelu has started to gain traction as a potential late 2nd round pick.
Even if, for argument’s sake, Haugh leaves, Handlogten gets denied, and Condon and Chinyelu come back, Golden is going to have some massive decisions to make with roster construction for next year.
With Lee 100% gone, Golden will need at least one guard to fill the starting lineup. Urban Klavzar made strides this season, but he is still not in a position to be the primary ball handler. Likewise, Isaiah Brown started to earn Golden’s trust down the stretch, but is it enough for Golden to promote him to a starter? True freshman Alex Lloyd played for 80 minutes this season, but never really flashed in those 80 minutes.
That’s all before we get to the conundrum of how much Golden is willing to fight to keep Fland. We know Florida’s NIL isn’t unlimited, and it is hard to see Golden willing to spend a massive percentage of that to retain Fland. Fland wasn’t “bad” this year, but he was far from the one-time potential lottery pick. Most NBA big boards don’t even have him on the list heading into the 2026 NBA Draft.
The same conundrum faces Golden with his frontcourt.
Assuming Haugh is gone, step one comes down to whether Condon and Chinyelu come back. If the latter two do, Golden will have his starters in place and would just need to find depth. Viktor Mikic would be the next man up on the roster, but he still feels like he has a long way to go to be viable. Likewise, viral sensation Olivier Rioux might be fun for fans, but it is clear he is not an SEC-caliber center for any extended duration of time.
If Condon and Chinyelu leave, Golden is going to have a full blown search party for his front court for next season.
So one way or another, Golden is going to need to work his portal magic, and if he does it right, Florida should be back in contention this time next year.