Alex Condon's 'wheeling and dealing' has No. 5 Florida closing in on a No. 1 seed in March Madness

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — It wasn’t long ago that Alex Condon was a point guard.

Although he was admittedly “pretty uncoordinated” as a teenager playing low-level basketball in Australia, Condon quickly learned how to handle the rock. And he's maintained those skills while growing into a 6-foot-11 forward/center and becoming one of Florida’s most important starters.

He ranks third on the fifth-ranked Gators with 62 assists, and few big men in college can match his assist-to-turnover ratio that’s better than 2-to-1.

“It’s a big part of what we do,” coach Todd Golden said. “We want all five guys to be able to make decisions on the court. … Condo’s out there wheeling and dealing, throwing some crazy passes sometimes, but you got to love the confidence he plays with and the belief.”

Condon has at least four assists in three of his last five games and could have had several more in a win against Texas A&M last Saturday in Gainesville. His court awareness was even more evident in a victory at No. 7 Alabama on Wednesday, when Condon ran the break to perfection and ended up on the receiving end of several alley-oops.

“He does a lot of things that help us win,” teammate Will Richard said. “He does a great job passing with keeping things simple, making hard reads look easy. He’s great in a lot of ways on offense and it’s been good having him back.”

Condon missed three games in late February because of a sprained right ankle and was rusty in his return. But the sophomore has been downright dominant the last two times out, combining for 38 points, 20 rebounds, five assists and five blocks against the Aggies and Crimson Tide.

He finished with a career-high 27 points and 10 boards against Alabama, creating a season’s worth of highlights in a little more than 30 minutes of game action. He did it in front at least a dozen NBA scouts.

“It’s a big part of my identity just being able to do some of the dirty stuff and being able to clean up,” Condon said. “It’s a strength of my game, for sure. … I may not be as talented or as skillful as other players in this league, but I’m willing to be as physical and put my all out there.”

It stems from his childhood. Condon grew up in Perth playing primarily cricket, water polo and Australian-rules football — footy, as he calls it. But after growing 6 inches between 10th and 11th grades, he chose to stick to the hardwood.

“After that growth spurt, it was pretty much a no-brainer to go basketball and see how far I could go with that,” Condon said.

The Gators (26-4, 13-4 Southeastern Conference) have been the biggest beneficiary of his decision. Condon is averaging 11.1 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists heading into the team’s home finale against Ole Miss (21-9, 10-7) on Saturday.

Florida’s three standout guards will be honored on senior night, with Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and Richard getting much of the credit for leading the team to its best season in more than a decade. The Gators already locked up the No. 2 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament and are on track to secure a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament that follows.

While the trio delivers much of Florida's scoring and leadership, Condon brings plenty to the court. Golden considers him in “the top 1 percent in terms of competitiveness.”

Condon’s father was an accomplished Aussie football player, and his mother was an Olympic swimmer. Their son played several different sports before picking up a basketball. He eventually outgrew the guard position but carried the skillset with him to the NBA Global Academy in Australia and to the states, where Golden found him during an international tournament in Las Vegas in late 2022.

He made the SEC’s All-Freshman team last year and has since developed into an all-league forward — one with ball skills.

“You see the hand-eye and the different understanding of how basketball works showing up and coming to fruition,” Golden said.

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