Alex Condon (21) and Thomas Haugh (10) forever will be linked by their parallel University of Florida timelines and championship pedigree.
Running it Back: Tommy & Condo ... One More Time
Monday, November 2, 2026 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
Share:
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
TAMPA, Fla. – The last time he was in this building, Thomas Haugh was an emotional wreck and did nothing to hide it. Couldn't help himself. When the final buzzer sounded, Haugh collapsed to the floor and buried his head in his hands. He struck a similar pose at the post-game podium.
"I was a crybaby," Haugh said.
Alex Condon wasn't much better. For the two forever-linked partners in orange-and-blue, their glorious Florida Gators run together was over, courtesy of a gut-wrenching 73-72 second-round NCAA Tournament loss to Iowa last March. Haugh was an NBA goner, a lottery pick. "Condo" was sure to follow. At least that was the assumption.
Not everything, though, was as it seemed.
"I thought Tommy was going to leave, for sure," Condon recalled. "Me? I was already talking to people about coming back, and really kind of leaning that way. But my thoughts that night weren't about any of that. We were all upset. It was bad … really bad."
UF coach Todd Golden (center) walks Thomas Haugh (10) and Alex Condon (21) to the NCAA Tournament post-game press conference last March 22 in Tampa after what so many figured would be their last game together. It wasn't.
Funny how things work out sometimes. In the case of the 2026-27 Gators, they worked out gloriously. Not only did Condon follow through on his return, but so did Haugh, his running mate and freshman class of 2023 cornerstone, both re-upping for one last senior season run that officially tips off Monday night when the Gators, ranked No. 1 in the nation, square up against the cross-state foe Miami Hurricanes – and with some irony – at the very same Benchmark International Arena that leveled incalculable heartache on the UF superstars barely six months ago.
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]
Quick, name a men's college basketball duo this century that has started together, finished together and accomplished as much in between all while wearing the same uniform for four seasons. Don't bother. You can't. They never even dipped a toe in the transfer portal to test the NIL waters, either. Everything they wanted and needed was in Gainesville.
"It speaks to our program, but it also speaks to those two guys," UF coach Todd Golden said. "It matters to them."
For Haugh and Condon – as well as senior center and returnee Rueben Chinyelu, who transferred to UF a year after his front court partners showed up – there is unfinished business. A year after winning the 2025 NCAA championship, the jolt of being a No. 1 seed eliminated on a last-second 3-point field goal at the hands of the Hawkeyes (see Folgueiras, Alvaro) not only put a pit in their bellies. They couldn't go out like that. Not these two.
Not with the way Haugh and Condon came in. As in, side by side and basically unheralded, after putting their trust in a program that was middling at the time, with a virtually unproven coach coming off a losing season, and ascending to the highest of college hoops highs. Look at them now.
"It's gone by super-fast," Haugh said.
Then and now
Top: Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh their first week on campus as freshmen in 2023 [photo by Chris Harry]
Bottom: As seniors in 2026 [photo by Hannah White]
Rewind to the spring of 2023, when Haugh arrived by way of New Oxford, Pennsylvania, and Condon from Perth, Australia. Haugh, who did a year of prep school, was ranked the 185th prospect in the nation by recruiting analysts at 247sports. Condon checked in at 213th. The Gators' incoming class rated 51st in the nation and dead-last among the 14 teams in the Southeastern Conference.
They knew nothing about one another. Haugh got to campus first, with Condon soon to follow. Their first meeting was at the dormitory.
Condon's initial take on his first roommate: "He was this big blondie."
Haugh's on Condon: "He was this big Aussie."
Their first meaningful conversation was at a Florida-South Carolina Super Regional at Condron Family Ballpark, where Haugh tried to explain the rules of baseball.
"He had no clue what he was watching," Haugh said.
Afterward, they adjourned to the Swamp (the restaurant, not the stadium) and hung out with some teammates.
"Went to Jimmy John's, too," Condon said.
The bond was instantaneous. Or as Condon's father would later describe (Down Under style), "They're not just mates, they became 'besties' right away."
A familiar sight the last three seasins ... with more to come in their fourth.
Eventually it was time to get in the gym for workouts. It was there that Haugh and Condon discovered where they were most alike when it came to basketball.
"The competitiveness," Golden said.
In Haugh, Condon saw a little something of himself – "Tommy was hard-working and played kind of Aussie style" – with the way he ran, set screens and created contact. Haugh, in turn, gained instant respect for his new teammate's effort and willingness to bang around in the paint, especially since neither of them shot the ball very well from outside.
On Day 1, video coordinator Jordan Jacobson had them play one-on-one. The outcome?
"I beat him," Haugh said.
"I was tired," Condon countered.
The hate-to-lose trait would rear its head away from the court, be it with grudge ping-pong or video games. Like the time Condon whipped Haugh in UFC, with Haugh retreating to his room, closing the door and getting on the phone with his long-distance girlfriend.
"He'd just sit in there and stay mad," Condon said.
Haugh: "When one of us lost, we genuinely would not talk to each other for hours."
Over the course of that first offseason, it became glaringly apparent to anyone attending summer workouts that the two freshmen were going to have an immediate impact. Condon's skill set, his length, the way he moved, reminded veteran UF practice-watchers of Joakim Noah when he first showed up nearly 20 years before. Haugh's traits, especially the way he sprinted the floor, favored a raw version of Chandler Parsons.
Not a bad place for either to start. Neither Condon nor Haugh, though, gave themselves much of a shot to play right away. The team had done a virtual makeover (nine newcomers) and added a handful of transfers who were expected to step in right away, headlined by Tyrese Samuel, Micah Handlogten, Zyon Pullin and a guy named Walter Clayton Jr.
"I remember seeing Tyrese for the first time and being scared," Condon said.
Added Haugh, "I didn't think I was going to play at all.. When I found out I was going to play even a little bit, I was like, 'Oh s—t!' "
Condon became a 20-minute fixture in the rotation and was named to the 2024 Freshman All-Southeastern Team after averaging 7.7 points and 6.4 rebounds. Haugh played 14.7 minutes per game, posting 3.9 points and 3.7 boards. They had a hand in flipping a program that went 16-17 the year before into a 24-win team that reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three seasons.
27 pts @ Alabama (3/5/25)
25 pts, 7 reb, 6 ast, 0 TO vs Alabama (2/1/26)
Best single-game performances
Points / All-Around
27 pts vs Auburn (1/24/26)
20 pts, 9 rebounds, 8 ast @Miss St (2/11/25)
Everyone knows what happened the next year, as the Gators were bathed in confetti on the floor of the Alamodome in the last game of the '24-25 NCAA season. Both Condon and Haugh were on the court, playing defense, to close out Houston for a 65-63 victory and the program's third national championship.
Everyone also remembers what happened last season, which had a lot to do with why Haugh and Condon decided to come back.
Which brings us to this season – and this venue – and one last go-round for a pair of Gators whose legacies already are enshrined in Gators lore. As if they couldn't be any more beloved for what they did their first three years, Gator Nation gets them for an encore.
Together they've won 87 games and every meaningful championship out there -- and came back for more.
So does Golden and his staff, who obviously know what they're getting, but now will ask more from each. Louder leadership, for example, which may require both Condon and Haugh to step out of their comfort zones.
"They're going to continue to have the same mentality that's made them great for the first three years in terms of being themselves, and putting the team first," Golden said. "[We] always want a little more vocal leadership from those guys because they've earned the opportunity to do that. [But] from a playing perspective, from a coachability perspective and just an overall program effort perspective, I think both those guys are hitting the mark."
Haugh was named preseason SEC Player of the Year and to the league's first team. Condon was named to the second team. Both are on All-America watch lists. The Gators were picked to win the conference for a second year in a row and, along with wearing the No. 1 bulls-eye to start the season, are a fashionable pick to reach the Final Four. At the very least.
Nothing is guaranteed, of course, as Condon and Haugh learned in a most painful way last March. Championship-or-bust is a heavy burden to take into a season, but that's what the Gators, with four starters back and five rotation players from its '25 crowned squad, signed up for. Here's hoping they can handle the sky-high expectations and enjoy the five-month journey rather than focusing on the destination and all the pressure that comes with getting there.
"We're going to talk a lot about not thinking ahead," Haugh said. "Maybe we did that a little bit last year."
And this year?
"We're not going to think a lot about all the things we want to accomplish. We're going to trust the process, but also enjoy the process," Condon said. "We want to have fun."
