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Florida big man Alex Condon is removing his name from the 2025 NBA draft pool and returning to the Gators for his junior year, he informs Jonathan Givony of ESPN. Condon was a member of the team that won a national championship last month and will be looking to pull off the feat again next season.
“It’s a really good situation waiting for me there,” Condon said. “A great coach with Todd Golden. Teammates I won a national championship with. I have great chemistry with those boys. We have a good transfer class coming in. I expect guys to make a leap. My big man coach Carlin Hartman is returning, so I will keep developing my game with him.”
A 6-foot-11 forward/center from Australia, Condon was elevated to Florida’s starting lineup as a sophomore in 2024-25 after coming off the bench as a freshman. In his second college season, he averaged 10.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.3 blocks in 24.9 minutes per contest in 37 games (35 starts), earning third-team All-SEC honors.
Condon conducted private workouts for eight NBA teams during the pre-draft process, he told Givony. The big man was the No. 31 prospect in the last update of ESPN’s big board, though in Tuesday's news story, Givony refers to him as ESPN’s No. 38 player. Either way, Condon was far from a lock to be a first-round pick, which factored into his decision to return to school.
Condon is one of several draft prospects reported in recent hours to be withdrawing from the NBA draft. Here are a few others:
- After testing the draft waters following his freshman season, guard Joson Sanon is headed back to school, reports Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link). Sanon, who averaged 11.9 points per game on .422/.369/.714 shooting for Arizona State in 2024-25, is transferring to St. John’s for his sophomore year.
- Ohio State guard Bruce Thornton has officially withdrawn from the draft and is rejoining the Buckeyes for one more season, a source tells Rothstein (Twitter link). As a junior in 2024-25, Thornton put up 17.2 points, 4.6 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game in 32 outings (all starts), earning a spot on the All-Big Ten second team.
- Forward Devon Pryor, who is transferring from Texas to Oregon for his junior year, is opting out of the draft, per Jon Chekpevich of DraftExpress (Twitter link). Pryor didn’t see much action for the Longhorns last season, averaging just 12.1 minutes per game in 23 appearances.
- Elijah Fisher, a 6-foot-6 wing, has withdrawn from the draft and will join his fourth school in four years, according to Chekpevich (Twitter link). After spending one season apiece with Texas Tech, DePaul, and Pacific, Fisher has committed to Seton Hall for the 2025-26 campaign.
- Chris Howell is exiting the draft and transferring from UC San Diego to New Mexico, reports Chepkevich (Twitter link). As a junior last season, the 6-foot-6 guard averaged 5.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.2 steals per game in 35 starts for the Tritons.
- Guard Dominick Harris, who has one year of NCAA eligibility remaining, will pull out of the draft and transfer from UCLA to Loyola Chicago, tweets Chepkevich. Harris has also played for Gonzaga and Loyola Marymount since beginning his college career in 2020.
More must-reads:
- Yaxel Lendeborg makes decision between playing for Michigan or in NBA in 2025
- Cedric Coward staying in NBA Draft
- The '2023 NFL AP second-team All-Pro' quiz
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Dolphins humiliated by Lions at joint practice
Joint practices have revealed some problems for the Miami Dolphins with a few weeks to go before the regular season. Tua Tagovailoa started against the Chicago Bears in Sunday's preseason game, wanting to show improvement after having a bad showing during the Dolphins' joint practice in Chicago on Friday. Tagovailoa did play better, going 5-of-6 passing for 27 yards and led the Dolphins to the Chicago 1-yard line before the offense was stopped on downs. A few days later, Tagovailoa and the offense had another poor performance at their joint practice with the Detroit Lions. Per Colton Pouncy of The Athletic, Miami couldn't score in the red zone against a motivated Lions defense during Wednesday's practice. "Dolphins offense just ran 16 or so plays in the red zone vs. the Lions and didn’t score until the final play (between the second units)," Pouncy posted on X. "Miami’s first-team offense didn’t score in the 7-8 plays vs. Detroit’s first-team defense. It was ugly. Lions’ D is having a day." Pouncy's observation of the Lions manhandling the Dolphins was universal among beat reporters covering the Lions and Dolphins, with The Athletic's Nick Baumgardner calling it the most "lopsided" practice he'd witnessed covering the NFL. Last week, Omar Kelly of the Miami Sun Sentinel said Miami folded when the Bears defense began to whip on the offense. The accusations of the Dolphins being a soft team are going to continue until they decide to fight back in joint practices or against opponents in the regular season. When healthy, the Lions have a fierce defense. So Detroit having the edge isn't a surprise, though not being able to score during 16 plays in the red zone is a concern. Miami doesn't appear to have found an identity, and that could spell doom for the season if it doesn't get it figured out before Week 1.
Patriots have big Drake Maye concern surface at Vikings' joint practice
Defense ruled the day during the joint practice between the New England Patriots and Minnesota Vikings. Per Chad Graff of The Athletic, the Patriots defense did a masterful job of disrupting Vikings second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy at Wednesday's practice. However, New England's offensive line was unable to allow Drake Maye to have enough time to finish plays. "Even with four new expected starters up front following last year’s debacle, Wednesday suggested that there will likely be some bumps ahead for this offensive line," Graff wrote. "Sure, going up against the Vikings was always going to be a difficult task. Greenard has been wrecking his own team’s practices in training camp, and everyone in New England knows how good Flores’ scheme can be. But the domination was so thorough by the Vikings’ front seven that three straight plays at one point would’ve resulted in a sack." Maye showed flashes of promise when he had time to throw downfield or was able to use his legs to buy time or scramble when pressure came. The concern is that the offensive line won't allow Maye enough time to even scramble so he can make throws. Graff has noticed the same issues that happened on Wednesday have been a constant at training camp against the Patriots defense. With a new-look offensive line that includes first-round pick Will Campbell at left tackle, the Patriots are expected to have some bumps at training camp and in September. New England's offense probably won't look great out of the gate while the offensive line develops in offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels' scheme. If and when the offensive line improves, Maye will have a chance to show off the arm that made him the No. 3 pick in 2024. For now, the offensive line is a concern much like it was last season.
Giants force Jets' Justin Fields into familiar problem at joint practice
New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields was a little more accurate on Wednesday than he was in his "alarming" performance during joint practice with the New York Giants on Tuesday. Still, the fifth-year quarterback had a familiar issue pop up. Per Dan Duggan and Charlotte Carroll of The Athletic, Fields took several sacks against a Giants defense that brought the house on a shaky Jets offensive line. Via The Athletic: "On the other field, the Giants defensive front carried over its domination from Tuesday, giving Jets quarterback Justin Fields and his offensive line plenty of problems. Camp stats are subjective, especially when it comes to sacks, but the Giants appeared to get to Fields for four sacks. "Similar to Tuesday, there were moments when it was hard to tell exactly who was causing problems as the Giants sent multiple bodies in the backfield. Fields, who went 7-of-11 on the day, had a few overthrows on plays that likely were sacks." Fields did have a couple of long runs on a Giants defense that struggled against the rush in 2024. While Fields has a unique ability to add to the running game, the Jets need the 2021 first-round pick to push the ball down the field in the passing game. Fields has always had a problem with being indecisive in the pocket, leading to his taking too many sacks since entering the league. He led the league with 55 sacks in 2022 and has taken 151 in his four-year career. The Ohio State product took 16 sacks during his six starts with the Pittsburgh Steelers last season. In camp, Fields doesn't have to worry about taking body blows from sacks that lead to injuries. That will happen in the regular season if he plays how he practiced on Wednesday.
Phillies superstar may be building Hall of Fame case
Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber is in the midst of another impressive season. Schwarber entered Wednesday having posted a .249/.373/.578 batting line in his 528 plate appearances this season, hitting 42 homers while driving in a National League-leading 97 runs. The Phillies slugger was named to his third All-Star Game this season and, according to NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley, he should be the NL MVP. Schwarber has been one of baseball's premier power hitters since establishing himself in the majors in 2017. He's in his eighth season of hitting 30 or more homers and has reached the 40-homer plateau three times in his four seasons in Philadelphia. The 32-year-old Schwarber may find himself in elite company when his career comes to an end. He has already hit 326 homers in his career, potentially giving him a chance to reach the 500-home run plateau. If Schwarber does hit 500-plus homers, the narrative around his career may change. There have only been 28 players in MLB history to reach that plateau, 19 of whom are in the Hall of Fame. Two players — Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera — are not yet eligible and are expected to be enshrined on the first ballot. The seven players who have not been inducted into the Hall of Fame have been linked to PED use, torpedoing their candidacy. At the same time, his entire candidacy may be based on his home run total. Schwarber has a lifetime .232/.346/.499 batting line over 5,188 plate appearances; although batting average no longer carries much weight for the voters, he would have the lowest batting average of any non-pitcher in the Hall. His 20.7 fWAR has been dragged down by his defense and is unlikely to make him a favorite among the younger voters who put more emphasis on such metrics. Schwarber is marching toward the 500-home run plateau. If he does reach that mark, he could be a polarizing Hall of Fame candidate.
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