Freshmen forwards (and besties) Alex Condon (left) and Thomas Haugh (10) are coming of age for the Gators.
Freshmen Finishers
Wednesday, February 21, 2024 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Associate head coach Carlin Hartman broke into a huge smile Tuesday afternoon as he came down the circular stairway in the atrium of the Hathcock Basketball Complex. Hartman got to the bottom, pulled out his cell phone and snapped a picture of young Thomas Haugh talking to a gaggle of about a dozen media types.
"I'm going to text it to his mom," Hartman beamed.
Haugh, the 6-foot-9 freshman forward, got the interview nod after his breakout performance of a career-high 17 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, and seven rebounds over 26-plus minutes in Florida's 88-82 comeback road win Saturday at Georgia. Haugh played with his usual boundless energy, only this time was on the floor in crunch time and making huge late-game plays on the Southeastern Conference road.
Of his seven rebounds, four of them were on the offensive glass, including a huge get-back after the Bulldogs had cut UF's lead to three inside a minute to go. Haugh made one of two pressure-packed free throws with 47 seconds left to give the Gators a two-possession advantage and they closed from there.
After the game, Coach Todd Golden gushed over his rookie.
"That boy balled today," Golden said of Haugh. "He's the reason we won."
And that was the reason he was chatting up the press, as the surging No. 24 Gators (18-7, 8-4), winners of seven of the previous eight and ranked for the first time in more than two years, looked to their Wednesday night road date against No. 12 and SEC leader Alabama (18-7, 10-2) at sold-out Coleman Coliseum.
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]
Haugh logged his share of minutes in November and December, but his playing time had been slashed in SEC play to just nine minutes per game. The role reduction did nothing to how Haugh approached practice every day and supported his teammates from the bench. He still did everything – from crashing the glass to diving for 50-50 balls – with boundless energy.
It just so happened the Gators needed him at Georgia last weekend and he delivered like a senior.
"It's just whatever I need to do to help the team get the win at the end," Haugh said of his current role. "No matter how much I play, if the end result is a W, then I'm happy."
Um … what?
Good luck finding quotes like that in this day and age.
Thomas Haugh(10) has boundless energy and will never give up on a play.
Circumstances will dictate how much Haugh will be needed against the Crimson Tide and the nation's No. 1-rated offense, but the bouncy kid from New Oxford, Pa., sent a message to his coaches last time out that he is ready for the bright lights. In the previous 11 conference games, Haugh had averaged 1.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and missed all five of his 3s. Against the Bulldogs, Haugh started hot, stayed hot and his coaches kept him in to close.
"It meant a lot to stay in the game and then for [Coach Golden] to have the confidence in me," Haugh said. "It's a good feeling."
And not only was Haugh on the floor for the final nearly 15 minutes, fellow freshman and best friend Alex Condon, the 6-11 Australian wrecking machine, was out there for the final nearly six minutes. Two freshmen, neither of them of the five- or four-star variety, "balling out," as their coach would say, when their team needed them most.
"Tommy's my brother and it's pretty unreal that we're both sharing the court at the end of a big game like that," Condon said. "Honestly, I feel pretty comfortable out there now. I feel like those freshman jitters have gone away."
Despite coming off the bench, freshman Alex Condon(21) ranks third on the team in rebounding and first in blocked shots.
Both Condon and Haugh arrived on campus last April, nearly three months earlier than freshmen usually report. From the moment they set foot in the facility, the UF coaching staff saw similar and special traits in both; namely their competitiveness, passion and work ethic. The approach carried over into the summer, into preseason practice and now deep into the first collegiate seasons.
"The fact that you have freshmen that bring it every day like that is unique and it's been a big reason why we've been so good. They're such great teammates," said Golden, who has the Gators in the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since Dec. 6, 2021. "Tommy, he's going to be happy after a win whether he plays five minutes or [26] like he did [at Georgia]. That's not normal, especially nowadays. I think that's something that's really valuable. The fact that they've taken on this role coming off the bench and just doing whatever we're asking them do … I mean, they finished the game for us Saturday."
To review, UF and Georgia were tied at 50 when Condon checked in at the 16:39 mark for grad-transfer Tyrese Samuel. Florida led by two when Haugh entered with 14:21 to play. Haugh played the rest of the game, while Condon played six minutes, checked out for 4½ minutes, then re-entered the game for good with 5:54 to play.
Those two closed while Samuel a fifth-year vet, and 7-1 sophomore Micah Handlogten – the UF starting front court – cheered the last six minutes from the bench.
"They earned the right to be able to finish the game out, but they'd also earned the right with how they practice every day," Hartman said of Haugh and Condon, who combined for 27 points on 10-for-16 shooting overall, 4-for-6 from distance, 10 rebounds, seven fouls drawn and a couple steals against the Bulldogs. "That was their opportunity."
Now comes the next opportunity, which will double as probably the biggest challenge the Gators will face all season.
Alabama is an offensive juggernaut, with eight games of at least 100 points this season – 99 points in four of their last six SEC games – and needs just one more triple-figure output to be the first with nine since Kentucky's 1996 national-championship team. The Crimson Tide, led by guard and league scoring leader Mark Sears (20.6 points per game, 45 percent from 3 in SEC play) play position-less basketball with shooters at all five spots and usually with three players on the floor who can play point guard.
Bama has lost just one game at home the last two seasons, with a 15-0 mark against SEC opponents. Four days ago, the Tide bludgeoned Texas A&M 100-75. Those same A&M Aggies handed the Gators their lone defeat over the previous eight games, a 67-66 turnover-plagued road loss on Feb. 3.
"It's going to be a tough cover for us, for sure," Golden said.
A year ago, UF went to Coleman Coliseum and trailed by 29 at halftime against the nation's third-ranked team on the way to a 97-69 blowout loss. This year's Alabama squad may not be as loaded or elite as that one, but it's very, very good. The best in the SEC, perhaps, and certainly of championship caliber.
But this Florida team is much better than a year ago, also.
And its youngest players are very much a part of the Gators' collective growth.
Of Tommy Haugh's 95 rebound this season, 40 percent have come on the offensive glass.
"We have a lot of belief in our program and what the coaches are putting forward to us. We believe in the system, we know the system, we all know each other so much better, we all get along and we've grown so much closer as a team," Condon said. "I think that gives us a chance."
Neither Condon nor Haugh could have foreseen their roles developing to the point of being knee-deep and relied upon in a chase for the SEC championship, yet here they are.
"We just kind of trusted what they were telling us – the coaches – and they kind of gave us the path and we started going on that path and it's been paying off so far," said Haugh, who was asked to explain the path. "Just playing hard and doing what we do in practice. Doing the little stuff, getting the rebounds and, as freshmen, just kind of following what everybody is saying."
Clearly, they excel at taking marching orders. Pretty good at basketball, too.
