The Florida Gators men’s basketball team opened the season with seven newcomers making their debut for UF in its 93-73 win against Loyola Maryland Nov. 6. Three of those newcomers created an immediate impact that could define the Gators this season.
Three men standing over 6-foot-10-inches; three men all working together toward dominance in the frontcourt.
The trio of sophomore forward Micah Handlogten, graduate student forward Tyrese Samuel and freshman forward Alex Condon produced 44 points as a collective in UF’s season opener. All showed signs of agility, movement and a defensive identity for the Gators.
Handlogten’s wingspan and versatility as a defender give him an advantage over any offense that looks to switch guards onto big men. The 7-foot-1-inch forward created fastbreak opportunities against Loyola Maryland by blocking guards driving inside and getting the ball out down the court to guards after he grabbed rebounds.
“If you have one guy that’s running his butt off, getting down to the middle, everyone’s gonna have to compress in to stop him, leaving shooters wide open and everything else open,” Handlogten said. “So if it’s a high-low opportunity, we can just throw it up there, everything’s going to compress — open shooters, or an open dunk.”
These quick reactions created by Handlogten showed his court awareness with the ball. The Marshall transfer averaged a career 66.2% clip from the floor shooting before he joined UF. Handlogten improved this average with a seven-for-eight shooting night against the Greyhounds.
The North Carolina kid found good shot selections and even knocked down two 3-pointers. At Marshall, Handlogten only made one triple in 12 attempts.
Defensively, he is a shot blocker at heart. Handlogten gets low in his defensive stance in the paint and can take guys straight up with aggression in his coverage. This can be seen as a positive and a negative, however. As a designated center it is expected for guys over seven feet to fall behind when quick guards blow by them.
This results in Handlogten committing blocking fouls as he slides erratically to block the lane.
Samuel not only brought veteran guidance to UF but also his footwork inside and a new type of isolation game. Throughout the Gators matchup against Loyola Maryland, the Canadian would hit hesitation moves on defending forwards to create space to go toward the basket or catch defenders flat-footed on defense.
Samuel is a monster in the pick-and-roll option. The 239-pound forward showed an ability to brush aside defenders while vaulting into the rafters with a high vertical jump. The pick and roll was a common source of movement for Florida in its opener.
Another key to Samuel’s skillset is his ability to pass while in the post. The Seton Hall transfer assisted on three baskets against Loyola Maryland — most of them while he was posted up toward the rim.
Samuel’s unselfish play and veteran presence in the locker room is a comfort for players, including Handlogten, he said.
“He’s taught me so much stuff already, So I look up to him,” Handlogten said. “But we also grow as one. Just being able to work with him, have that guy that I just click with, it’s really great.”
The elephant in the room about Samuel is his free throw shooting capabilities. In a game where UF shot 15 of 30 from the charity stripe, Samuel took one-third of the attempts. He finished the game five of 10 from the line.
Condon impressed a lot of heads in the media throughout preseason. The Australian NBA Academy alum showcased why to the public Nov. 6.
Condon’s first collegiate baskets were all made from beyond 3-point range and were open attempts. The 6-foot-10-inch forward moves off the ball constantly. His ever-moving mindset gets him open and helps him be in the right place on the boards for rebounds.
Condon finished his college debut with 13 points, three rebounds and shot 62.5% from the field. The performance gave Gators head coach Todd Golden an understanding that the first-year is ready to go and not afraid to fail.
“Played with a lot of confidence, physicality and depending upon how the game’s going, he might be the first guy off the bench, he might not, but he’s a guy who I know when we put him in, he’s going to be ready to go,” said Golden.
Defensively, Condon is fine inside the painted area but is not considered a versatile defender. He struggled to defend against Loyola Maryland guards at the top of the perimeter, standing tall instead of getting low to the Greyhound ballhandler’s level.
The trio together are a force on offense and man defense as they always communicate on switches. The only time you can get them off guard is in transition defense. The forwards against Loyola Maryland didn’t always find the open man when running back in transition, even with a 3-against-2 advantage running back on defense.
Either way, it will be a handful for opponents of the Gators to defend this unique three-hit punch. Imagine defending someone with him having three over 200-pound safety nets ready to clean up any mess inside. That’s what it was like for the Greyhounds, who allowed Handlogten, Samuel and Condon to corral 17 of UF’s 39 rebounds.
Florida and the trio of forwards will prepare to do the same in its Hall of Fame series game against the Virginia Cavaliers in Charlotte, North Carolina, at 7 p.m. Friday. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network.
Contact Brandon Hernandez at bhernandez@alligator.org. Follow him on X @BranH2001.
Brandon Hernandez is currently the enterprise sports writer and sports podcast host for The Independent Alligator. He likes long walks on the sidewalk and watching basketball tape in his off time. You can find most of his work @BranH2001 on X and on The Courtside Podcast on Spotify.
