Florida basketball Alex Condon hits 1,000 career points, but his focus is elsewhere

During a timeout in the second half, Florida basketball took a moment to recognize Alex Condon.

Condon had just picked up his 1,000th career point in Florida’s eventual 76-62 win against South Carolina on Feb. 17, making him the 58th player to achieve the mark in the program’s history.

Entering the game, Condon had 988 points. He scored his 13th point of the night at the 17:27 mark.

“I think during the timeout, when it happened, they put it up on the screen, I saw it,” Condon said. “It was cool to get that recognition a little bit.”

However, Condon admitted he didn’t spend much time thinking about it, rather his mind had been focused elsewhere.

"I think it’s really important we just stay focused on the main goal this year, running it back, and yeah, that's all I can think about right now,” Condon said after recording a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds. “Coach really insists on not being complacent this game. It’s not just another game.

“Tuesday night, it’s easy, me and Boogie (Fland) were talking about it, it’s almost like a trap game. A team coming in here, who I think is better than what people make them out to be. We just got to attack it, that’s what championship teams do every night. Come out with the same mentality and keep rolling.”

This season, Condon has averaged 13.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 3.56 assists per game while also leading the team with 35 blocks.

“He’s a damn good player,” Florida coach Todd Golden said last week in response to criticism of Condon. “There’s very few guys in America that you take over him.

“When something doesn’t go perfect for him, he’s not pouting. He’s not blaming others. He’s competing his ass off on the defensive end and doing everything he can to prevent the other team from scoring.”

The Perth, Australia native spent all three years of his career with the Gators. The 6-foot-11 big man opted to return to UF this season after receiving significant interest from the NBA draft despite a lower leg injury derailing part of his season in UF’s national title run.

Condon made his first career start in the 2024 NCAA tournament, and since then, he has been in the Gators’ starting lineup 64 times.

“Condo is one of those guys that people want to poke and prod at, but the guy is on the right side of winning most every night,” Golden said. “He deserves a lot of credit for that. He’s one of three guys in America, at least as of last week, that’s averaging 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists per game. One of them is Cam Boozer. The other is Josh Jefferson and the other is Alex Condon.

“We’re awfully happy that he is wearing the orange and blue.”

Reach Florida Gators writer Andrew Abadie at [email protected] or on X (formerly Twitter) at @AndrewAbadie. You can also find him on Facebook at Andrew Abadie Sports Reporter or on Instagram @andrewabadie_sports.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida basketball's Alex Condon hits career 1,000 points