GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Last April 7, Alex Lloyd was at his home in Miami and watched on television as Florida stormed from a dozen points down in the second half to defeat Houston and win the national championship. Lloyd, a gifted combo guard who’d signed with the Gators the previous fall, turned to his parents and smiled.
 
“I wish I’d gone there earlier,” he said.
 
That same night, the other future Gator from the freshman class of 2025, had a different experience. CJ Ingram was there at the Alamodome in San Antonio and sitting behind the UF bench with his mother when the orange and blue confetti fell from the rafters. 
 
“It was surreal,” Ingram recalled. “I was about to graduate and it felt like everything was happening so fast. Like it was go-time. It made it all feel real. It was coming.” 
 
Fast forward five months. 
 
It’s here. They’re here.

The reigning NCAA champs are two weeks from the start of official preseason practice, but Lloyd and Ingram got here for the Summer “A” session and have been ambitious and dedicated fixtures in the gym in anticipation of their collegiate debuts. 
 
UF fans on campus for Saturday’s afternoon’s football game against South Florida may wander into Exactech Arena/O’Connell Center to cool off. If so, they can get a sneak peak at the 2025-26 Gators during an open practice and see the collection of new faces – as well as some very familiar old ones, of course – that could figure prominently as UF looks to defend its first national title in 18 years. 

The youngest of the bunch are out to be in the mix. 

 

“Even though we won the national championship, the expectations for CJ and Alex are no different than they were for [Thomas Haugh] and [Alex Condon] when they were freshmen or Isaiah [Brown] last year. And that’s to come in here and do everything they can to help this team win,” Florida coach Todd Golden said after a spirited session of pick-up this week. “Yes, a lot of roles are already defined and we have players back, but there is opportunity. It’s going to be a challenge, for lack of a better term, to carve out a huge role on this team, but there will be minutes to be had.”

 

Who gets them and how many are questions that will be somewhat answered during a challenging preseason schedule and probably defined once the rugged Southeastern Conference slate begins in January. 

 

Neither Ingram nor Lloyd, who are roommates and have become close friends, are ruling themselves out.

 

“There are guys in front of me that have years of experience and years in the program and I’m still trying to figure some things out, like positioning and where I’m supposed to be [on floor] at times,” Ingram said. “I’m still learning. Once everything adds up, I think I’ll be contributing to the team at a real high level. That’s my personal goal.”  

 

Added Lloyd: “You have to earn your stripes. Nothing is going to be given to me and I don’t want anything given to me.” 

 

Two years ago, the 6-foot-6, 200-pound Ingram barely registered on the basketball recruiting radar, despite averaging 25 points, 8.5 assists and 3.7 steals a game as a junior. That’s because he also was a standout quarterback for his father, former UF tight end (and part-time hoops player) Cornelius Ingram, at Hawthorne (Fla.) High School, where he led the team to back-to-back state championships. Ingram was a three-star football prospect (a projected receiver) with more than 20 offers after his sophomore season, but just two in basketball. 

 

“The difference between then and now? Not even close,” Ingram said of his growth on the hoops court.

 

Indeed, Ingram blew up on the 2024 club summer circuit, rocketing into the national top 30 and confirming all the accolades with a terrific senior season after transferring to play at the elite Montverde (Fla.) Academy, where he averaged 12.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game on a squad full of Division I players. 

 

In Ingram, the Gators got a long, bouncy slasher-type and elite athlete with a high ceiling, especially on the defensive end. He’s still pretty raw, though, from all those years of playing two sports, with his basketball and needs to get a better feel – and improved jump shot – for the game at such a high level. Best part about all that, Ingram knows it. 

 

“His work ethic has been ridiculous, so far,” Golden said. 

 

Whether it will be good enough to compete for minutes at the “3” – where Haugh will start and Brown, along with older brother A.J. Brown, the transfer from Ohio on the mend from shoulder surgery – might be one of the better competitions of the fall.

 

The 6-3, 180-pound Lloyd, meanwhile, showed up on campus a lot more advanced with his feel, IQ and shot than even the Gators’ coaching anticipated. Do not sleep on this kid. 

 

Is he a “1” or “2,” though? 

 

Doesn’t matter. 

 

“He’s a guard and bucket-getter,” Golden said of Lloyd, who averaged 27.9 points as a senior at Miami Westminster and was considered a top-50 prospect. “I’ve been impressed with his maturity and coachability so far.”

Lloyd’s outside shot, which is unique (and nearly impossible to block) with its launch point above (and tad behind) his head, has definitely shown up in pickup games. 
 
The same, and then some, can be said about the two transfers, Xaivian Lee (from Princeton) and Boogie Fland (Arkansas), ticketed to start and play heavy minutes in replacing the dynamic duo of Walter Clayton Jr. and Alijah Martin (as well as top sub Denzel Aberdeen, now at Kentucky) in the back court. Lloyd will vie with Urban Klavzar, the younger Brown, Ingram and possibly late-arriving Alex Kovatchev (Sacramento State) for reserve minutes at either the point or shooting guard spot. 
 
“With the people in front of me, I have to wait my turn. I understand that, so my expectation is not only to do what I can and do what I’m asked, but be good at doing it as well,” Lloyd said. “Obviously, it’s an adjustment, but how you handle it is very much a mental thing. You have to put yourself in the mind frame that there are other good players here who have been through the wars. Now, it’s my time to learn and be ready because you never know how the course of a season is going to go.”
 
Both players do know, however, where the team will start (ranked very high) and what they’ll need to do (make the Gators better) to work their way up the rotational totem pole.
 
Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu