National-champion big man among latest to withdraw from NBA Draft

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Ohio State guard Bruce Thornton has officially withdrawn from the draft and is rejoining the Buckeyes for one more season, a source tells Rothstein (Twitter link).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.