Two weeks after claiming the 2025 national championship, Florida suffered its first loss to the college basketball transfer portal. While a handful of the team will depart for the NBA, third-year forward Sam Alexis became the team's first addition to the portal.

Alexis decided to enter the portal on Friday, per Sam Kayser of League Ready. He does so after just one year with the Gators, averaging 4.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 0.6 blocks in 24 games off the bench. The numbers do not tell the full story of Alexis, whose energy and physicality off the bench were huge for Todd Golden's team.

Before his lone season at Florida, Alexis spent his first two college basketball seasons with Chattanooga. As a sophomore, he posted a career-high 10.8 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 2.1 blocks per game. At the end of the season, he was named to the 2024 third-team All-Southern Conference and Southern Conference All-Defense teams.

Although he thrived at Chattanooga, Alexis was not highly recruited out of high school. Coming out of Apopka High School near Orlando, Florida, the 6-foot-8 forward only received offers from Binghamton, Stetson, New Mexico State and Towson in addition to the Mocs.

Florida basketball departing players

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Despite coming off a national championship, Florida will have a steep hill to climb back to the top in 2024-2025. Although Alexis is their lone addition to the transfer portal, the Gators lose a significant amount of their production to graduating seniors and the NBA Draft.

Reigning Final Four MVP Walter Clayton Jr. is the team's most notable departure. Clayton will enter the 2025 NBA Draft after two highly successful years in Gainesville. He will be joined in the draft pool by Alijah Martin and Will Richard. Alex Condon also entered the draft, but will maintain his NCAA eligibility for the time being.

Though losing Clayton hurts, Florida received a monumental commitment from the college basketball transfer portal in former Princeton guard Xaivian Lee. As arguably the best point guard on the market, Lee chose the Gators over Kansas and St. John's.