Star forward Thomas Haugh announced his return to Florida for his senior season Tuesday afternoon.
Haugh led the Gators in scoring in 2025–26, earning All-American honors while averaging 17.1 points per game and shooting 46% from the field and 32.6% from three-point range en route to an SEC Championship. He also averaged 6.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.0 blocks, and 1.1 steals in 34 games. Haugh became the 59th member of Florida’s 1,000-point club last season.
“It’s awesome, especially in this day and age, to have him for three or four years is unique. He has obviously been a great Gator and will continue to be,” head coach Todd Golden said on Haugh. He’s been a great player, a great guy and great example of what we want our program to be.”
As a sophomore in 2024-25, Haugh averaged 9.8 points and 6.1 rebounds while appearing in all 40 games, adding 86 assists, 35 3-point field goals, 31 steals and 30 blocked shots. Haugh was the only player on Florida’s 2024-25 national championship and SEC Tournament championship team to score in all 40 games, playing primarily in the sixth man role.
The New Oxford, Pennsylvania, native was a projected first-round pick in the upcoming NBA Draft and was most recently mocked to the Chicago Bulls with the No. 15 overall pick, according to CBS Sports.
It used to be a foregone conclusion that a player projected as a first-round pick would take his talents to the NBA, but NIL has changed the landscape of college basketball—and really all of college athletics.
Haugh was a die-hard Gator fan who grew up with a Tim Tebow poster on his wall. Now, he gets to finish his dream and chase another national championship in orange and blue.
The 6’9″, 215-pound forward joins Alex Condon and Boogie Fland as returning starters in Gainesville, while the Gators continue to await an announcement from starting center Rueben Chinyelu, who earned 2026 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year honors. Florida also returns Isaiah Brown, A.J. Brown, Alex Lloyd, and Urban Klavžar, and is awaiting announcements from C.J. Ingram and Viktor Mikic.
If Chinyelu and Mikic return for the 2026–27 season, the Gators will have seven players back from their 2024–25 national championship team, including Denzel Aberdeen, who committed to Florida after leaving the program for Kentucky last season.
The college basketball transfer portal window closes on April 21st.