Florida leading scorer will forgo draft, return for senior season

Florida basketball got perhaps the biggest news of its entire offseason on Tuesday.

Star forward Thomas Haugh, an All-American selection this past season who is viewed as a potential lottery pick, opted to forgo the 2026 NBA draft and will return to Gainesville for his senior season. Haugh announced his decision in a video posted by the Gators' NIL collective, Florida Victorious.

"There's so many people I want to thank here at Florida, it's been my dream school... from the coaching staff... to the managers, just putting in so much work, my friends, my teammates... those guys on the championship team last year, it's been awesome to meet all of them," Haugh said. "And especially my family, the support they've shown me at away games, and the community of New Oxford, Pennsylvania, for coming out and supporting me.

"But you know, all that's got to wait another year. I'm coming back, baby. Go Gators."

The 6-foot-9 forward was just a three-star recruit coming out of high school with limited power conference attention. However, he became a key sixth man on Florida's national championship team two years ago and emerged as a full-time starter this year.

He was one of the SEC's top players, leading the team with 17.1 points per game to go with 6.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists. He also shot 32.6% from three-point range this past season.

It's a massive retention for the Gators, who were already set to bring back two key starters in forward Alex Condon and guard Boogie Fland, as well as most of their rotational pieces. Florida is still awaiting a decision from Rueben Chinyelu, as the National Defensive Player of the Year entered the draft while maintaining his eligibility, but he is widely expected to return as well.

If Florida can bring back its three starting bigs, along with some key backcourt retention and the return of Denzel Aberdeen, it will likely enter the 2026-27 season as the preseason No. 1 team in the nation.

Contact/Follow @College_Wire on X and