Haugh returning to Florida; NCAA loss 'lit a fire'

At their end-of-season meeting, Golden and Haugh joked about him having another year of eligibility. But the idea of Haugh returning for his senior season didn't appear to have any momentum until Haugh's family, and agent Aaron Klevan of THE·TEAM, approached Golden and asked what a potential return would look like in terms of situation and compensation.

"They really didn't need to sell much," Haugh said. "Coach Golden and the staff did a great job, not pressuring me. They're my guys. They're gonna text me and call me regardless. They didn't do much recruiting. I grew up a Florida fan. Tim Tebow. The back-to-back national championships. The 2014 team, I remember. They didn't really have to sell me."

While NIL wasn't the sole factor, Haugh will be among the highest-paid players in college basketball next season. He will earn revenue share compensation similar to what mid-first-round picks are guaranteed, in addition to lucrative true NIL and endorsement deals.

The first-round rookie contract scale is tied to a given year's salary cap, with guaranteed money tied to each slot 1-30 in descending order of value. In 2025-26, the average Year 1 salary for an NBA rookie picked in the 11-15 range, where Haugh was projected, was $4,309,660 -- a number he projects to clear easily this season.

"The unique angle that we were able to drive home to Tommy's family and Aaron Klevan, this dude has real bottom-line NIL value," Golden said. "That's an area right now where elite college athletes have an advantage over mid-tier pros. Tommy Haugh's legitimate NIL value at Florida is 10-20x what his NIL value would be on an NBA team next year. Because of the brand awareness at Florida, he will have been here for four years, all of those things along with him returning, our supporters really appreciate the loyalty."

Financial incentives have broadly changed for all NBA prospects, with college programs now capable of competing against multi-year rookie contracts in the short term. Those market forces, coupled with what NBA executives view as a much thinner draft in 2027, have caused a flood of college players to stay in school without testing the draft waters.

Haugh told ESPN he plans to continue focusing on his 3-point shooting and improving his comfort level playing small forward. There is room for him to improve his current standing with another strong season, particularly with the NBA's uncertainty around the strength of next year's incoming freshman class.

"Getting this group of guys back together for one last run, they're going to have a lot of attention and notoriety, a lot of it deserved," Golden said. "We're going to have a ton of pressure, a ton of eyeballs on us this year. But it's a privilege. Use it to fuel us the right way. Can't allow it to splinter us. But we'd much rather be the hunted than the hunters. We just have to accept there's a lot of pressure that comes with that."