Junior forward Thomas Haugh was viewed as a potential 2026 lottery pick, but he has decided to put off going pro for another year. He tells Shams Charania, Jeff Borzello, and Jeremy Woo of ESPN (Twitter link) that he’ll return to Florida for his senior year.
A 6’9″ forward, Haugh won a national championship with the Gators as a sophomore in 2025, but primarily came off the bench for that title team. He enjoyed a breakout year in 2025/26, starting all 34 games he played and averaging 17.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.0 block in 33.3 minutes per contest.
Haugh was a consensus second-team All-American as a junior and was ranked 13th on ESPN’s big board of 2026 prospects before deciding not to enter the draft. Woo has described him as a tough, high-effort player with good size and an improving outside shot who could’ve been ready to play a rotation role at the NBA level immediately.
Instead, Haugh will use his final year of NCAA eligibility and look to win another championship with the Gators, who appear well positioned to enter next season as the top-ranked team in the country after being upset in the second round of this year’s NCAA tournament. As Charania observes, the senior forward could also be in the mix for 2027 Player of the Year honors if he continues to improve.
“Most guys in my position in the draft, it would be a no-brainer to go to the NBA,” Haugh told ESPN. “It’s not just the NIL. It’s a chance to play with my boys. To play for coach (Todd) Golden. To go to the school I love to play for. It was definitely a tougher decision than last year, but it was best for my career and future.”
While Haugh downplayed the NIL factor, Woo and Borzello indicate that he projects to “easily” earn more with the Gators than he would in the NBA in 2026/27 if he were drafted in the middle of the first round.
Haugh’s frontcourt teammate Alex Condon previously announced that he’ll be returning to the Gators as well. Another member of 2025’s championship team, center Rueben Chinyelu, announced on Monday (via Instagram) that he’ll enter the 2026 NBA draft but will leave the door open to the possibility of playing one more college season by maintaining his NCAA eligibility.
Wow. Tank has him at 14th pick currently to Hornets. Florida might be the favorite next year with both their bigs returning.
Hornets might take Cenac or Quaintance now at 14th.
The Hornets are an interesting team. Good young team. They have cap space. They also have a good amount of picks coming up.