Florida leading scorer will forgo draft, return for senior season
The Gators are likely to enter the 2026-27 season as the preseason No. 1 team after potential lottery pick Thomas Haugh announced his return.
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. " Living out a dream.