Florida top scorer Thomas Haugh to return, pass on NBA draft - ESPN

Florida forward Thomas Haugh will return to the Gators for his senior season, he told ESPN on Tuesday, delaying an opportunity as a potential lottery pick and likely cementing Florida as the preseason No. 1 team in men's college basketball.

Haugh, the No. 13 prospect in ESPN's Top 100 for the 2026 draft, becomes the highest-ranked prospect to announce his return to college. He is the first player since Michigan State's Miles Bridges in 2017 to opt for another year of school while projected as an NBA lottery pick.

The 6-foot-9 Pennsylvania native's decision to return follows the same announcement last week from frontcourt mate Alex Condon, while starting center Rueben Chinyelu announced Monday he's testing the NBA draft waters but will maintain his college eligibility to return to Florida if he withdraws from the draft.

«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.»

When the buzzer sounded in Tampa at the end of Florida's 73-72 second-round loss to 8-seed Iowa, Golden worried that this might have been the last time his national championship-winning frontcourt would play together. Haugh had eyes on the NBA, and Condon and Chinyelu were also weighing NBA options. With the nature of the transfer portal, it was unclear who would be back.

Haugh earned third-team All-America honors and first-team All-SEC honors this past season, averaging 17.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, and was tracking comfortably for the middle of the first round. There was