2026 didn’t end the way Florida wanted it to. After cruising to an SEC title and earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Gators crashed out in the second round to Iowa, and the dream of going back-to-back was over. Part of what made the loss feel particularly soul-crushing was the uncertainty of who was coming back and who was staying, as Florida had multiple players who could jump to the NBA, along with multiple players who could be transfer portal candidates.
But one by one, almost all of Florida’s roster is coming back, and the Gators are just one or two final pieces away from heading into 2026-27 with the chance to be the most feared team in program history.
Thomas Haugh’s return unlocks everything for Florida
Admittedly, we thought there was zero chance Thomas Haugh was going to return for his senior year at Florida. Haugh was seen as a potential lottery pick in the NBA Draft, and worst-case scenario, he is seen as a first-round pick. Guys in Haugh’s position have almost never stuck around in college.
If Rueben Chinyelu comes back and withdraws from the NBA Draft himself, which we think there should be a decent chance of, the Gators will return its entire squad essentially from this season minus Xaivian Lee. The site EvanMiya.Com predicts that roughly 87% of the minutes that will be played by Florida in 2026-27 will be by returners, and that in the transfer portal era, that is unmatched.
Throw in the fact that the 13% of minutes that aren’t from a “returner” is Denzel Aberdeen, who comes back to Florida after a one-year odyssey with Kentucky, and this is as veteran-laden a squad as you'll find, as one normally could only ever dream of assembling a team with four returners off a squad that was a No. 1 seed.
Of course, there is one pesky detail floating out there that could rain on this parade:
Is Todd Golden going to bail for the NBA?
It feels like that answer would be no, given all these guys have opted to return.
But with or without Golden, the Gators are going to have the most stacked roster in America entering next year, and as long as Mike White is not the coach, the expectations for this team are going to be Final Four or bust.
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