Sports
Florida top scorer Thomas Haugh to return, pass on NBA draft
-
Jeremy Woo
Close
Jeremy Woo
ESPN
- NBA draft analyst and writer
Joined ESPN.com in 2023
Covered the NBA and NBA draft for Sports Illustrated from 2015-2023
Multiple Authors
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 no expectation that he’d return.
“I think that lit a fire underneath me,” Haugh said of the NCAA tournament loss. “I [didn’t] want my last memory of Florida basketball to be that.”
“The hardest part was the initial week,” Golden told ESPN. “His mind had been made up, he was going. When the season ended the way it did for us, it was a little bit of a punch in the stomach. Allowed a little more to reflect. Not only on that game, but how the season ended and where we are. That moment allowed for this to happen.”
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 going to 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 10-20 times 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 multiyear 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.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday Washington had no objections to Iranian players participating in the 2026 Fifa World Cup but he added the players will not be allowed to bring with them people with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
“Nothing from the US has told them they can’t come,” Rubio told reporters.
President Donald Trump also said his administration “would not want to affect the athletes” in comments he made at the White House.
The 2026 soccer World Cup is set to begin on June 11 across the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Paolo Zampolli, a Trump envoy who has no official connection with the World Cup, had earlier suggested that Italy should replace Iran at the tournament.
“The problem with Iran would be not their athletes. It would be some of the other people they would want to bring with them, some of whom have ties to the IRGC. We may not be able to let them in but not the athletes themselves,” Rubio said.
“They can’t bring a bunch of IRGC terrorists into our country and pretend that they are journalists and athletic trainers,” Rubio added. Washington has designated the IRGC as a “foreign terrorist organisation.”
Currently there is no suggestion Iran will withdraw or be banned from the tournament that Italy missed out on.
After the start of the Iran war, Iran requested that Fifa move the team’s three group matches from the US to Mexico, which was rejected.
The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states with US bases. US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions. A fragile ceasefire in the Iran war began over two weeks ago.
VILLARREAL:
Villarreal moved closer to securing third place in La Liga with a 1-1 draw at Real Oviedo on Thursday, while another defeat left Sevilla teetering on the brink of the relegation zone.
Nicolas Pepe’s first-half penalty looked to have been enough to send Villarreal seven points clear of Atletico Madrid, but Ilyas Chaira’s strike midway through the second period ensured the spoils were shared.
Despite the result, Villarreal moved to 62 points and boast a five-point cushion over fourth-placed Atletico, who are on a four-match losing streak in the league.
Real Oviedo, who were looking to make it three wins from three, remain bottom of La Liga, six points away from safety.
Former Arsenal winger Pepe won and converted a penalty on 13 minutes to put the visitors in front.
But Oviedo levelled in the 69th minute as Ilyas’ heavily-deflected effort left goalkeeper Arnau Tenas with no chance.
Ayoze Perez came within inches of winning it for Villarreal inside the final 10 minutes but his effort came off the bar and bounced to safety from the goal-line.
Earlier, seven-time Europa League and UEFA Cup winners Sevilla sank further into the relegation battle as they went down 2-0 at Levante.
Ivan Romero netted in the 38th minute to put the 19th-placed hosts in front, before adding a second late on to secure all three points for Levante.
Sevilla languish in 17th place, one point above Alaves in the final relegation spot.
Victory for Levante gave them hope of escaping the drop zone as they climbed to 32 points — two behind the Andalusians and safety.
Rayo Vallecano put some distance between themselves and the relegation dogfight courtesy of a 1-0 win at home to Espanyol.
Sergio Camello’s 87th-minute winner took Rayo to 38 points and 11th place, one spot ahead of the Catalans on goal difference.
On Friday, Real Madrid will look to close the gap, provisionally, to Liga leaders Barcelona when they visit Real Betis.
Alvaro Arbeloa’s charges sit nine points behind their arch-rivals and know a victory early in the weekend’s round of matches will amp up the pressure on Barcelona 24 hours after the news that star Blaugrana attacker Lamine Yamal will miss the rest of the season with a hamstring injury.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Cameras showed former New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch in the team’s draft room Thursday night during the first round.
At one point, Tisch was seen standing near Giants head coach John Harbaugh. Despite no longer holding a majority stake in the NFL franchise, Tisch remains the Giants’ chairman of the board.
ESPN obtained an NFL memo last month detailing plans by Steve Tisch and his siblings to transfer their stake in the Giants to trusts for their children.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch warms up before the NFL game between the Washington Redskins and New York Giants at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Oct. 28, 2018. (Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire)
“Prior transfers to these Trusts were completed pursuant to 2023 and 2024 Finance Committee approvals,” the memo stated. “The Sellers now propose to transfer their entire remaining interests, totaling 23.1% of the Club, to the Trusts. … Following the transactions, the Sellers will no longer own any interest in the Club.”
It was not clear if the transfer requests were in any way related to Tisch’s name appearing in the Epstein files released by the U.S. Justice Department in January. Tisch’s name came up more than 400 times in the files. Tisch at the time said he knew Epstein but denied visiting Epstein’s island.
As for draft night, the Giants made what some viewed as an unconventional pick at No. 10, selecting offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa.
Francis Mauigoa of Miami celebrates after being selected as the tenth overall pick by the New York Giants during the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa., on April 23, 2026. (Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
Before that, the Giants added another piece to their pass rush, selecting hybrid edge/off-ball linebacker Arvell Reese at No. 5.
Reese earned All-American honors at Ohio State and finished his first season as a full-time starter with 6.5 sacks.
Arvell Reese of Ohio State celebrates after being selected as the fifth overall pick by the New York Giants during the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa., on April 23, 2026. (Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Reese is set to join a pass rush that includes Brian Burns, Abdul Carter and, likely, Kayvon Thibodeaux.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Intel bags big gains! Chipmaker’s shares jump 26% on blockbuster results; how Trump admin benefits – The Times of India
Ellen Burstyn reflects on how poetry impacts her life
China boosts offshore wind capacity to speed up low-carbon transition
-
Fashion1 week agoFrance’s LVMH Q1 revenue falls 6%, shows resilience amid Iran war
-
Tech1 week agoCYBERUK ’26: UK lagging on legal protections for cyber pros | Computer Weekly
-
Sports5 days agoWWE WrestleMania 42 Night 2: Live match results and analysis
-
Business1 week agoPepsiCo earnings beat estimates as North American food business improves
-
Sports5 days agoNCAA men’s gymnastics championship: All-time winners list
-
Tech1 week agoAnthropic Plots Major London Expansion
-
Tech1 week agoCyber Essentials closes the MFA loophole but leaves some organisations adrift | Computer Weekly
-
Business1 week agoOil prices fall again amid Middle East ceasefire hopes