Bring on the Dookies!

Aberdeen, Condon, Chinyelu and Haugh are reasons why the Gators will be preseason No. 1 (Photo by Chris Spears)

Sometimes you get what you wish for. In the case of Todd Golden and Florida basketball, it’s the Duke Blue Devils, who will be coming to the O-Dome December 1 as part of the SEC-ACC Challenge. Last year the Gators traveled to Durham where they fell 67-66 to Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, a game that left a sour taste in the mouths of the Gators who came back from 12 points down at the half only to lose on an Isaiah Evans three-pointer with 21 seconds remaining.

When questioned about his preference for the SEC-ACC Challenge on the Field of 68 podcast a couple of weeks ago, Golden replied, “I will admit it. Give us Duke. We want Duke!”

At the Final Four back in 2025, Duke was favored to face Florida in the national championship game, but a funny thing happened on the way to the confetti cascading down at the Alamo Dome as “One Shining Moment” belted out. Duke blew a big lead and lost to Houston in the semifinals, then Florida came from 12 down to beat Houston for the championship.

Duke was ranked fourth when the Gators faced the Blue Devils at Cameron last season, a game in which the Gators played one of their worst first halves of the season before dominating in the second half. This was a game Florida should have won, but missed threes and turnovers proved costly in the end.

A chance to get back at Duke, this time in the O-Dome, has been on the minds of Golden and his entire team. Duke will come to Gainesville with its typically outstanding roster, but the Blue Devils will be facing a Florida team that has the tallest and most experienced roster in all of college basketball. And, just like Duke rarely loses at Cameron, the Gators are rather formidable in the O-Dome.

Duke figures to be a top five team when the preseason polls come out, but thanks to the return of Tommy Haugh, Rueben Chinyelu and Alex Condon, all of whom chose Florida over the NBA, Florida has unquestionably the best front court in the nation. With Boogie Fland returning at the point and Denzel Aberdeen’s return to Florida after one year in purgatory at Kentucky, the Gators are almost certain to be the preseason No. 1.

Aberdeen’s status is still up in the air as he awaits a decision from the NCAA to grant a waiver that will allow him to play a fifth year. Aberdeen played only 36 minutes as a true freshman and that counts against him unless the NCAA approves the waiver. Golden has reason to be optimistic that Aberdeen will be approved, particularly in light of Kentucky getting a waiver for transfer Franck Kepnang, who will be playing his seventh season of college basketball.

The addition of Aberdeen will give the Gators five experienced starters who all averaged double figures last year – Haugh (17.1), Chinyelu (10.9), Condon (15.1), Boogie Fland (11.6) and Aberdeen (13.5 at Kentucky). Golden has a 10-deep bench headed up by SEC Sixth Man of the Year Urban Klavzar (9.6 points, 40.3 percent threes) and athletic Isaiah Brown (5.5 points, highlight reel dunks). He added to the depth with impressive Euro additions Domen Petrovic (6-8, 220) from Slovenia and Arturas Butajevis (6-11, 220) from Lithuania. AJ Brown, an exceptional three-point shooter at Ohio U took a redshirt to rehab a shoulder injury last year, adds experienced depth along with Viktor Mikic, CJ Ingram, Alex Lloyd and Alex Kovatchev. Freshman Jones Lay is a 7-footer and you can’t teach tall.

This might be one of the best top to bottom rosters assembled in recent memory. Golden doesn’t disagree with the rave reviews about the quality and depth he’s assembled.  

“I believe we have 15 players on our roster right now that are really, really good,” Golden said on the Stadium and Gale podcast. “We have the deepest … I would argue the deepest roster in America, but with that, there's going to be some guys that aren't playing as much as they want. And the, the great thing that my staff does, we're very honest with our guys and kind of what that's going to look like … Credit to our players. All they ask for is opportunity. They want the opportunity to compete for spots and they'll let the chips fall where they may. But to have guys like CJ, Isaiah, Alex Lloyd, even Urby, who was sixth man of the year last year, coming back off the bench, all being great team guys and all being there for the success of Florida. allows us the runway to have great seasons. And the way we want it to work is when Alex, Tommy, and Ruben move on, which they eventually will do, that these younger guys step into those roles of being the star players in our program.”

While some schools like Tennessee (eight newbies) and Kentucky (seven) had to dip heavily in the portal just to fill out their rosters, Golden was free to pick and choose. Aberdeen, a key reserve on Florida’s 2025 national championship team, wanted to come home, suit up with buddies like Haugh, Condon and Chinyelu once again, and graduate from the University of Florida. He’s the only transfer Golden added to the roster.

The two internationals – Petrovic and Butajevis – have the skills and size to fill critical needs.

“Arturis [is] a really, really decorated prospect from Europe, one of the top Lithuanian young players and has been for a while,” Golden said. “When we evaluated him we saw some characteristics of a young Tommy and Condo coming up out of the high school ranks. I'm not trying to put that level of expectation on him coming in, but I think he's going to be a really, really good player that's strong, physical, rebounds really well, and also can step out and shoot the three a little bit.

“Domen, I think, is really exciting for us. An older player, going to be 22 years old, or is 22 years old, had his best season of basketball this year, playing in the professional league in Slovenia … 6-8 can really, really shoot it has great feel for the game and a guy that I think we could play multiple positions. Whether we want to play him as a three or the four is possible because of his ability to stretch the floor. He’s a really smart player, similar to Urby that way and you know they're they're Slovenian brothers so to speak so uh we can see some similarities in their game as well.”

Last season the Gators led the nation in rebounding, offensive rebounding and rebounding margin. Despite a poor three-point shooting year, the Gators still ranked ninth in the kenpom.com offensive analytics. Defensively, the Gators were No. 6. The rebounding and defense figure to be every bit as good this season. Improving three-point shooting will be an emphasis in the offseason, but Golden expects Haugh and Fland to be more consistent. Aberdeen has proven to be reliable, plus off the bench Golden has Klavzar, AJ Brown and Petrovic.

Strengths are many, weaknesses few for a team that will head into the season with the highest ceiling of expectations in the country.

“We've been playing high-level basketball within our program at Florida for a couple years now, whether it was the national championship year or last year when we received one seed in the NCAA tournament, even though we fell a little short,” Golden said. “We've played against the best programs in America. We've played in the best venues in America. And I think this team is ready for another season with a big target on their back.”

FLORIDA ROSTER AS OF JUNE 5, 2026

Big guys (7): Tommy Haugh (6-9, 215, SR); Alex Condon (6-11, 236, SR); Rueben Chinyelu (6-10, 260, SR); Domen Petrovic (6-8, 220, SR); Viktor Mikic (6-11, 260, JR); Arturas Butajevis (6-10, 220, FR); Jones Lay (7-0, 230, FR)

Perimeter (8): Denzel Aberdeen (6-5, 190, SR); Urban Klavzar (6-1, 190, SR); Alex Kovatchev (6-5, 195, RJR); AJ Brown (6-4, 210, RJR); Boogie Fland (6-3, 185, JR); Isaiah Brown (6-5, 210, JR); CJ Ingram (6-7, 210, SO); Alex Lloyd (6-3, 190, SO)

Rosters for the rest of the SEC

ALABAMA

Returning (5): London Jemison (6-8, 205, FR); Keitenn Bristow (6-8, 190, SO); Preston Murphy (6-1, 175, JR); Collins Onyejiaka (6-11, 265, FR); Amari Allen (6-7, 205, FR)

Incoming freshmen (3): Tarris Bouie (6-4, 175); Quayden Samuels (6-6, 200); Jaxson Richardson (6-6, 200)

From the portal (4): Brandon Garrison (6-11, 245, JR, from Kentucky); Jamarion Davis-Fleming (6-10, 240, FR, from Mississippi State); Cole Cloer (6-7, 190, FR, from North Carolina State); Drew Fielder (6-10, 216, JR, from Boise State)

ARKANSAS

Returning (4): Billy Richmond (6-5, 205, SO); Jaden Karuletwa (6-5, 185, SO); Isaiah Sealy (6-7, 200, FR); Paulo Semedo (7-1, 225, FR)

Incoming freshmen (4): Jordan Smith Jr. (6-2, 180); JaShawn Andrews (6-4, 195); Abdou Toure (6-6, 200); Maper Maker (7-0, 215)

From the portal (2): Cooper Bowser (6-11, 210, JR, from Furman); Jeremiah Wilkinson (6-1, 185, SO, from Georgia)

AUBURN

Returning (3): Kevin Overton (6-5, 180, JR); Tahaad Pettiford (6-1, 175, SO); Simon Walker (6-4, 195, FR)

Incoming freshmen (2): Caleb Williams (6-5, 195); Narcisse Ngoy (6-11, 220)

From the portal (5): Bukky Oboye (7-1, 200, RSO, from Santa Clara); Owen Freeman (6-10, 230, JR, from Creighton); Thomas Dowd (6-8, 225, JR, from Troy); Adam Olsen (6-8, 225, FR, from South Alabama); George Kimble III (6-2, 184, SO, from Vanderbilt)

International commitments (2): Narciss Ngoy (6-11, 225, from France); Matas Rubstavicius (6-6, 190, from Lithuania)

GEORGIA

Returning (4): Blue Cain (6-5, 190, JR); Marcus Millender (5-11, 180, JR); Kanon Catchings (6-9, 190, SO); Kareem Stagg (6-8, 230, FR)

Incoming freshmen (3): Donovan Williams (6-3, 180); Hakeem Weems (6-9, 170); Kemauri Millender (6-0, 175)

From the portal (4): Freddie Dilione (6-5, 195, JR, from Penn State); Brady Dunlap (6-7, 190, SO, from Saint Louis); Andrew Osasuyi (6-9, 205, FR, from St. Bonaventure); James Scott (6-11, 210, JR, from Ole Miss)

International commitments (2): David Ugonna Ike (6-11, 230, from Nigeria); Mading Kuany (6-8, 175, from Australia)

KENTUCKY

Returning (5): Reece Potter (7-1, 210, JR); Kam Williams (6-8, 190, SO); Trent Noah (6-5, 220, SO); Brayden Hawthorne (6-8, 190, FR); Malachi Moreno (7-0, 250, FR)

Incoming freshmen (2): Mason Williams (6-2, 185); Zyon Hawthorne (6-2, 180)

From the portal (7): Zoom Diallo (6-3, 190, SO, from Washington); Alex Wilkins (6-5, 175, FR, from Furman); Justin McBride (6-8, 230, JR, from James Madison); Jerone Morton (6-4, 200, JR, from Washington State); Franck Kepnang (6-11, 225, SR, from Washington); Milan Momcilovic (6-8, 220, SR, from Iowa State)

International commitment (1): Ousmane N’Diaye (6-11, 210, from Senegal)

LSU

Returning (0):  

Incoming freshman (0):

From the portal (5): Mouhamed Dioubate (6-7, 215, JR, from Kentucky); Divine Ugochukwu (6-3, 190, SO, from Michigan State); Abdi Bashir Jr. (6-7, 170, from Kansas State); RJ Luis (6-7, 196, G-League, formerly St. John’s); Austin Nunez (6-2, 170, SR, from UT-San Antonio)

International commitment (4): Marcio Santos (6-9, 250, from Brazil by way of Israel); Yam Madar (6-3, 200, from Israel); Saliou Niang (6-5, 190, from Senegal by way of Italy); Michael Ruzic (6-10, 220, from Croatia by way of Barcelona)

MISSISSIPPI STATE

Returning (4): Josh Hubbard (5-10, 185, JR); King Grace (6-5, 195, FR); Cameren Paul (6-7, 210, FR); Tee Bartlett (6-11, 290, FR)

Incoming freshmen (3): Tristan Reed (6-9, 230); Jalyn Collingwood (6-5, 190); Willie Burnett III (6-4, 175)

From the portal (6): RJ Johnson (6-4, 225, SO, from Kennesaw State); Kendyl Sanders (6-8, 230, FR, from Utah); TJ Simpkins (6-4, 185, JR, from Seton Hall); ND Okafor (6-9, 235, SR, from Washington State); Thomas Bassong (6-8, 203, FR, from Florida State); Ashton Magee (6-7, 205, FR, From Southern U)

MISSOURI

Returning (6): Trent Pierce (6-10, 210, JR); Luke Norweather (6-11, 232, JR); Trent Burns (7-5, 235, SO); Annor Boateng (6-6, 215, SO); Nicholas Randall (6-9, 240, FR); Aaron Rowe (6-2, 155, FR)

Incoming freshmen (3): Jason Crowe Jr. (6-3, 170); Aidan Chronister (6-7, 180); Toni Bryant (6-9, 215)

From the portal (6): Jaylen Carey (6-8, 245, JR, from Tennessee); Jamier Jones (6-6, 218, FR, from Providence); Bryson Tiller (6-10, 240, SO, from Kansas); Kennard Davis Jr. (6-6, 204, JR, from BYU); Jordan Crawford (6-2, 180, JR, from South Dakota), Cord Stansberry (6-3, 175, JR, from Western Carolina)

OKLAHOMA

Returning (5): Xzayvier Brown (6-2, 165, JR); Dayton Forsythe (6-2, 187, SO); Derrion Reed (6-8, 220, SO); Kai Rogers (6-10, 247, FR); Alec Blair (6-7, 192, FR)

Incoming freshmen (2): Gage Mayfield (6-7, 200); Quincy Wadley (6-4, 185)

From the portal (4): Khani Rooths (6-8, 205, SO, from Louisville); Tyler Hendricks (6-5, 175, RJR, from Utah Valley); Pop Isaacs (6-2, 170, SR, from Texas A&M); Yaak Yaak (6-11, 225, JR, from Oregon State)

From the G-League (1): Akoldah Gak (6-11, 225, from Australia via G-League)

OLE MISS

Returning (2): Patton Pinkins (6-5, 200, FR); Ilias Kamardine (6-5, 185, JR) 

Incoming freshmen (3): Yohance Connor (6-2, 170); Jaron Saulsberry (6-6, 170); Daniel Patton (6-7, 205)

From the portal (6): Roman Siulepa (6-6, 220, FR, from Pittsburgh); Adam Clark (5-10, 155, JR, from Seton Hall); Christian Brown (6-8, 236, FR, from James Madison); Stefan Cicic (7-0, 260, RFR, from Pepperdine); Desean Haskins (6-8, 200, RSO, from St. Joseph’s); Santiago Trouet (6-10, 218, JR, from Arizona State)

SOUTH CAROLINA

Returning (2): Grant Polk (6-6, 197, FR); Hayden Assemian (6-6, 230, FR)

Incoming freshmen (1): Marcus Johnson (6-2, 180)

From the portal (6): Kory Mincy (6-2, 185, JR, from George Mason); Aleksas Bieliauskas (6-10, 235, FR, from Wisconsin); Shane Blakeney (6-5, 175, JR, from Drexel); Camden Heide (6-7, 205, JR, from Texas); Jakub Necas (6-10, 240, JR, from Duquesne); Davion Hannah (6-6, 190, FR, from Alabama)

International commitment (1): Juan Francisco Fernandez (6-9, 220, from Argentina)

TENNESSEE

Returning (2): Ethan Burg (6-3, 199, SO); DeWayne Brown II (6-8, 251, FR)

Incoming freshman (4): Ralph Scott (6-8, 190); Manny Green (6-6, 205); Marquis Clark (6-1, 175); Christopher Washington Jr. (6-9, 195)

From the portal (8): Tyler Lundblade (6-5, 195, SR, from Belmont); Dai Dai Ames (6-1, 185, JR, from California); Miles Rubin (6-10, 205, JR, from Loyola Chicago); Jalan Haralson (6-7, 220, FR, from Notre Dame); Terrence Hill Jr. (6-3, 180, SO, from VCU); Braden Lue (6-8, 223, SO, from Kennesaw State); Juke Harris (6-7, 200, SO, from Wake Forest); Christian Fermin (6-10, 215, SR, from VCU)

TEXAS

Returning (4): Matas Vokietaitis (7-0, 245, SO); Anthon McDermott (6-4, 200, FR); John Clark (6-8, 200, FR); Lewis Obiorah (7-0, 250, FR)

Incoming freshmen (4): Austin Goosby (6-5, 186); Bo Ogden (6-5, 195); Joe Sterling (6-4, 180); Coleman Elkins (6-10, 240)

From the portal (5): Isaiah Johnson (6-1, 170, FR, from Colorado); David Punch (6-7, 245, SO, from TCU); Amari Evans (6-5, 220, FR, from Tennessee); Elyjah Freeman (6-8, 185, SO, from Auburn); Mikey Lewis (6-3, 180, SO, from Saint Mary’s) Radford)

TEXAS A&M

Returning (4): McKenzie Mgbako (6-8, 217, JR); Jamie Vinson (6-11, 225, SO); Chris McDermott (6-7, 225, SO); Jeremiah Green (6-3, 189, FR)

Incoming freshmen (3): Josh Irving (6-10, 200); Bryson Warren (6-3, 191); Neiko Mundey (6-2, 185)

From the portal (6): PJ Hagerty (6-3, 192, JR, from Kansas State); Cade Phillips (6-9, 212, JR, from Tennessee); Jalen Reece (6-0, 185, FR, from LSU); Tyshawn Archie (6-1, 175, JR, from McNeese State); Jalen Shelley (6-8, 190, SO, from Loyola Marymount); Lukas Walls (6-5, 203, JR, from Radford)

VANDERBILT

Returning (4): Tyler Tanner (6-0, 170, SO); Chandler Bing (6-5, 211, FR); Jayden Leverett (6-11, 245, FR); Jaylon Dean-Vines (6-4, 181, FR)

Incoming freshmen (3): Ethan Mgbako (6-6, 215); Anthony Brown (6-1, 160); Jackson Sheffield (6-9, 240)

From the portal (5): Berke Buyutuncel (6-9, 245, JR, from Nebraska); Ace Glass (6-3, 185, FR, from Washington State); Bangot Dak (6-9, 180, JR, from Colorado); Sebastian Williams-Adams (6-8, 230, FR, from Auburn); T.O. Barrett (6-4, 200, SO, from Missouri)