Thoughts of the day: May 14, 2026

(Photo by Chris Spears)

A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning:

In his first scrimmage Wednesday at the NBA Draft Combine, Rueben Chinyelu scored 13 points on 5-8 shooting from the field while grabbing five rebounds. It was a strong showing for Chinyelu, who is both physically imposing and ever so intriguing. Strong enough to move him easily into the first round and high enough that he would forego the money to return to the University of Florida? That remains to be seen.

Here are Rueben’s physical measurables:

Height (shoes off): 6-9.25 Weight: 256

Max vertical: 33 inches Standing reach: 9.35 (5^th) Wingspan: 7-7.5 (1^st)

Hand length: 10 inches (1^st) Hand width: 10.25 inches (7^th)

¾ Court sprint: 3.25 seconds

Cameron Boozer (Duke), Yaxel Lendenborg (Michigan), Aday Mara (Michigan), Jayden Quaintance (Kentucky) and Tarris Reed Jr. (UConn) are all rated higher than Chinyelu but in most of the physical measurables, Rueben has the advantage. Where these guys have the advantage is a good jump shot (Boozer hit 19-25 on midrange jumpers yesterday) or a straight line drive like Lendenborg. Mara is 7-3 but he can load up and knock down 3-pointers.

There is no questioning Rueben’s quickness and length. If this were the NBA of ten years ago when there was such a thing as a post up game, Rueben would be on everybody’s top 20 in their mock drafts, but the game has evolved into jump shots and putting the ball on the deck to drive to the rack. In both those areas, Rueben’s game needs work.

For all his strength, Chinyelu doesn’t have a consistent power move to the rack with awesome dunk finishes. Instead, when he gets an offensive rebound he uses a little flip shot that is fairly effective in the college game, but gets swatted away in today’s NBA. While he is a better than average free throw shooter, he doesn’t have an effective jump shot in the 10 to 12-foot range, so everything is concentrated from three feet on in.

Adam Finkelstein of CBS Sports has Chinyelu going No. 25 to the Los Angeles Lakers in his most recent mock draft that has six centers (11. Mara; 16. Quaintance; 17. Morez Johnson, Michigan; 23. Henri Veesar, North Carolina); 24. Flory Bidunga, Kansas; and Chinyelu) and nine power forwards (3. Boozer; 4. Caleb Wilson, North Carolina; 10. Nate Ament, Tennessee; 12. Lendenborg; 14. Koa Peat, Arizona; 15. Hannes Steinbach, Washington; 20. Karim Lopez, New Zealand Breakers; 22. Chris Cenac, Houston; and 29. Allen Graves, Santa Clara).

Finkelstein is the only mock draft from a reasonably credible source that has Chinyelu going in the first round. Now that could change if Rueben dominates the scrimmages and a team with a rebounding deficiency is willing to take a chance on a player whose offensive skills are a work in progress. More likely, however, is that Rueben will hover around the first 10 picks of the second round.

What that tells us is he would be smarter to come back to Florida for his senior season. He will make more money at Florida than he would as a late first or second rounder. At Florida he will have a chance to continue working on his offensive game to develop more power on the inside and extend his shooting range out to 10-12 feet.

GATORS CRACK TOP 25 AT CBS SPORTS

Now that spring football practice is a thing of the past at all 138 Division I football schools, Chip Patterson of CBS Sports ranked then first to worst. In somewhat of a surprise, the Florida Gators moved up 36 spots to crack the top 25.

Here is what Patterson had to say about the Gators: “Another new coach bump, this time for a Florida team that has gotten the most out of its early months with Jon Sumrall. The Gators were able to retain key pieces from Billy Napier's 2025 squad while also adding some transfer portal talent to fill the gaps for a roster that stands, talent-wise, toe-to-toe with most SEC teams. Last season's four-win campaign fell way short of that team's ceiling, while this No. 25 starting point might be a little bit low for what Sumrall and the new regime can accomplish in Year 1.”

The top 25 (SEC teams bold face): 1. Ohio State; 2. Texas; 3. Oregon; 4. Notre Dame; 5. Georgia; 6. Indiana; 7. Miami; 8. Texas A&M; 9. Texas Tech; 10. Oklahoma; 11. Alabama; 12. Ole Miss; 13. LSU; 14. Southern California; 15. BYU; 16. Michigan; 17. Tennessee; 18. Penn State; 19. Washington; 20. SMU; 21. Missouri; 22. Utah; 23. Iowa; 24. Louisville; 25. FLORIDA

Where the rest of the SEC stands in the CBS 138: 31. Vanderbilt; 32. South Carolina; 36. Auburn; 57. Mississippi State; 58. Kentucky; 62. Arkansas

State of Florida in the CBS 138: 7. Miami; 25. FLORIDA; 47. Florida State; 65. UCF; 72. South Florida; 103. Florida Atlantic; 117. Florida International

FLORIDA RECRUITING: SUMRALL ADDS A CORNER

A couple of days ago, Jon Sumrall landed junior college corner Javier Jones (6-1, 187, Phoenix, AZ/Independence, KS, Independence Community College). He chose the Gators after a visit to Gainesville on the heels of a visit to LSU in Baton Rouge.

Jason Higdon, hands down the best when it comes to Florida football recruiting, thinks Jones was added to provide immediate depth to a position that has only nine scholarship corners. Jones will enroll in class next week and will be immediately eligible for the 2026 season.

Here are Florida’s 2027 high school recruits:

QB (1): Davin Davidson (6-6, 215, Sarasota, FL Cardinal Mooney)

RB (1): Andrew Beard (5-9, 197, Bogart, GA Prince Avenue Christian)

WR (2): Tramond Collins (6-0, 190, Cottondale, FL); Anthony Jennings (5-11, 170, Fort Lauderdale, FL Dillard)

TE (2): Jackson Ballinger (6-4, 225, Centerburg, OH); Tommy Douglas (6-5, 235, Princeton, NJ The Hun School)

OL (3): Maxwell Hiller (6-6, 305, Coatsville, PA); Peyton Miller (6-5, 290, Anna, TX); Elijah Hutcheson (6-6, 280, Roanoke, VA North Cross)

DT (2): De’Voun Kendrick (6-4, 300, Tampa, FL Carollwood Day); Stive-Bentley Keumajoy Yondul (6-3, 300, Coral Gables, FL)

CB (2): Amare Nugent (5-11, 180, Plantation, FL American Heritage); Aamaury Fountain (6-3, 182, Warner Robins, GA Northside)

S (1): Kalib Dillard (6-2, 175, Tulsa, OK Jenks)

Watch list: OT Layton von Brandt (6-7, 285, Middletown, DE Appoquinimink); DE Frederick Ards (6-5, 220, Orlando, FL, Jones); DT Jalen Brewster (6-3, 302, Cedar Hill, TX, Texas Tech commit); WR Amare Patterson (6-1, 189, Bluffton, SC); RB Tre Martin (5-10, 202, Winnsboro, LA Franklin Parish); WR Elias Pearl (5-10, 180, Port Charlotte, FL)

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Greg Sankey and the Southeastern Conference are outnumbered. The Atlantic Coast Conference has joined the Big Ten, Big 12, Notre Dame and American Football Coaches bandwagon, calling for expansion of the College Football Playoff to 24 teams. Of course, the ACC, Big 12 and Notre Dame support expanding. Last year, ACC champ Duke didn’t make the playoff while Miami made it as an at-large team with the No. 10 seed. The Big 12’s only team was Texas Tech and Notre Dame was left out despite 10 consecutive wins.

At the heart of the 24-team proposal, which is the brainchild of Big Ten commissioner Tony Petiti, is each of the four power conferences get four automatic bids. Also there would be elimination of conference championship games.

Had there been a 24-team playoff last year, the ACC would have gotten in Duke (8-5), Miami (13-3), Virginia (11-3) and SMU (9-4). The Big 12 would have gotten in Texas Tech (12-2), BYU (12-2), Utah (11-2) and Houston (10-3). The Big Ten got three in (Indiana 16-0; Ohio State 12-2 and Oregon 13-2). The fourth team would have been either Southern California (9-4) or Michigan (9-4). Five SEC teams made it (Georgia 12-2; Ole Miss 13-2; Texas A&M 11-2; Alabama 11-4; and Oklahoma 10-3).  

Not every coach in the ACC thinks the playoff should double in size. On “This Is Football” Miami’s Mario Cristobal said, “I think that’s just a lot. Like, why play a regular season then? And I’m certainly not for automatic bids. ‘Hey, this conference gets’ — like, why? It’s not a beauty pageant. Okay, it’s not a beauty contest. It’s competition. Go win, go win on the field. The guys that deserve it get in and figure it out from there.”

ACC commissioner Little Jimmy Phillips says expanding the playoff would give “hope to all teams.” Phillips ignores the reality that even with the 12-team playoff there are only a handful capable of going through the grind of the playoff and emerging as national champion.

Meanwhile, Greg Sankey and the SEC have dug in their heels. They prefer to stick with 12 teams but if expansion is necessary then 16 is their max. The SEC Championship Game is non-negotiable because it is a cash cow for the league. And, the SEC has an exclusive long term media rights agreement with ESPN, which just so happens to have the contract to broadcast the playoff in its entirety.

In the end, bet the farm that Sankey, the SEC and ESPN are going to stand their ground. Even Phillips sees ESPN as the ultimate obstacle.

"ESPN has been pretty clear with all of us that they'd like it to stay at 12, maybe 14, but no higher than 16," Phillips said. 

So, unless something drastically unexpected happens that causes Sankey and ESPN to reverse course, Phillips and all the others calling for 24 teams are going to seem like Don Quixote charging up a hill to attack a windmill. There will be expansion to 16 teams, but 24? Nope. This isn’t soccer where everybody gets a participation trophy so that no one sheds tears of envy.