With college basketball still a little under two months away, Florida is already showing up loud in the numbers.
Evan Miyakawa’s preseason rankings for the 2026-27 campaign have three Gators inside his top 30, a strong signal that Florida is drawing serious respect heading into the year. Miyakawa’s list is built differently than most - it leans heavily on data and analytics - and he says it “predicts overall player value on offense and defense, accounting for box stats, impact on team performance, career history, and recruiting pedigree coming into college.”
That approach matters here, because the Florida trio all bring different kinds of value. Thomas Haugh is the headliner, landing just outside the top five as he enters his senior season. The 6-foot-9, 215-pound forward put together a big junior year, averaging 17.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.1 steals and a block per game while shooting 46% from the floor and 32.6% from 3-point range.
Haugh also had a decision to make this offseason. He could have been a first-round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, but instead chose to stay in Gainesville for another year.
If he takes another step as a perimeter shooter, he could put himself firmly in lottery territory for the 2027 NBA Draft. He was already part of Florida’s national championship team in 2025, and now he has a chance to become one of the best players in the country.
Alex Condon followed a similar path by testing the NBA Draft waters after a strong junior season before returning to college basketball. The veteran big man measured 6-foot-9-and-a-qaurter without shoes at the NBA Combine and posted the longest wingspan among the prospects who measured in Chicago at 7-foot-7-and-a-half.
On the floor, Condon delivered production across the board in 2025-26, averaging 10.9 points, 11.2 rebounds and a block per game while shooting 58.4% from the field. That performance earned him SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors. A starter on Florida’s national championship team, he is projected as a second-round pick in the 2027 class, though another strong season could push his stock higher.
The third Gator on Miyakawa’s list is Boogie Fland, the player in this group who is least often mentioned in draft talk right now. Still, his background explains why he remains on the radar. Fland was rated the No. 22 overall prospect and No. 3 combo guard in the 2024 recruiting class by 247Sports, began his college career at Arkansas and later transferred to Florida.
In his first season with the Gators, Fland averaged 11.6 points, 3.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 44.7% from the field and 24% from 3-point range. If he turns in a strong junior year and improves from deep, he could work his way into the 2027 draft conversation.
In Other News...
Jon Sumrall Just Added More Heat To Floridas Auburn Debate
After Floridas win over Auburn, Jon Sumrall found himself answering questions that reached well beyond the scoreboard. The Florida head coach was asked about the rumors that he had interviewed for Auburns head coaching job in November, and he flatly denied it, pushing back on the idea that there was ever a real meeting of the minds between him and his former SEC foe.
Sumralls blunt response only added another layer to the discussion around Auburns opening, especially with the programs reported insistence on keeping defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin in place. From Floridas side, it was another reminder that coaching searches can get tangled fast, and even a postgame answer can reopen old speculation that the Gators would rather leave in the past. [Read more 🡒]
Florida Just Found The Formula That Could Change This Season
Florida walked out of Jordan-Hare Stadium with a 44-39 win over Auburn and a reminder that this season may already be taking on a different feel. The Gators are 3-0 for the first time since 2019, and they finally snapped their SEC road drought with a performance that leaned on timely offense and a defense that kept hunting all afternoon.
Jadan Baugh powered the day with 162 yards and three touchdowns, including a 53-yard burst on fourth-and-one that turned into one of the games defining plays. Floridas defense added seven sacks, and when a team can run the ball, finish drives and pressure the quarterback like that, it starts to look less like a hot start and more like a template worth paying attention to. [Read more 🡒]
Florida Faces A Doubt Gators Fans Wont Want To Hear
Florida heads into Week 3 with plenty of intrigue, but The Athletics Manny Navarro is betting the trip to Jordan-Hare Stadium ends badly for the Gators. Navarro picked Auburn to edge Florida 28-27, pointing to a matchup that could hinge on whether Jadan Baugh can crack a run defense that has been stout so far this season. For Florida, that means the ground game may have to do real work if the Gators want to keep the pressure off their offense and avoid playing from behind.
The quarterback side of the matchup also looms large, with Aaron Philo and Auburns Byrum Brown factoring into a game Navarro expects to stay tight into the final moments. His prediction has Brown guiding a late go-ahead drive, which is exactly the kind of ending Florida fans would rather not imagine before kickoff. For a team trying to build momentum early in the season, the margin for error in this one looks razor thin. [Read more 🡒]