What’s next for Florida? Explaining future for Todd Golden, Gators after early NCAA tournament exit
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The 2026 offseason will be a lot different than 2025 for the Florida Gators.
Last spring, Todd Golden's team was cutting down the nets, celebrating Florida's first men's basketball title since its back-to-back run in 2006 and 2007. But there was no title defense in the cards this time -- after Sunday's stunning 73-72 loss to the ninth-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes, the Gators now enter their offseason.
Florida becomes the first No. 1 seed to lose in the NCAA Tournament, with Golden now shifting focus to 2026-27. Once again, the Gators are likely to lose some talent to the NBA Draft, but you can also expect Golden to be busy in the player acquisition department — that is, as long as he stays with Florida.
Here's a look at Florida's future and what's next after losing to Iowa in March Madness.
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What's next for Florida?
The Gators lost a ton of talent after winning their championship last year, including Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin, Will Richard and Denzel Aberdeen.
This offseason may not bring such drastic turnover, but there will be some changes.
Potential departures
Among players on Florida's 2025-26 roster, the team had just two seniors: guard Xaivian Lee and center Micah Handlogten. Lee's departure will hurt more, as he averaged 11.4 points per game this season as a transfer from Princeton.
However, those likely won't be the only players on the way out for the Gators. They have a group of four key players who could declare for the NBA Draft, but also have the option to return to Florida for 2026-27.
The most significant player of that bunch is forward Thomas Haugh, who led the Gators in scoring this season with his 17.0 points per game. Haugh is considered a potential lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, with Tankathon having him ranked No. 15 on its big board, so it's likely he's played his last collegiate game. Haugh does have one year of collegiate eligibility left, though.
The other three potential NBA prospects' futures are more up in the air. Junior forward Alex Condon, who averaged 14.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in 2025-26, is a projected late-second round pick. He could choose to return to Florida next year, seeking to improve his draft stock.
Per The Gainesville Sun, Condon recently said it was "probably around 50-50 right now" on whether or not he'd be declaring for the 2026 draft, but he was getting feedback that he could be a late-first round pick.
"I have the self-belief to feel like I'm a lottery-type of player," Condon said, per The Gainesville Sun. "If I can get a really good March Madness run, which I feel like I'm going to do, individually, then I think the sky is the limit for me, like, keep breaking down a few spots after each game. Keep making highlight plays, keep making the right plays for my teammates as well, I think everything is going to work out."
The same can be said of center Rueben Chinyelu, who posted 11.2 points and 11.5 rebounds per game this season, and guard Boogie Fland, who put up 11.7 points and 3.4 assists per game. At best, those two players have received potential late second-round price tags for the 2026 NBA Draft -- and it would make sense for both to return, take on a bigger role for Florida, then hope to go higher in next year's draft.
At minimum, Florida will likely be parting ways with Haugh, Lee and Handlogten. For Golden, any players who return among Condon, Chinyelu and Fland will be a massive plus for his 2027 title chances.
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Florida 2026 recruiting class
As things currently stand, Golden will have some work to do in building out Florida's next group of young players. According to 247Sports, Florida has just one player in the 2026 class who has signed a letter of intent: seven-foot center Jones Lay.
The Gators had the 12th-ranked overall incoming class in 2025, per 247Sports, but that was heavily lifted by their transfer portal class of Lee, Fland and AJ Brown. Golden may have to turn toward the portal again this offseason to build out another elite roster.
Will Todd Golden stay?
For the time being, there should be no expectations that Golden would leave Florida this offseason. He is coming off his fourth season at the helm of the Gators, where he has plenty of resources and a contract signed in 2025 that totaled $40.5 million and runs through March 2031.
However, if there's one landing spot that could at least intrigue Golden, it's UNC. The Tar Heels could soon have an opening if they choose to move on from Hubert Davis -- and with deep pockets for sports head coaches (see: Bill Belichick) and a ton of resources in its men's basketball program, Golden would make sense as a top UNC target.
For now, there's no reason to think Golden won't be on Florida's bench next fall. But if UNC starts being linked to the coach, he could certainly hear the Tar Heels out for one of the best jobs in the country.
MORE:Todd Golden, Billy Donovan among best targets for UNC if Hubert Davis is fired