Who Is Definitely Returning For Gators In 2026-27
While UF waits for Condon, Chinyelu, and Haugh’s decisions, Golden has re-signed five players. According to Zach Abolverdi of Gators Online, Alex Kovatchev has agreed to return to the Gators. Kovatchev averaged 49 minutes over 15 games, totaling eight points on 3 of 15 shooting, including 2 of 9 from the 3-point line. The 6-5 Australian guard will enter his second year with the Gators with two years of eligibility left. He appeared in 33 games as a freshman for Sacramento State in 2023-24 but took a medical redshirt for the 2024-25 campaign.
Kovatech becomes the fifth player to come to terms with Florida Victorious, the Gators NIL partner. Boogie Fland, Urban Klavzar, Isaiah Brown, AJ Brown, and Alex Lloyd are the others to agree to terms.
Fland showed offensive growth, though he needs to improve as a perimeter shooter, and was fantastic defensively. Klavzar took his game to another level and was the Gators’ best 3-point shooter, knocking down two threes at a 40.6% clip. Klavzar was the SEC 6th-man of the year.
Isaiah Brown showed improvement and was part of Golden’s second unit in year two. AJ Brown showed some scoring ability in three seasons at Ohio University, but redshirted this past season. Lloyd, a top-50 consensus 2025 recruit, struggled in limited minutes.
What Is Next
“Before Florida fully goes into the portal, the Gators will need to figure out which of their starters are returning to Gainesville,” ESPN’s Jeff Borzello said. Haugh has played himself into a potential lottery pick, so we can project him to enter the NBA draft. But both Condon and Chinyelu were projected second-round picks in ESPN’s most recent mock draft, leaving their short-term futures more uncertain. Klavzar could move into the starting lineup with Lee gone, but he proved to be incredibly useful as a sixth man. Could any of the seldom-used roster players make a sizable jump and move into a consistent rotation role the way Isaiah Brown did from 2024-25 to 2025-26? It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Florida go into the portal or look at international players to bring in at least two or three more perimeter players.”
Seven-foot center Jones Lay is the only player who has signed in Golden’s 2026 recruiting class.
