Florida hoops lands first commitment for 2023 class
Thomas Haugh announced his pledge to Florida on Wednesday, becoming the first commitment for coach Todd Golden in the 2023 class.
He was originally a member of the 2022 class but decided to take a post grad year. Other schools have been recruiting Haugh to reclassify as a 2022 recruit, but he will remain in the 2023 class.
Haugh, pronounced “Howk”, picked the Gators over more than a dozen offers, including recent additions from Illinois, Maryland and Georgia Tech. The 6-foot-9, 200-pound power forward holds a three-star rating from 247Sports and is ranked No. 41 nationally at his position.
Haugh is considered a late bloomer who can shoot the 3 and has a great frame. With him pushing back his enrollment a year, he is expected to rise in the 2023 recruiting rankings.
Gators still have one roster spot for 2022
With Haugh committing as a 2023 recruit, the Gators still have one roster available for the 2022-23 season.
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Golden is currently at 12 scholarship players, landing four transfers this offseason in forward Alex Fudge (LSU) and guards Trey Bonham (VMI), Kyle Lofton (St. Bonaventure) and Will Richard (Belmont).
Signees Denzel Aberdeen and Riley Kugel, along with the four transfers, join a half dozen returning players: forwards Colin Castleton and CJ Felder, center Jason Jitoboh and guards Myreon Jones, Kowacie Reeves and Niels Lane.
Golden said last month he wants to add one more player to his front court.
“I think we’re in good shape. I would more say we’ve added on to more of what we were able to keep. As a lot of you are aware, when we got here – specifically me and my staff – it was really important to me to make a run at Colin to see if we could get him to use his fifth year,” Golden said. “I thought that Colin could be that piece for us if he was willing to buy into what we are doing and had a great attitude about coming back, which he did. And that really got us off to a really good start.
“We’ve talked a lot about the five other guys besides Colin that we on the team last year that we were able retain – Kowacie, Niels, Myreon, Jason and CJ. I think all those guys have potential to be impactful players for us this year and then on top of that, adding the guys we did, we feel really good about our roster and the depth we have now. We’re still a little thin inside. I would say we have really good players in the front court but we’re susceptible to an injury or two of being really a big issue for us going into next year with the roster being the way it is. So, we’ll try to add one more big to give us some depth in the front court.”
