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Thomas Haugh meets his idol Tim Tebow at The White House

On3 imageby:Zach Abolverdi•05/22/25•

ZachAbolverdi

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Thomas Haugh and Tim Tebow at The White House. (Photo by Maddie Washburn/@GatorsMBK)

Thomas Haugh grew up a Florida fan in Pennsylvania and his favorite player was Gator Great Tim Tebow. On Wednesday, Haugh met his childhood idol at The White House.

The UF men’s basketball team made the trip to Washington, D.C., to be recognized for the 2025 national championship and Tebow was in attendance at the celebration.

Florida strength and conditioning coordinator Victor Lopez shared a video to social media of Haugh and Tebow meeting for the first time.

Trump recognizes Haugh, Tebow

President Donald Trump mentioned both Haugh and Tebow during his speech on Wednesday. As Trump recapped Florida’s comeback win over Texas Tech, he discussed Haugh’s performance — which earned him a spot on the West Regional All-Tournament team — and also complemented his hair.

“The Elite Eight brought a face-off with Texas Tech, down by 9 with under four minutes left, Florida responded with a furious rally, led by sophomore Thomas Haugh, who made back-to-back 3-pointers. Back-to-back,” Trump said. “He’s got good hair, too. Nice hair. He’s got no hair loss problem. I can tell you. Thomas was on full display as he earned his fourth double-double of the season by recording 20 points and 11 rebounds against the Red Raiders and with an 84-79 victory over Texas Tech. You punched your ticket to the Final Four. Not easy to do.”

Haugh averaged 9.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game during the 2024-25 season. He decided to return for his junior year on April 24 and will start at small forward next season.

Trump also gave a shoutout to Tebow at The White House, taking a dig at his time with the New York Jets and making the argument that he’s the greatest college football player of all-time.

“A very special thanks to the NFL legend, University of Florida legend. One of the greatest players I’ve ever seen,” Trump said of Tebow. “I’ll tell you what, as a college player, maybe the best ever and you did damn well in the pros too. He was great, despite being on the Jets. You did damn well. Come on up here Tim Tebow. He’s a terrific guy. Boy, he was a winner. You won two and you almost won a third. Nobody did that. He goes down really as one of the best, maybe the best college football player if you think about. We can only base it on the results, which is all that counts. Great guy, too.”

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