Florida Gators' Rueben Chinyelu withdraws from NBA Draft, likely cements UF as preseason number one

The Florida Gators basketball program got some big news on Thursday afternoon, both literally and figuratively.

The 2026 regular season SEC champs announced that their 6-foot-10 starting center, Rueben Chinyelu, would be forgoing the NBA Draft in favor of returning to Gainesville for his final season of eligibility.

Chinyelu, who won SEC and Naismith Defensive Player of the Year honors this past season and was a second-team All-SEC selection, was projected to go anywhere from the tail...