quote:
[ESPN] - Haugh, the No. 13 prospect in ESPN's Top 100 for the 2026 draft, becomes the highest-ranked prospect to announce his return to college. He is the first player since Michigan State's Miles Bridges in 2017 to opt for another year of school while projected as an NBA lottery pick.

"I think that lit a fire underneath me," Haugh said of the NCAA tournament loss. "I [didn't] want my last memory of Florida basketball to be that."

While NIL wasn't the sole factor, Haugh will be among the highest-paid players in college basketball next season. He will earn revenue share compensation similar to what mid-first-round picks are guaranteed, in addition to lucrative true NIL and endorsement deals.

The first-round rookie contract scale is tied to a given year's salary cap, with guaranteed money tied to each slot 1-30 in descending order of value. In 2025-26, the average Year 1 salary for an NBA rookie picked in the 11-15 range, where Haugh was projected, was $4,309,660 -- a number he projects to clear easily this season.

Filed Under: Florida Sports

Originally published on SECRant.com

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atltiger6487•10 days

college sports is broken. I care soooooo much less nowadays

304tiger•10 days

I liked seeing this kind of thing before NIL, though it rarely happened, but all it shows now is that the lines between college and pro sports are practically nonexistent.

Look at Moore from Oregon. Any other year, he would've jumped into the draft regardless of who was projected to take him. Now, he can make NFL rookie $ while staying in place where he knows he can perform well. He wouldn't consider staying if not for the NIL. The process is really soft IMO...

ezride25•10 days

frick it. Let’s remove eligibility requirements and make the college leagues better and more lucrative than the professional leagues. Nobody wants the salary caps and CBA’s anyway, a new day is dawning. Pay them what they’re worth.

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