Rueben Chinyelu has pulled out of the 2026 NBA Draft to return to the University of Florida, the school announced on its men’s basketball Twitter account.
Chinyelu started all 35 games for the Gators this past season, averaging 10.9 points, 11.2 rebounds and 1.0 blocked shots per game. He made 58.4 percent of his field-goal attempts and 69.5 percent of his free throws.
Chinyelu was named the National and SEC Defensive Player of the Year. He was also a second-team All-SEC selection, helping UF to a 27-8 straight-up record and a 19-16 against-the-spread mark.
However, Todd Golden’s top-seeded team was upset by ninth-seeded Iowa 73-72 in a Round-of-32 matchup in Tampa. Chinyelu had his worst game of the season against the Hawkeyes – by far.
Chinyelu was limited to only 19 minutes of playing time due to foul trouble and ineffectiveness. He was held scoreless for the only time all year and had a season-low one rebound. He had at least four rebounds in every other game and produced double-digit rebounding efforts 23 times.
Chinyelu led Florida to a 98-94 win at Vanderbilt on Jan. 17. He produced 20 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots.
Chinyelu, a native of Nigeria who honed his skills at the NBA Academy Africa, began his collegiate career at Washington St., starting 12 times in 35 games for the Cougars during the 2023-24 campaign. He has started 75 games in a row for the Gators since then.
In 40 games for UF during its run to a national championship in 2024-25, Chinyelu averaged 6.0 points and 6.6 RPG. He averaged 5.3 points and 7.0 RPG in six games during the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
In 24 minutes of playing time during an 87-71 win over Maryland South Region semifinals, Chinyelu had 10 points and eight rebounds before fouling out. He had three points, five boards and one blocked shot in UF’s 65-63 win over the Houston in the finals.
According to long-time Florida beat writer Chris Harry, the Gators are returning 91.3 percent of their front court rotation scoring and 81.1 percent of its rebounding. UF is now returning four starters, including Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon and Boogie Fland.
Xaivian Lee is the only starter UF has lost. Reserve center Micah Handlogten is also gone, entering the transfer portal and seeking a waiver for another year of eligibility.
Arkansas appears to be the front-runner for Handlogten’s services if the NCAA grants him another season.
As of last week, FanDuel had Florida, Duke and Michigan as +700 co-favorites to win the 2027 NCAA Tournament. As of early this afternoon, the book had adjusted the Gators to +600 ‘chalk.’
The next-shortest odds belonged to Duke (+700), Michigan (+750) and UConn (12/1).