The top frontcourt in college basketball will get its first chance to defend its team’s top ranking when No. 1 Florida takes on No. 14 Miami on a neutral court in Tampa, Fla., on Monday.
The Gators led the nation in rebound margin at 14.7 per game last season. And Florida’s front wall of 6-foot-9 All-American Thomas Haugh, 6-10 Rueben Chinyelu and 7-footer Alex Condon all return in an effort to tower over the competition again this season.
The trio combined to average 43.1 points and 24.8 rebounds last season.
Over the past two campaigns, the Gators have gone 63-12 overall and 30-6 in the Southeastern Conference under coach Todd Golden. They also won the national title in 2025.
Miami will be out to continue its revival after head coach Jai Lucas arrived last season and led the Hurricanes to a 26-9 record. After a 7-24 record one season prior, when longtime head coach Jim Larranaga departed, Lucas was able to tie the NCAA record for improvement in wins from one season to the next.
“Winning 26 games, that’s not easy to do,” Lucas said. “But I do like the kids we have. I feel like we are a lot deeper than we were last season.”
Miami went nine players deep in its impressive 109-96 exhibition win over No. 24 Vanderbilt last week.
The Hurricanes are bringing back three key players from last season: Malik Reneau, Dante Allen and Shelton Henderson.
Henderson and Allen dominated large stretches of the Vanderbilt game while point guard and Villanova transfer Acaden Lewis produced 23 points, 10 assists and three steals.
Miami five-star freshman Caleb Gaskins scored 20 points on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range. Henderson, who is considered Miami’s top NBA prospect, added 17 points.
Reneau, who led the Canes in scoring last season at 18.9 points per game while earning first-team All-ACC honors, sat out the exhibition due to a lower-body injury but is expected to be ready to face Florida.
Miami’s frontcourt of Henderson, Reneau, Gaskins, Somto Cyril and Robert Miller III will have its hands full against Florida’s much-hyped unit. Miami’s group is more athletic than last season with the additions of Cyril, Gaskins and Miller. Cyril led the SEC in blocks (2.2 per game) at Georgia last season while making the conference’s All-Defense team.
For the Gators, Haugh is a projected 2027 NBA first-round pick and Condon is likely a second-rounder, while Chinyelu is the reigning Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year.
Haugh led Florida in scoring at 17.1 points, while Condon averaged 15.1 points and 7.5 rebounds. Chinyelu averaged 10.9 points and 11.2 rebounds.
In the backcourt, the Gators feature Boogie Fland, who is an elite on-ball defender, talented 3-point shooter Denzel Aberdeen and reigning SEC Sixth Man of the Year Urban Klavzar.
Fland missed Florida’s 85-68 exhibition win over Stetson on Tuesday with an illness, while Aberdeen and Klavzar combined for 46 points.
Fland, Aberdeen and Klavzar will face a Miami backcourt led by Lewis, a second-team All-Big East performer last year, fellow starter Dante Allen and transfers Nick Dorn (Indiana) and Brent Bland (Saint Peter’s).
Golden said the internal expectations are just as high as those from the outside.
“It’s really hard to be good,” Golden said. “We have a lot of expectations and pressure on us because we’re the preseason No. 1 team in America.”
–Field Level Media
