GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The official start to fall practice was a few days away and Thomas Haugh was planted in a chair in the Hathcock Basketball Complex, chatting with a couple Florida teammates and watching while another group of Gators was being put through shooting drills. 
 
Always smiling, always willing to engage, Haugh nodded and exchanged pleasantries with a visitor before the subject turned (what else?) to hoops. Yet another college basketball prognosticator had posted via social media their skepticism of the 6-foot-9, 215-pound Haugh, one of the heroes of the Gators’ magical NCAA Tournament run last spring, making the switch from the power forward “4” spot he played for two years to the wing “3” position on the perimeter for his upcoming junior season. 
 

“A lot of the so-called experts, Tommy, aren’t sure you can do it.”
 
Haugh shrugged at the statement, clearly a softball. 
 
“Who cares?” he said with a grin.
 
No one in the Hathcock Basketball Complex, that’s for sure. Those cynics on the outside probably are the same folks who said the Gators had no point guard last season. How’d that work out?  
 
Suffice to say, UF coach Todd Golden and his staff have earned the benefit of the doubt (and then some) relative to roster building, especially with their work in the transfer portal. But Golden, clearly, also has a flair for making things happen on the floor (and then some), where he’s married to a two-big blueprint. The plan for Haugh eventually to move from the paint to the wing has been on the radar since they signed the skinny, bouncy, high-energy kid out of his elite Pennsylvania prep school three years ago. The comparisons to Chandler Parsons started right away.
 
And now Haugh’s development and trajectory have aligned perfectly with where the third-ranked Gators sit heading into the 2025-26 season, which they’ll open Monday night against No. 13 Arizona in the Hall of Fame Series at Las Vegas. There will be a slew of NBA scouts at T-Mobile Arena that night, all of whom are projecting Haugh as a small forward at the next level. They told Haugh as much during his brief foray last spring into the NBA evaluation process.
 
“He’s going to be a really impactful player at that spot,” UF junior forward and best buddy Alex Condon said. 
 
Haugh averaged 3.9 points and 3.7 rebounds as a 15-minute role player his freshman year, then upped those digits to 9.8 points and 6.1 rebounds, while significantly increasing his shooting percentages as a sophomore (by 9% percent from the 3-point line and nearly 34% at the foul line) when Haugh was one of the best sixth men in the country and hit some of the biggest shots during the Gators’ magical race to the title. 

In the team’s two preseason scrimmages this month, wins over Florida International and No. 17 Illinois, Haugh averaged 17.0 points and 6.5 rebounds, while shooting 61% from the floor, nearly 36% from 3, and making all seven of his free throws in his first live action at the wing position manned almost exclusively (and sensationally) the last two seasons by guard Will Richard, now with the NBA Golden State Warriors. Haugh’s long, wiry and relentless defense was still part of the package.
 
“Yeah, it does feel different because I’m out in the corner a lot, but honestly, it’s felt pretty natural,” said Haugh, who has traded the high-low action he was involved with almost exclusively as a freshman and sophomore for ball screens and face-up opportunities outside the paint in the halfcourt. “At first, it was hard just knowing where to go and finding the right spots, but I’m used to it now.” 
 
Golden said the untrained basketball eye may have a hard time seeing the difference between “Tommy the 4″ and Tommy the 3” because of the way Haugh plays. As in hard and in the middle of the action.  
 
“You’ll see a lot of the same things with Tommy that made him such an impactful, winning player last year,” said Golden, adding his standout can expect some possessions back in the post over the course of the season. “Bottom line, he’s going to be around the ball a lot. I think his effort, hustle and winning plays will be on display as often as they were before. The one difference may be his propensity for taking more perimeter shots, but other than that a lot of the same things will show up.”
 
One of the biggest differences – maybe not for Haugh, but for the team – will be the Gators having three (rather than two) members of arguably the nation’s best front court on the floor at the same time. Moving Haugh to the “3” will provide that luxury, so expect the team (at the least) to play to its bona fides as the nation’s No. 5 offensive rebounding team last season (38.5%), if not improve that ranking with a three-man mix of either Haugh, Condon, 6-11, 265-pound Rueben Chinyelu or 7-1, 265-pound Micah Handlogten on the floor a majority of minutes. 
 
“Just naturally, there probably won’t be as many defensive rebound opportunities for him because those [other two bigs] are going to be close to the rim,” Golden said. “But I think he’ll have plenty of games where he’s stuffing the stat sheet in the rebounding column.”
 
Haugh had five double-figure rebound games last season, including a career best-equaling 11 in the win over third-seeded and ninth-ranked Texas Tech in the Elite Eight. Haugh also had 20 points in that game, including four 3s, with two in the comeback from 12 down inside seven minutes to go.

In the analytics world (where Golden’s Gators not only live, but flourish), Haugh was the 13^th highest-ranked player in the country (and sixth in the Southeastern Conference) in offensive usage; a category quantified by plays that end in either a shot, assist, free throw or turnover. He was 206^th nationally in offensive rebounding percentage (10.7). 
 
Haugh finished fifth on the team in scoring, third in rebounding, fourth in steals and 3-point percentage, and third in blocks while averaging 24.4 minutes per game. This season, figure Haugh, the best-conditioned athlete on the squad, at upwards of 33-34 minutes per outing. All while playing at his usual 110 mph. 

“We expect him to be out there a lot,” Golden said. 

 

If the Gators are to be the best version of themselves, though, Haugh has to be a threat to shoot the ball from deep. He finished at 34.0% from the arc last season on 103 attempts. For context, Richard was at 35.9 on 223 attemps. So load up, young man. 

 

“Shooting is what I’ve really focused on. I have to be really comfortable shooting the ball,” said Haugh, who did the gym-rat thing all summer long, the results of which have shown up in live action. “Defenses have to respect my shot. That will open up space, get them to close out and allow me to cut and make plays.”

 

And then there’s the other end of the floor.  

The aforementioned skeptics will have a close eye on what Haugh can do defensively against more skilled face-the-basket players versus guarding a conventional low-post player. It shouldn’t be an issue. All last season, Haugh was charged with switching in the halfcourt when matched against players at the “1” through “5” spots. With his size, athleticism and effort, he’s capable of guarding all of them.
 
“I’ll just take it all as a challenge,” he said. “Some guys will be quicker, some guys will be bigger. I’m good with all of it.”
 
Perfect answer. Because his team is banking on Haugh being really good – if not great – in his new role. 
 
Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu Find his story archives here.