Todd Golden’s Florida have gotten a good news from the draft. Their SEC defensive player of the year from last season is returning to play his senior year. Rueben Chinyelu has decided to withdraw from the NBA draft. 6’11 Nigerian center was projected to be one of the late first round picks or early second round.
He impressed many in his NBA draft combine. He was measured at 6’9.25 without shoes, 259 lbs, 9’3.5 standing reach, 30.5″ no-step vertical, 33″ max vertical. The most impressive measurement among those was his wingspan of 7’7.5. This was one of the longest in the draft class. He displayed athleticism, defense and running of the highest order.
However, there was one stat in which he did not excel. In fact, he was far from a top display. Chinyelu shot just 11/25 from deep in the combine. This had people doubting whether or not he can be a first round pick at the draft. Not only doubts, but some were worried as well. Hilariously, another returning Florida star Thomas Haugh made fun of his teammate.
Haugh talked about supporting Chinyelu through his NBA draft process. He recalled texting Rueben and had a couple of chats talking about his draft combine numbers. “We got a good gauge that he did want to come back with a couple weeks to go and stuff. Then he kinda scared us a little bit, went out there and worked out a little bit. Then he started shooting the three ball,” Haugh joked.
Todd Golden welcomes back Thomas Haugh
Both Thomas Haugh and Rueben Chinyelu withdrew from the NBA draft and are set to return for their senior season with the Florida Gators. Both star players aim to work on their skills, and are ambitious for a good first round pick in next year’s draft.
Todd Golden has a stacked roster for next season. Alex Condon, Boogie Fland, Urban Klavzar and Denzel Aberdeen are some of the options for the starting five. Domen Petrovic, Arturas Butajevas, Jones Lay, CJ Ingram and Alex Lloyd complete the talented roster.
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