After a junior season filled with broken records, Rueben Chinyelu will be declaring for the NBA Draft, but retaining eligibility to return to Gainesville for his senior season.
ESPN’s most recent mock draft has the junior center going No. 57 overall in this summer’s NBA Draft.
Chinyelu also declared for the draft following the 2024-25 season, during which he started all 40 games, averaging 6 points and 6.6 rebounds. After going through the pre-draft process, he announced his decision to return to Gainesville for his junior season on May 19.
The 6-foot-10 center spent his freshman season at Washington State, averaging 4.7 points, five rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game, before transferring to Florida.
Chinyelu’s return to Gainesville for year three paid off, finishing the campaign averaging 10.9 points and 11.2 rebounds per game.
His dominant season was highlighted in the Southeastern Conference regular season awards, receiving Scholar Athlete and Defensive Player of the Year honors in addition to being named to the conference’s second and all-defensive teams.
Chinyelu asserted himself in Florida’s record books, becoming the first Gator to finish a season averaging double-digit rebounds since Bob Smyth finished the 1975-76 campaign with 12.7 boards per outing. He also set a program single-season record with 137 offensive rebounds, surpassing Dwayne Davis’ 114 offensive boards throughout the 1988-89 campaign.
“We felt like he was capable of making a jump like this, this year,” Florida head coach Todd Golden said on March 6. “He’s one of the most valuable guys out there with the way he makes teams pay on both sides of the floor.”
Against Merrimack on Nov. 21, Chinyelu recorded 21 rebounds in addition to 14 points, setting a program record during the shot-clock era. He then matched that total in UF’s 79-61 win over LSU on Jan. 20.
On Jan. 19, he was named SEC Player of the Week after recording back-to-back double-doubles against Oklahoma on Jan. 13 and Vanderbilt on Jan. 17. Against the Commodores, he logged a career-high 20 points to accompany his 10 rebounds.
Chinyelu’s record-breaking ways continued in the postseason.
In Florida’s 114-55 win over Prairie View A&M on March 20, Chinyelu recorded his 19th double-double of the season with 14 points and 13 rebounds, setting a program single-season record, surpassing Smyth’s 18 throughout the 1975-76 campaign.
“Just coming out there, doing whatever it takes to get us going, … I enjoy doing that, and I enjoy playing with these guys,” Chinyelu said postgame. “You have to value each moment because moments like this fly by real quick.”
Overall, Chinyelu's work played a crucial role in Florida leading the nation in a majority of rebounding metrics throughout the 2025-26 season.
Contact Jeffrey Serber at Jserber@alligator.org. Follow him on X @JeffreySerber.
Jeffrey is the spring 2026 men's basketball beat reporter and a second-year journalism sports & media major with a media, management and production minor. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with friends and family, and rooting for the Miami sports teams
