Gators G CJ Ingram Announces Plans for 2026-27 Season

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- At long last, Florida Gators freshman guard CJ Ingram has announced his future plans. Ingram, relegated to a reserve role last season, will return to Florida, he announced on Wednesday on social media.

Ingram's announcement comes fresh off forward Thomas Haugh's announcement that he is returning to Florida for his senior season and a day after the window to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal officially closed. Ingram has three years of eligibility remaining.

let’s do it!!🐊 pic.twitter.com/2KoZXShm9X
— CJ Ingram (@IngramCj_) April 22, 2026

Initially one of Florida's first players off the bench, Ingram was relegated to a reserve role as he continued to acclimate to the college level and as Isaiah Brown emerged as a consistent contributor off the bench. Appearing in 21 games, Ingram averaged 2.2 points per game, but saw his best moments at the end of the season.

In the Gators' home finale against Mississippi State, Ingram scored eight points and recorded three asssists and two rebounds off the bench in an expanded role as Haugh missed the game due to injury. He followed that up with an eight-point, three-assist outing in Florida's blowout win over Prairie View A&M in the NCAA Tournament Round of 64.

"I'm really proud of CJ Ingram, you know, a guy that hasn’t gotten a lot of time this year," Golden said after the win over Mississippi State. "We told him he had to be ready tonight with Tommy not being able to play, and I think we put him in when we were down either 8 or 10 in the 1st half and he was a plus, I think he was +21 in the 1st half or something like that, which was absolutely fantastic, and really proud of him getting ready the way he was."

Ingram's announcement is the latest in roster moves for the Gators heading into the 2026-27 season.

As it stands, Florida has retained Haugh, star big Alex Condon, starting guard Boogie Fland, Brown, guard AJ Brown, guard Alex Lloyd and guard Alex Kovatchev while also receiving a commitment from transfer guard Denzel Aberdeen out of the transfer portal. Aberdeen, a member of Florida's national championship team two seasons ago, is waiting on a waiver decision from the NCAA for another year of eligibility.

Florida also signed 7-foot center Jones Lay in its high school class.

Meanwhile, Florida is set to lose centers Micah Handlogten and Olivier Rioux to transfer, and star center Rueben Chinyelu has declared for the NBA Draft while retaining the option to return to Florida next season. Chinyelu has until May 27 to make his final decision on his future with the Gators.

Sign up for our free Florida Gators newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news!

Add us as a preferred source on Google