Gators Men's Basketball Adds European Big Man to 2026-27 Roster

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- The Florida Gators men’s basketball team added to its roster on Monday, signing Lithuanian big man Arturas Butajevas, according to a statement from the university. He joins the program as a freshman.

Butajevas (6-10) played his basketball last year in Spain, suiting up for Unicaja Malaga’s under-22 team. He averaged 15.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game for them in 2025-26.

“He is a physical and athletic frontcourt player that has already proven to be highly capable during both international and youth competition,” Gators head coach Todd Golden said. “He is a hard worker who will fit seamlessly within our program upon arrival. We are looking forward to him arriving and starting workouts with our team this summer."

let's goooo

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— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) April 27, 2026

He has also appeared for the Lithuanian national program. The European big man posted 13.9 points and 9.3 rebounds per game at the 2025 FIBA U18 EuroBasket event. One of his best games from the tournament was when he produced 25 points and 16 rebounds against Greece.

The new Gator also participated in the 2024 FIBA U17 World Cup and 2023 FIBA U16 European Championship.

Florida bringing in Butajevas helps provide frontcourt depth for next season. Having already lost Micah Handlogten to the transfer portal and Rueben Chinyelu to the NBA draft process, the only returning bigs are Alex Condon and Viktor Mikic.

Arturas Butajevas pic.twitter.com/tsTIYO7BEA
— JD (@Smooth189) April 20, 2026

He and Tabor City (N.C) Moravian Prep three-star center Jones Lay are the two incoming freshmen big men this offseason. The only other incoming player is former Kentucky Wildcat guard Denzel Aberdeen.

A reason there has been little transfer portal movement from the Gators this offseason is because of Golden’s retention from last year’s roster.

Star forward Thomas Haugh headlines the returning Gators from last season. Haugh’s decision caught many off guard this offseason, as he was considered a first-round pick in the upcoming NBA Draft.

“I think any time you can build and maintain your roster internally, it's the way to do it,” Golden said this offseason. “It's not easy to do every year. After our first year, we had to get, like, eight guys out of the portal or whatever, and that's just what that called for. But this year's team, like, we felt like, if we could get continuity, that we'd be in really good shape.”

With Haugh coming back for his senior year, he is certainly in the mix for both the National Player of the Year and SEC Player of the Year awards.

Condon and Mikic join Haugh in the frontcourt, while guards Boogie Fland, Urban Klavzar, Alex Lloyd, Isaiah Brown, AJ Brown, Alex Kovatchev and CJ Ingram are also back for another year.

Having this familiarity and continuity has the Gators sitting at the top among many way-too-early preseason rankings.

One more move that would guarantee them being the consensus No. 1 entering the 2026-27 season is getting Chinyelu back in the fold. While he is considered a fringe second-round pick, there are no guarantees that he will return for his senior campaign.

“We'll be prepared to pivot if Rueben stays in the Draft,” Golden said. “And the great thing is, I think we have a really good group as it is, like, we'll probably need to add a little more size, and you can't – there's nobody that's going to replace Rueben. You know, Rueben's a pretty unique, amazing player. So it might have to be, you know, just kind of a, whatever, just a different type of replacement.

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