Former Gators among biggest names receiving fifth year of eligibility

Thanks to a series of recent court injunctions, a cohort of college basketball players earned the right to retain their eligibility under the NCAA's new age-based eligibility model. Among those to have benefited from the ruling are a trio of former Florida Gators. Sports Illustrated's Tim Capurso took a look at the 10 biggest names who were on the winning end of the injunctions, a list that included former Florida guard Xaivian Lee. "Lee is a streaky shooter, but knows how to run an offense, as he was the leading passer for the Florida Gators this past season while boasting a 2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio. He also helped form one of the better defensive backcourts in the country alongside Boogie Fland," Capurso offers. "Like Donovan Dent, Lee makes a ton of sense for Gonzaga, given the Saint-Supery-sized hole in their backcourt." The 6-foot-3-inch, 177-pound Lee had signed an Exhibit 10 contract after failing to hear his name called during the 2026 NBA Draft back in June and came off the bench in four of his five appearances during the NBA Summer League for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He averaged 6.4 points per game on 40.0% shooting from the field overall but just 21.4% from beyond the arc, while shooting a perfect 3-for-3 from the free-throw line over five games played. Now it looks like he will get one more shot to make his mark at the collegiate level. While Gonzaga appears to be his most persistent suitor, Lee has yet to make his final decision on where to play this coming season. Also included among the honorable mentions was center Micah Handlogten, who saw limited playing time in the Summer League with the Utah Jazz. In two games played, he averaged 3.0 points and 4.5 rebounds on 100% from the field on his two total attempts throughout the entire summer league while shooting 1-for-2 from the charity stripe. The towering 7-foot-1-inch, 260-pound center, who came off the bench for the Gators during his tenure in Gainesville, is one of the more coveted frontcourt additions available in the transfer portal this offseason. NC State, Ole Miss and USC represent Handlogten's current top schools after UNC signed Cameron Fens. Finally, also included among the honorable mentions is former Gators guard Riley Kugel, who played for Florida his first two collegiate campaigns before transferring to Mississippi State for his junior year and then UCF for his senior season. Like Lee and Handlogten, Kugel also played in the Summer League, suiting up for five games with the Los Angeles Clippers. The 6-foot-5-inch, 210-pound guard averaged 4.0 points on 41.2% shooting from the field — including a 44.4% clip from 3-point range — along with 0.8 rebounds and 0.2 assists in 8.1 minutes per game played. It is unclear where Kugel will use his additional eligibility in 2026-27. Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions. This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Former Gators among biggest names receiving fifth year of eligibility