Image Credit: UAA
It was a near-impossible task for the Florida Gators to replace the best trio of guards in program history coming off their national championship season, but they aimed to do exactly that by pulling off a coup and bringing sophomore guard Boogie Fland into the team last offseason. Despite battling through an up-and-down campaign and likely not achieving the results he expected going into his second year of college basketball, Fland on Thursday announced that he will return to Florida for his junior season.
The Bronx, New York, native struggled with his 3-point shot in his first year wearing orange & blue, only to become one of the Gators’ best bets inside the arc as the season progressed. Fland made his final 12 field goals from 2-point range before No. 1 seed Florida got bounced from the 2026 NCAA Tournament on Sunday, 73-72 by No. 9 seed Iowa.
He is one of four backcourt players who recently confirmed they would remain with the Gators as junior Urban Klavžar, sophomore Isaiah Brown and redshirt junior AJ Brown all made similar announcements this week.
Fland shot 57.4% from 2-point range compared to 40.8% during his freshman year at Arkansas. That countered a serious decline from his shooting rate beyond the arc (.240 from .340) and at the free-throw line (.726 from .833). He averaged two fewer points per game (11.6 from 13.5) and was less effective as a distributor (3.5 assists from 5.1), too.
Fland was able to find himself by refining his game. He went 13 of 30 from downtown (.433) over the last nine outings after going 2 of 26 (.077) over the prior 10 contests. There were nine games in which he missed four or more 3-pointers before that nine-game closing stretch, in which he only did so once.
As a freshman at Arkansas, Fland only started 18 of 21 games played due to injury. He started all 35 games for Florida and shined on the defensive end, which should carry over into his junior year. His 61 steals were the eighth-most and 121 assists were the 10th-most across a single season in program history.
Two of Fland best games of the season came over the final eight contests, including a near-flawless effort in the first round of March Madness against No. 16 seed Prairie View A&M when he hit all six of his shots, both 3-pointers and a pair of free throws for 16 points with four assists, two steals and a block.
He scored a season-high 23 points against rival Tennessee, 18 points against Florida State, 16 points at Duke, 22 points at Texas and 16 points at Kentucky — often shining in the biggest games, even when they were played on the road.
Still, coupled with inconsistent efforts from senior Xaivian Lee, guard play for the Gators left a lot to be desired in 2026, and head coach Todd Golden has no choice but to boost his team’s backcourt in 2027. Fland’s continued progression — likely with an offseason focused heavily on his shooting motion — will be a crucial part of that process.
Later Thursday, Klavžar confirmed that he, too, will return to Florida next season. Klavžar, the 2026 SEC Sixth Man of the Year, averaged 9.6 points while playing in all 35 games. He shot a team-best 40.6% from 3-point range, and his 90.3% accuracy at the charity stripe was the second-best mark across a single season in program history, just below KeVaughn Allen in 2018 (.906).
On Friday, the Brown brothers confirmed they will be back with the Gators in 2026-27. AJ did not play this season and will likely enter the next campaign with two years of eligibility remaining, while Isaiah emerged over the latter half of the season, ultimately averaging 5.5 points and 2.5 rebounds in 12.8 minutes per game across 33 appearances. He shot 34.6% from downtown (second-best on the team, minimum 20 attempts) and 73.3% from the charity stripe while developing a proficiency at attacking the basket, becoming Florida’s third primary reserve.
Isaiah is positioned to be Florida’s breakout player of 2026-27, and his on-court role should increase dramatically, potentially even leading to him joining the starting five either as a replacement at the 2 or as UF’s primary wing. He averaged 14.7 minutes over the final 15 games of the season, a notable increase in usage coming out of UF’s home loss to Auburn.
