Florida basketball signs Domen Petrović: Gators add second European talent this offseason

Basketball

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Image Credit: UAA

Florida Gators head coach Todd Golden is in the process of closing out his roster for the 2026-27 season, with another European addition announced on Monday. Slovenian power forward Domen Petrović, 22, has decided to continue his career playing at Florida.

Petrović (6-foot-9) averaged 16.6 points on 39.5% shooting from 3-point range, along with 6.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists this season as a professional in Slovenia. He is a former FIBA U20 teammate of Gators junior guard Urban Klavžar, the SEC Sixth Man of the Year last season.

“We are really excited to welcome Domen into our program,” Golden said in a statement. “He is a very skilled forward that has great positional size. He has shown incremental improvement every year, and he’s currently playing the best basketball of his young career. He is a high-achiever both on and off the court and will help us continue to raise the bar here at Florida!”

Last Monday, center Artūras Butajevas of Lithuania committed to join Florida. Butajevas (6-foot-10, 215 pounds) averaged 15.6 points and 7.6 rebounds playing the 2025-26 season with the U22 team Unicaja Malaga in Spain.

Petrović will likely be Florida’s final addition ahead of the season, as the program is also bringing in transfer G Denzel Aberdeen (should he receive NCAA clearance for an additional year of eligibility) and freshman center Jones Lay (Hickory, North Carolina), a 7-foot, 230-pounder who is the lone high school player joining the team.

The Gators continue to wait for a final decision from junior center Rueben Chinyelu, the lone player to test the 2026 NBA Draft waters. Guard Xaivian Lee saw his eligibility expire, while redshirt freshman C Olivier Rioux, the tallest teenager in the world, transferred to UC Irvine.

Florida is returning starting forwards junior Thomas Haugh and Alex Condon and starting sophomore G Boogie Fland, along with all of its other reserves, including sophomore G Isaiah Brown and freshman G CJ Ingram. As such, assuming Aberdeen is cleared, the Gators are expected to be the preseason No. 1 team in the nation.