Arturas Butajevas from Lithuania is headed to Florida.
Florida men's basketball has signed Arturas Butajevas from Lithuania.
Butajevas comes to Florida as a freshman for the 2026-27 season.
"We are very excited to have Arturas join our program," Florida head coach Todd Golden said. "He is a physical and athletic frontcourt player that has already proven to be highly capable during both international and youth competition. 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."
Butajevas has extensive experience with the Lithuanian national program, most recently averaging 13.9 points and 9.3 rebounds per game at the 2025 FIBA U18 EuroBasket. He had a 25-point, 16-rebound game vs. Greece.
Standing 6-foot-10, Butajevas also competed in the 2024 FIBA U17 World Cup (14.4 ppg, 11.3 rpg) and the 2023 FIBA U16 European Championship (15.6 ppg, 9.9 rpg).
Butajevas played in 2025-26 with Unicaja Malaga in Spain, where he averaged 15.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game for the U22 team.
Butajevas will play with Florida star Thomas Haugh next season. Haugh shocked the sports world when he announced he's returning to school instead of going to the NBA.
Haugh averaged 17.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game this past season for Florida while shooting 46.0% from the field, 32.6% from beyond the arc and 77.4% from the free-throw line. There was no expectation that he'd return to school.
While NIL wasn't the sole factor, Haugh will be among the highest-paid players in college basketball next season. He will earn revenue share compensation similar to what mid-first-round picks are guaranteed, in addition to lucrative true NIL and endorsement deals.
Haugh helped Florida win the NCAA championship in 2025. He has career averages of 10.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game in college.
Haugh's decision to return to Florida likely cements the Gators as the preseason No. 1 team.
"Getting this group of guys back together for one last run, they're going to have a lot of attention and notoriety, a lot of it deserved," Golden said. "We're going to have a ton of pressure, a ton of eyeballs on us this year. But it's a privilege. Use it to fuel us the right way. Can't allow it to splinter us. But we'd much rather be the hunted than the hunters. We just have to accept there's a lot of pressure that comes with that."
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