Mo Speights announces tongue-in-cheek commitment to Florida ‘after a long NBA career’
By Ethan Stone
Published:
Marreese “Mo” Speights has a few years left in him.
With an obviously tongue-in-cheek post, the former Florida basketball standout insisted on Wednesday that he will return to play for Florida head coach Todd Golden in 2026-27, making fun of the current state of college basketball recruiting.
“I’m excited to be back and have the opportunity to play again for the Florida Gators. After a long NBA career, with the new rules in place, I’ll be back on the court for the next two years.”
As if Florida’s frontcourt isn’t good enough already.
As a freshman, Speights was a member of Florida’s 2007 national championship team, sitting behind superstar Joakim Noah but playing an important role off the bench. At 6-foot-10, Speights was a monster rebounder and posted efficient numbers around the rim once he got the starting role his sophomore season.
He was selected No. 16 overall by Philadelphia in 2008 after 2 years with the Gators and went on to post a strong NBA career, most notably serving as a backup for the legendary Splash Brothers Warriors in 2014-2016.
Speights is obviously making fun of the current trend of college coaches (looking at you, Will Wade) attempting to dip into the NBA G-League for talent. LSU landed a commitment from former St. John’s star RJ Luis just the other day, despite the fact that Luis has signed 2 NBA contracts. Some targeted players — including LSU commit Saliou Niang — have even been selected in the NBA Draft.
Ethan Stone is a Saturday Down South News Editor and an advocate for the return of the Seattle Supersonics.
