Mo Speights, the 38-year-old former big man who won an NBA championship with the Golden State Warriors in 2015, posted a graphic on X announcing that he’ll be suiting up for the Florida Gators once again. Speights, who won an NCAA championship with the Gators in 2007, said he had “a great conversation with coach Todd Golden” and thanks to “the new rules in place,” he had two years of eligibility remaining.
Speights was obviously joking, but the post quickly went viral since this was a direct shot at the NCAA’s ever-evolving rules and the state of college basketball. Recently, LSU head coach Will Wade tried signing R.J. Luis Jr., who played on an NBA two-way contract, which prompted some negative reactions from rival coaches and analysts.
Mo Speights Announces Return to Florida Gators to Poke Fun at the State of College Basketball
Speights posted on X that after 18 seasons away, he’d be heading back to Gainesville. He even name-dropped Golden directly.
“After 18 seasons, I will be returning to Florida with two years left to play. Man, after having a great conversation with @CoachToddGolden, 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. Go Gators!”
The post ended with laughing emojis, which confirmed he’s just mocking the system.
The timing of the post doesn’t seem like a coincidence, as LSU signing Luis has been making headlines as of late. Speights is currently the head coach at Polk State College and and he spent last season as USF’s director of player development, so he knows the NCAA rules.
Luis went undrafted in the 2025 NBA Draft, but then signed a two-way contract with the Utah Jazz and got traded to the Boston Celtics. He isn’t currently eligible to play college basketball, but he’s planning to file a lawsuit to fight for one more year of eligibility.
The NCAA granted James Nnaji, a Nigerian center who was an NBA draft pick but never appeared in a game and played for FC Barcelona in Liga ACB, four years of college eligibility.
Charles Bediako, a former G League player, tried to resume his career at Alabama, got briefly cleared via a temporary restraining order, played five games for the Crimson Tide, and was then barred from finishing the season after a judge denied his injunction request.
NCAA President Charlie Baker acknowledged the tension in a statement, saying the organization is “exercising discretion in applying the actual and necessary expenses bylaw to ensure that prospective student-athletes with experience in American basketball leagues are not at a disadvantage compared to their international counterparts.”
That’s a careful way of saying the rules aren’t equal, and everyone knows it. Speights knows it, too. Florida fell to Iowa in the second round of the NCAA Tournament this year, ending its bid for back-to-back titles, but the Gators have brought back a ton of talent and will enter next season as a favorite to win the national championship.
Speights played two seasons at Florida alongside a ridiculous collection of talent, including Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Corey Brewer, and Chandler Parsons, won a national title in 2007, and then spent 11 years in the NBA. Across 705 games, he averaged 7.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. He last suited up in the NBA in 2017-18 for the Orlando Magic.
Speight isn’t walking through that door for the Gators, but he made his point loud and clear.
