Gators' coach Todd Golden is 40-28 in his two seasons at UF after an eight-game improvement from his first season.
In Todd We Trust
Thursday, March 21, 2024 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
INDIANAPOLIS – There was Todd Golden Thursday afternoon, back at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for the NCAA Tournament. Two years ago, Golden stood on the very same floor with the University of San Francisco, a program he took over and in three seasons guided to its first NCAA berth in 24 years. There was irony in the circumstance. Some of it twisted.
"Yeah, I lost my starting big to a season-ending injury right before that one too, damn it!" Golden said.
That's a fact. The Dons that season were 24-8 and rolling when they defeated Brigham Young in second-round play of the West Coast Conference Tournament, but 6-foot-9, 240-pound standout forward Yauhen Massalski, averaging nearly a double-double, blew out his knee just days prior to the bids going out. Sound familiar, UF fans (see Handlogten, Micah)?
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]
As it turned out, 10th-seeded USF lost in overtime to seventh-seeded Murray State on March 17, 2022, in a game that was Golden's last with the Dons. Truth be told, Golden went to the tournament site that year knowing his life – his career path – would change with USF's next defeat. No fewer than five athletic directors had reached out with interest in the boyish-looking rising star with the forward-thinking, analytically based approach to the game. Three of those ADs were from the Southeastern Conference. One was Florida's Scott Stricklin, who along with his search committee had done its homework on the 36-year-old hotshot and, as aggressive suitors, went to Indy to watch Golden work, meet him in person and try to close the deal.
It all came together very fast.
Sort of like Golden's rebuild of the Florida program.
"I thought his confidence was what our program needed at the time," said UF trainer Dave Werner, who lobbied hard for Golden to his fellow committee members. "As it turned out, he's exactly what we thought we were getting."
UF coachTodd Golden is 40-28 in his two Florida seasons, with an eight-game improvement in 2023-24 that has the Gators back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three years.
Now, they're exactly where they thought they'd be going – as in back to national relevance – with Golden in charge. He was named the 21st coach in Florida history the day after the USF loss.
It took two years, but UF is dancing in March again and Golden is the guy who escorted them to the dance floor. The seventh-seeded Gators (24-11), coming off their winningest Southeastern Conference showing in seven years, will face 10th-seeded Colorado (25-10) in Friday's NCAA South Region opening-round game, scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. tip at the very same Hoosier State venue that Golden's star first rose for the college basketball world to see two Marches ago.
Stricklin and the Gators got their guy.
"When talking about Todd I use the word 'connect.' He connects with everybody," Stricklin said. "People like him and he doesn't have to work at it. There's a very easy, natural and relaxed charisma about him. It comes across when you meet him. Just like the energy behind him."
CHECKING ALL THE RIGHT BOXES
Among the prominent hires in the 2022 coaching cycle – Dennis Gates (Cleveland State to Missouri), Chris Jans (New Mexico State to Mississippi State), Matt McMahon (Murray State to LSU), Lamont Paris (UT-Chattanooga to South Carolina) and Mike White (Florida to Georgia) – Golden to Florida now ranks near the top of the list. During the search process, Golden's conviction and self-assuredness translated, first, via Zoom and was validated in person when he laid out an impressive and detailed blueprint that blew the committee away and easily vaulted him to the top of their list.
"I think everyone on the committee was really appreciative of my passion for the opportunity," Golden said. "I wasn't asking a bunch of questions about resources or what is this, that and the other. I let them know I wanted to be there and I know that when they were done talking to me it was clear I wanted that job. I just think I sold them with my positivity, my true want for the opportunity and the plan I put in front of them on how I would be successful."
Golden's first Florida team finished 16-17 and got drummed out of the NIT in the first round. Stricklin's faith never wavered.
Neither did Golden's.
"He told me he was going to get longer, more athletic and win," Stricklin said.
UF athletic director Scott Stricklin (left) identified Todd Golden as a rising star in the coaching profession and brought him to Gainesville two years ago.
But he was going to do it his way and with his type of guys. As a player, Golden was raised in the system and culture of Randy Bennett at Saint Mary's and was further engrained in those ways when he got his first assistant's post at Columbia under Kyle Smith, who was Bennett's top assistant while Golden played point guard for the Gaels. The Bennett/Smith model concentrated on finding advantages and maintaining consistency.
Golden talked about that during the interview process. He also talked about what he learned from Bruce Pearl, who gave Golden his first high-major assistant post at Auburn. Pearl's day-to-day emphasis was not on X's and O's, but on relationships. The tighter his relationships with the players, the harder they played for him.
Or as Golden explained it to the committee: "Randy and Kyle were mad scientists, but Bruce is the best program-builder in America."
CHARTING THE GATORS: Most wins by a Florida coach in program history Todd Golden checks in second on this list, with a chance to add to his number.
Golden's UF approach has elements of both. When he went about blowing up the Florida roster last spring he was honest with the handful of players he wanted to part with (four of them). Once the vacancies were there, he did a number in the transfer portal by luring four sudden-impact acquisitions – Walter Clayton Jr. (Iona), Zyon Pullin (California-Riverside), Tyrese Samuel (Seton Hall) and Handlogten (Marshall) – with four of them becoming starters (three of whom would earn All-SEC honors), and hit it out of the park with a couple of freshmen signees (Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh) who were nowhere to be found in any Top 100 prospect lists.
In mining for his type of guys, Golden went looking for size and skill, of course, but he also had a list of three core values that had to be checked: 1) Team first; 2) Be prepared, work hard; 3) Be grateful.
Golden would not, he promised, recruit bad apples.
"He said, 'I want guys who are over themselves,' " Stricklin said. "I loved that line."
A BELIEVER
The end result was a roster more aligned with Golden's preferred style of play and close-knit makeup; two high-effort, rebounding bigs on the floor at all times, surrounded by shot-making guards on the perimeter. And everybody loving each other.
That was how he won at San Francisco. That was how he told Stricklin and the committee he intended to win at Florida. That was what the UF committee observed in reviewing tape of the '22 Dons and what was confirmed when they watched them in person in Indy (yes, even without the double-double center in the lineup).
"When you watched that San Francisco team, man, the bigs just got after it and their guards were fearless with how they shot the ball and attacked the basket," Stricklin said. "Watching us this season reminded me of that San Francisco team."
So much of Todd Golden's philosophy is rooted in the importance of relationships with his players.
For sure, the way the Gators played in '23-24 made for an exciting brand of basketball. UF's 85.1 points per game is on pace to set a school record. The Gators rank 15th in the country in offensive efficiency.
But behind the scenes, Golden also pushed all the right buttons as far as fostering team chemistry.
"Players coach," said junior wing Will Richard, who was Golden's first acquisition, plucked out of the portal from Belmont in the spring of '22. "I know a lot of people say that, but he is. He's relatable. He's going to encourage. He's never down and it's easy to play for him because he wants your best interest."
Added Samuel: "He's just a guy with a lot of belief. The way he believes in his players, the confidence that he gives. He always comes with a smile on his face, whether it's a loss he'll still make us feel like it's all right."
His players, in turn, believe in him.
NO BACKING DOWN
On March 5, the Gators were smashing 13th-ranked Alabama by 18 in the final home game of the season when the two teams went to the bench for the game's last media timeout. The lights in Exactech Arena unexpectedly dimmed. Then, even more unexpectedly, Tom Petty's "Won't Back Down" began blaring through the sold-out building; a first for a UF basketball game.
As the fans swayed their cell phone flashlights and belted out the lyrics, UF associate head coach Carlin Hartman found himself taking time to soak in what was one of the most magical moments of the season.
About an hour after the game, a 105-87 blowout victory for the Gators, he sent out a tweet.
This group never ceases to amaze! We saw all the comments regarding the team photo earlier this year. The NITodd chants were loud. That's ok, we come to work as a staff everyday knowing the character of our players! Thank you Gator believers! We appreciate you! 🐊🏀 https://t.co/Pe5TUR23ck
Hartman recalled how fans mocked the Gators when its preseason team photo was posted on social media. It sickened him.
"As the adult in the room, I probably should be better than that, but guess what? We have feelings too," Hartman said earlier this week. "To make light and think it was funny that we looked a certain way? Because of the color of their skin? That that said something about our team? I mean, how 'bout giving us a chance? It just wasn't right."
Neither, Hartman said, were the social media assessments of the team following some frustrating losses, including a 1-3 start in SEC play. That one moniker that kept popping up was particularly galling.
N I T(odd)
So classy. So clever. So clueless.
Now look where the Gators are. Exactly where Stricklin and his committee believed Todd Golden would take them.
"It's everything I thought it would be," Golden said. "A place I would be very happy to be for a long, long time."
From the FloridaGators.com archives Read this long-form profile of Todd Golden, featuring more than a dozen interviews, that originally posted on Oct. 31, 2022.
