Done deal. Florida basketball coach Todd Golden signs 2-year extension on eve of 2024 NCAA Tournament

INDIANAPOLIS — Florida basketball coach Todd Golden signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday that will increase his average salary to $4.1 million over the next six years of the deal, which in whole is worth $24.6 million.

Golden has led the Florida Gators to a 40-28 record in two seasons. He entered the 2023-24 season as the third-lowest paid coach in the SEC but earned the raise by guiding the Gators to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2021

Golden's new salary makes him tied for the 14th highest paid coach nationally (with UCLA's Mick Cronin) and the seventh-highest paid coach in the SEC, behind Arkansas' Eric Musselman ($4.25 million), Texas A&M's Buzz Williams ($4.49 million), Alabama's Nate Oats ($4.53 million), Tennessee's Rick Barnes ($5.7 million), Auburn's Bruce Pearl ($5.72 million) and Kentucky's John Calipari ($8.5 million).

Seven-seed Florida (24-11) will open 2024 NCAA Tournament play on Friday against 10-seed Colorado (25-10), (4:30 p.m., TBS)

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Golden has brought an exciting, up-tempo brand of basketball as well, as Florida currently ranks sixth nationally in scoring at 85.1 points per game. It resulted in six sellouts at the O'Connell Center this season.

UF benefitted heavily from the evaluations of Golden and his staff in the transfer portal, as the Gators added three transfers who earned All-SEC honors this season. Point guard Zyon Pullin (UC Riverside) was a first-year, All-SEC coaches selection, guard Walter Clayton (Iona) earned coaches All-SEC second team honors and center Tyrese Samuel (Seton Hall) earned AP All-SEC second team honors.