Florida basketball coach shows Golden touch in year two, authoring 8-win improvement before start of March Madness

INDIANAPOLIS – As Florida basketball took the floor for an open workout Thursday afternoon, second-year UF coach Todd Golden strode confidently and without hesitation.

Assistant coaches fanned out for drills and Golden worked his way toward the TBS broadcast crew. Players appeared loose and relaxed, with sophomore guard Denzel Aberdeen at one point sinking six 3-pointers in a row.

These Florida Gators are a reflection of their 38-year-old coach, who has authored an eight-win improvement from a season ago. Golden was rewarded with a two-year contract extension, which he signed Thursday, that will pay him an average salary of $4.1 million over the next six years.

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"Knock on wood, our program’s healthy, man." Golden said. "We have really great guys in our program. I have a really good staff. We’re on the right track. We’re in where I feel like we have a lot of room to grow still. So, yeah, we’ll just try to keep going and keep chopping wood."

Seven-seed Florida (24-11) will try to take the next step in its program's ascension when it faces 10-seed Colorado (25-10) on Friday afternoon in its Round of 64 game (4:30 p.m, TBS). Golden will coach his second NCAA Tournament, and first with UF.

A deep run in March Madness would further enhance Golden's pedigree and show recruits around the country that Florida basketball is back.

"If we do well, it’s going to be easier to continue to sell our story," Golden said. "But these tournaments, you know, we just won three games in three days. You know, this team obviously has a good understanding of how to do it, but every team we play now is really, really good. You know, Colorado, I think they’re 24 or 25 on KenPom, as a 10-seed, so they’re obviously a little under-seeded."

Florida basketball improvement part talent influx, part attitude adjustment

Florida added four starters from the transfer portal (Walter Clayton Jr., Zyon Pullin, Tyrese Samuel and Micah Handlogten) that has accounted for 59% of UF's scoring and 49.9% of its rebounding.

Handlogten is now out of the starting lineup with a broken leg but will be replaced by Alex Condon, an Australian true freshman that earned All-SEC freshman honors, averaging 7.7 points and 6.3 rebounds as UF's sixth man.

Golden and his staff were astute with their transfer and freshman evaluations, and they have meshed well on and off the court. UF's assist-to-turnover ratio of 524-412 ranks seventh in the SEC.

Beyond the talent influx, players such as UF junior guard Will Richard has noticed a different mindset in practice. Richard was a starter last season when the Gators stumbled to a 16-17 record after losing starting center Colin Castleton to a broken hand in late February.

“New players brought an impact, definitely, but the approach we had every day, I feel every day we’re trying to win the day, attacking the day and treating them all the same and just trying to get better," Richard said. "It’s definitely a new approach, new energy this year.” 

Richard described Golden as a player's coach.

"I know a lot of people say that, but he is," Richard said. "He’s relatable. He’s going to encourage. He’s never down. You just know it’s easy to play for him because he wants your best interest.”

Samuel echoed the thoughts of Richard, saying that Golden brings a belief in his players that helped UF stay together and overcome a 1-3 start in SEC play this season. UF has reeled off 13 wins in its last 18 games since.

"He always comes with a smile on his face," Samuel said. "Whether it's a loss, you know, he always makes us feel like, it's alright. Like, we're good. So, that's probably the best way I could describe him. Just giving people belief and confidence."