Todd Golden: "I will not let you down"

“We were recruiting against Gonzaga, BYU and Saint Mary’s, all the top programs on the west coast. We had no facilities, no practice facility. We didn’t have a dedicated academic counselor so we had all these challenges but we were still able to navigate through it and build a top 20 team in the country last year.” – Todd Golden, University of Florida basketball coach

When Todd Golden reflects on what he did in his three years as the head coach at the University of San Francisco, he can’t help but gush with appreciation for the opportunity that was afforded him three years ago when he was 33 years old with no head coaching experience. He went 57-36 in three years, took the Dons to their first NCAA Tournament in 25 years and he did it with only a fraction of the advantages he has now as the head coach at the University of Florida.

When asked if it’s like going from Motel 6 to a suite at the Ritz Carlton, Golden grinned and replied, “I think that’s a decent way to describe it.” In saying that, Golden isn’t taking a shot at San Francisco but it is indeed like comparing apples to oranges. San Francisco is a small Catholic school with a small campus and a cramped 5,300-seat gym that was built in 1958. USF plays in the West Coast Conference, a nifty basketball-oriented league that most only know because its bell cow – Gonzaga – perennially makes deep runs in the NCAA Tournament. BYU is the league’s only football school but that comes to an end soon since the Cougars are off to the Big 12 where there will be more money and more exposure in a football-crazed conference that plays a high profile brand of basketball (three Big 12 teams in the Sweet 16).

At Florida, the facilities are infinitely better and because it’s a football school that is part of the Southeastern Conference, the best collegiate sports league in the country with huge money resources, Golden knows this is an unprecedented opportunity to restore Florida to a championship level. As the hierarchy of college basketball changes with iconic coaches like Roy Williams and Mike Kyrzyzewski riding off into the sunset soon to be followed by many others, Golden is considered one of the new wave of young coaches that will take the game into the next era. There was no shortage of suitors for Golden, who chose Florida because there is a championship pedigree and high expectations. He believes UF is a place where championships still can and should be won.

Billy Donovan brought championship basketball to the University of Florida. He won six Southeastern Conference championships, took the Gators to seven Elite Eights, four Final Fours and two NCAA championships in 19 years on the job. Those are Hall of Fame numbers and they raised the expectations of the entire Gator Nation, which considers itself championship starved after the last seven years with Mike White at the helm. Although he’s never come right out and said it, the pressure of high expectations had plenty to do with Mike White leaving Florida for Georgia, a place where the expectations are significantly lower and tradition is almost non-existent.

Golden doesn’t have a problem with high expectations. If anything, he embraces them. He wants to win championships and he wants to recruit players who expect to play on championship teams.

“Honestly, at a place like this they should have high expectations,” Golden said. “Like I mentioned, there's everything you need here to be really, really good and if they didn't have those championship aspirations and expectations, if Scott [Stricklin, athletic director] didn't want to do that, that would concern me. If he didn't think, hey, Todd, I expect you to compete to win SEC Championships, to do those things, or I just want you to be middle of the pack, that would have concerned me. I want those expectations. We're going to do everything we can to get there.”

In seven years on the job, White got the Gators in the postseason five times (three NCAA, two NIT) but only once (2017) did he get the Gators past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. That Elite Eight team in 2017 was the only one that went through a season with fewer than 10 losses. While Gator fans could appreciate that White-coached teams always played hard and that there wasn’t a hint of a scandal, the style of play was borderline boring. This is an era of offensive innovation in basketball, but Florida basketball was known for too many people standing around, too many SCUDS fired up from beyond the 3-point line and way too many turnovers.

In his first team meeting upon arriving in Gainesville, Golden made it abundantly clear how the offense is going to change.

“Very rarely will we have any less than four guys on the court that can dribble, pass, and shoot at an insanely high level,” he said.

The shooting part probably got the attention of the entire Gator Nation that grew frustrated with the lack of consistency from the outside. In White’s seven years at UF, the Gators lost 52 games that were decided by two or fewer possessions. Two or three made shots in each of those losses would have made all the difference in the world.

So could a few extra rebounds.

“The team I think was around 30.5 percent from the year on three, and the way that I like to play that's simply not going to be good enough,” Golden said. “We're going to have to go out and shoot the ball better to achieve the goals we want to achieve. Also, defensive rebounding. That was an area that was surprising to me when evaluating the team and the roster that they didn't have a lot of success in because I think the pieces are there, and I think the talent is there in terms of being able to get on the glass. I think if we can lift those two areas up a couple of pegs and stay consistent and get better in other areas, we should be back in the tournament next year.”

Lifting those two areas will require a roster makeover. There were six seniors who played in the 2021-22 season, four of which (Colin Castleton, Tyree Appleby, Anthony Duruji and Myreon Jones) all have the option to return because of the NCAA COVID season rule. There are six underclassmen scheduled to return, but with the transfer portal, they could all seek a new place to play. Malik Reneau, a 5-star power forward recruit from Montverde Academy, has asked out of his letter of intent. Center Jalen Reed and combo guard Denzel Aberdeen are still signed, but they also could ask out of their scholarships.

Golden’s commitment is to “build a fence” around the state of Florida to keep high-level talent in the state. That, he says, is a recruiting necessity. The transfer portal is another option to find plug and play types who can fill an immediate need. At San Francisco Golden used the portal for half his roster. Another seven players were internationals. There is a lot of overseas talent playing in the West Coast Conference and that’s an area Golden says the Southeastern Conference schools have neglected.

At this point, however, Golden’s top priority is to re-recruit at least one of the players on Florida’s roster. Colin Colin Castleton averaged 16.2 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.2 blocked shots per game last year while earning second team All-SEC honors for the second straight year. Castleton played the entire season with a torn labrum that will require surgery. There is no way to speed up the rehab process from the surgery so Castleton won’t be able to work out for NBA teams prior to the draft.

That is an opening that Golden believes could work out in Florida’s favor.

“Colin is a guy that I’ve spent a lot of time with over the past couple of days,” Golden said. “I’m trying to work to see if he has a desire to come back and use his extra year. The great thing is I have a great test case for him from my time at San Francisco because my point guard (Jamaree Bouyea) this past year was a guy that took advantage and used his fifth COVID year. He ended up having 36 points in the NCAA Tournament and will end up getting drafted now. It’s something that I can really easily explain to Colin and paint a picture of. He was intrigued by it. I’m hopeful these conversations go the right way and regardless, I want what’s best for him.

“I’ll work hard to see what he wants to do, but again, being in a new program with a new cast it has to make sense for both sides. He’s got to be comfortable. He’s got to be excited about it.”

No matter who is on the Florida roster next year, the players will be expected to live by a set of non-negotiable three core values that Golden will not compromise. He understands that Lon Kruger, Billy Donovan and Mike White all ran clean programs for which there was never a hint of an NCAA scandal, which can’t be said about SEC brethren LSU, Alabama, South Carolina and Auburn.

The best way to keep the program on the up and up is to recruit the right way and once kids are on campus, hold them to high standards.

“Number one, we're going to have the team first,” Golden said. “Every decision that me, my staff, and our student-athletes make is going to be for the greater good of the program and the team. Unselfishness is key to me.

“Secondly, and this one is pretty simple, but I expect our guys to be prepared and work hard. That's just not from a basketball standpoint or a weightlifting standpoint, that's from an academic standpoint. That's from going out into the community and being with people. I expect us to be prepared and always ready for the challenge.

“Lastly, I expect my student-athletes as well as my staff to have an attitude of appreciation. This is one of the best programs in the country. This is one of the best institutions in the country. We have everything we need here, and I won't take anything less than guys being super grateful for being a part of it.”

The word appreciation sticks out. Golden said it several times during his press conference. He comes to Florida from a place that gave him an opportunity when he was young and untested. He appreciates the faith the people at San Francisco had in him just as he appreciates the faith Scott Stricklin and the University of Florida have that he is the right coach to lead the Gators moving forward.

When Florida came calling, Golden already knew this was the kind of place he wanted to be. From his time as a point guard at Saint Mary’s at the same time the Gators were winning back-to-back national championships to the time spent as Bruce Pearl’s assistant at Auburn (2014-16), he knew all about the Gators and had a pretty good idea about Gainesville. Talking to Billy Donovan for 30 minutes Saturday, Golden knew he had found a place to call home for his wife Megan and two kids, Jake and Madison.

In addition to letting Golden know that he would always be available to help in any way possible, Donovan also made it a point to emphasize that Gainesville is still home and will always be. That was a selling point for a coach who wants to be in one place well after his young children graduate from high school many years from now.

Megan and the kids will settle in to a new home and while they’re adjusting to a new place to call home, Golden will hire assistant coaches and support staff – Stricklin says whatever he needs he’ll get it – and figure out how much of a roster rebuild he will have to do. Recruiting will be a priority and he will be selling whoever is willing to listen on a vision for Florida basketball in the future.

“I’ll try to explain it, you should expect to see a big, strong deep roster that has a lot of skilled and unselfish players that are willing to put the team in front of themselves,” Golden said. “Foundationally, we always strive to be elite in three areas: Defensively, rebounding, and taking care of the basketball. If we're able to do that, it will raise our floor and give us a great chance to be really successful and eliminate any unnecessary volatility we might have.”

If the Gators do those things, they will also raise the expectations of the fan base. Those high expectations had plenty to do with White leaving for Georgia. His 142-88 record was cause for anxiety among the Gator Nation. If he can repeat that at Georgia, he’ll be a conquering hero.

At Florida, however, Todd Golden far beyond 142-88. He envisions a basketball program that can be mentioned in the same breath as some of the college game’s bluebloods. When Billy Donovan was laying the foundation for championship success, he asked recruits this simple question: Why not us? Why not Florida?

Why not indeed. Todd Golden will be asking that question a lot in the weeks, months and years ahead. All the best plans in the world require the effort to make them reality and he’s ready to put in whatever work is necessary for his plans to succeed.

He only wanted an opportunity and now he has it.

“I really appreciate you guys for your belief in me and I will not let you down,” Golden said.

The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu wrote, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Todd Golden’s words Wednesday were the first step on his thousand-mile journey. If it’s a typical journey, there will be bumps in the road, but there is something about this 36-year-old coach that compels you to believe that no bump in the road or obstacle will prevent him from making the journey both memorable and successful.