Why is this man smiling? You should be smiling, too

(Photo by Chris Spears)

With good reason, Todd Golden was relaxed and in a confident, not cocky, mood Wednesday morning. He spent more than 20 minutes answering questions that obviously began with the report that if Steve Kerr calls it a career with the Golden State Warriors, Golden will be first on the list that ownership contacts to make the leap from college basketball to the NBA.

“I definitely plan on coaching the Gators,” Golden answered.

And why not? In his four years at Florida, Golden has proven to be somewhat of a Da Vinci at the art of roster construction. His formula of player development combined with strategic infusions of help from the portal have brought him an NCAA championship (2025) and an SEC title (2026). The roster he’s putting together for the 2026-27 season isn’t quite finished but already it’s strong enough that CBS has the Gators ranked No. 1 in their too early poll.

Besides the good news Tuesday that Tommy Haugh was coming back, joining best buddy Alex Condon in foregoing the NBA for another shot at championship glory, Golden got further good news Wednesday morning that CJ Ingram and Viktor Mikic are signed, sealed and their return assured. Now there are only two questions but they should be answered positively relatively soon.

Denzel Aberdeen, who transferred back to Florida after a vacation to Kentucky, awaits a waiver or the NCAA voting in the 5-for-5 rule, whichever comes first. Consider the wait time merely a speed bump. He will be playing next year barring a disaster of a 40-days, 40-nights flood that engulfs the earth. Rueben Chinyelu put his name in the NBA Draft. That means the national defensive player of the year will be invited to the combine in Chicago in mid-May. He was there last year, learned enough that when implemented created a quantum leap in consistency and efficiency last season. The same flood that might keep Aberdeen from playing next year is probably the only thing that will keep Chinyelu from coming back. That and the sudden development of a 10 to 12-foot jump shot and would elevate him into the first round.

Haugh (110 career games), Condon (107) and Chinyelu (110) will give the Gators the best and most experienced front line in all of college basketball. Aberdeen, who averaged 13.5 points per game during his Kentucky hiatus, already knows the offensive and defensive schemes, plus he’s a relatively good 3-point shooter. He’s played 119 games in his career. Toss in Boogie Fland, who was jobbed when he didn’t make the All-SEC defensive team, and the Gators have a point guard whose speed while dribbling the basketball from end-to-end might be faster than anyone in the college game running without the ball.

Throw in a deep bench of SEC Sixth Man-of-the-Year Urban Klavzar, the Brown brothers (Isaiah and AJ), Ingram, Mikic, Alex Kovatchev and incoming 7-foot freshman Jones Lay and Golden not only has the most experienced roster in the country for next year, but also the deepest. Assuming Aberdeen and Chinyelu are back, the Gators will have 13 on scholarship leaving two available. Adding some more size is certainly one of the goals. Whether that is someone from the portal or a young international remains to be seen.

Another point guard is also a need although Golden indicated he expects Alex Lloyd to show dramatic improvement.

“I’m excited about Alex Lloyd,” Golden said. “I think he's going to take a big jump. Getting him through the freshman up and downs is not easy, but give him a lot of credit for sticking with it and being tough. He's already put on a lot of weight. He's getting strong.”

If not another point, it would seem another shooter would be ideal. The Gators spent the first two months of last season shooting threes like they had taken lessons from the man who developed Saddam Hussein’s SCUD missile program. They improved considerably once the Gators got to the SEC portion of the schedule.

In SEC play, Klavzar shot 43.9 percent from three while Isaiah Brown shot 41.9 percent and Haugh 35.2 percent. Although his shot samples are small, Ingram hit some threes in the final couple of weeks that seem to indicate he will help improve the team’s outside shooting. It should also be noted that AJ Brown, who took a redshirt after transferring in from Ohio U, shot 38.8 percent for the Bobcats in 2025.

“I think we'll shoot the ball better earlier and over the course of the season but I love  the collection of the team,” Golden said. “I think we'll have a really good club. I don't think 3-point shooting will be something that prevents us from getting where we want to go.”

Where the Gators want to go is back to the Final Four and a shot at another national championship. Winning it all once again has proven to be one of the key motivations to why Haugh and Condon came back, why Aberdeen wanted to transfer back to where his college career began and why it’s very likely Chinyelu will be back.

There are only so many chances you get to cut down the nets and hear “One Shining Moment” blaring while confetti falls from the ceiling. It says a lot that players like Haugh and Condon are willing to come back to school for another shot at a title and that Aberdeen wants to be a Gator once again. Chinyelu should come back again as well.

It also says plenty that only two players (Micah Handlogten and Olivier Rioux) departed for the portal, both in need of playing time that would be severely limited at Florida with so many experienced veterans returning. The young guys who came off the bench are back, which says plenty about the basketball culture that Golden has created. Winning has a lot to do with it and so does NIL money, but it goes beyond those factors. Golden has made it a priority to fill the roster with players who are willing to put team above self.

It is all part of a master plan of roster construction.

“We look at each guy in our program – we had 15 guys last year – they’re all really, really important to us, and they all play a role,” Golden said. “Externally, people watch, and they see the guys that are scoring the most, and obviously will think that they're the most important guys or whatever, but Alex Lloyd and C.J. Ingram were incredibly important pieces for us this year, and we think of those guys as being great people, great players, and guys that will be great Gators moving forward.

“Now, we have to work as coaches, and staff to kind of show them a vision and to give them something to believe in down the road. And I credit CJ. Tommy coming back makes it harder for him to get on the floor. That's just common sense. It's obvious. But CJ and Tommy are close. CJ looks at Tommy as kind of a bigger brother and I know they spoke last week prior to Tommy coming back and prior to CJ's decision to stay about what next year would look like. So when you have kind of that internal leadership and guys being on the same page, I think it makes it easier … But I think all those guys are really good players, and we wouldn't fight so hard to bring them back if we didn't think that they would be, you know, really impactful for us either this coming year or moving forward.”

These guys like being Gators. They like being teammates. They like their coaches. And they are a 5-for-5 rule change and a Chinyelu decision away from being this monstrosity of a team that on paper at least looks like one of the more powerful teams assembled in years.

“We hope Ruben's back,” Golden said. “He’s going to test and check out what's out there for him., but I’d be lying if I didn't think Tommy coming back and Condo coming back appealed to him to come back as well. Like, they're all boys and they all want to be together, so there's different variables out there. But yes, we'll be prepared to pivot if Ruben stays in the draft and the great thing is I think we have a really good group as it is. We'll probably need to add a little more size but there's nobody that's going to replace Ruben. Ruben is a pretty unique, amazing player. So it might have to be just kind of a whatever, just a different type of replacement. But again, I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping we get the big fellow back.”