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Pete ThamelESPN
The University of Florida is targeting San Francisco’s Todd Golden as the school’s next basketball coach, a source told ESPN. Expect the sides to move quickly with San Francisco’s season over after losing in the NCAA tournament on Thursday night.
Golden, 36, led San Francisco to the school’s first NCAA tournament bid since 1998. He led the Dons to a 24-10 record this season, which included a No. 10 seed in the NCAA tournament. San Francisco fell to No. 7 Murray State 92-87 in an overtime thriller in Indianapolis on Thursday night.
In three seasons at San Francisco, Golden compiled a 57-36 record. That included an upset of then-No. 4 Virginia in November 2020.
The qualities that attracted him to Florida officials included his ability to innovate and connect with players, fitting the mold of other young and hungry coaches who’ve had success there. Golden impressed Florida officials with his fluency in analytics. Golden learned under noted analytic maestro Kyle Smith, who is now the coach at Washington State.
Golden’s career before taking over at San Francisco in 2017 included assistant coach stops at San Francisco, Auburn and Columbia. The stop at Auburn gives him familiarity in the SEC, as he served both in an operations role and as an assistant coach there from 2014 to 2016.
Golden’s San Francisco team this year built an identity as a rugged defensive team, ranking in the Top 25 in KenPom statistics in overall defense (adjusted for efficiency), average defensive possession length and 3-point defense. San Francisco’s wins this season included Arizona State, UAB and Davidson.
In the WCC, Golden went up against top-flight coaches like Mark Few (Gonzaga), Randy Bennett (Saint Mary’s), Herb Sendek (Santa Clara) and Mark Pope (BYU). That’s something that will carry over to an SEC that’s establishing itself as a go-to destination for top coaches.
Golden is from Phoenix, walked-on at Saint Mary’s to play for Bennett and worked his way to becoming a scholarship player and team captain. He played professionally for two seasons for Maccabi Haifa in Israel’s top division.
Golden would take over for Mike White, who plateaued at Florida after some early success and left for Georgia last week after going 142-88 in seven seasons. White replaced Billy Donovan, who won two national titles there and was the best coach in school history.
Florida is one of the six SEC jobs to open this offseason. Georgia, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Missouri and LSU all moved on from their coaches.