Todd Golden: Florida Gators 'A Little Ahead' in Program Rebuild Process
Photo: Gators head coach Todd Golden; Credit: Zach Goodall
Florida basketball ascended one more rung up the ladder on Wednesday night.
Thanks to a career-best 28-point, 10-rebound showing from forward Tyrese Samuel, the Florida Gators (20-8, 10-5 SEC) bested Missouri 83-74, reaching 20 wins in the 2023-24 campaign. It's the first time since 2017-18 that the Gators have eclipsed the coveted mark, a testament to the program's upward trajectory under Todd Golden amid his second year in control.
As a result, following the milestone win, Golden reflected on the current state of men's hoops at the University of Florida relative to his preconceived expectations.
He paused briefly before offering a large-scale evaluation of his unit 712 days removed from being hired to assume the reins of the once prolific program, before referencing the rebuilding processes of other thriving SEC coaches like Bruce Pearl at Auburn, Rick Barnes at Tennessee, Nate Oats at Alabama, John Calipari at Kentucky and Buzz Williams at Texas A&M.
"That's a tough question," Golden stated. "I think we're maybe a little ahead. I would have hoped to make the tournament this year, but you go and look at the coaches in this league that have had a lot of success, it takes a while to get good.
"I think Bruce's first tournament team was Year 4. I think Rick Barnes' first tournament team was Year 3. Nate's was Year 2. Cal was Year 1. I think Buzz was 4 or 5. It's really hard, especially with how good the league is at the top with Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky."
This season, the Gators have been on the cusp of contending with the league's elite.
Despite holding a 2-4 combined record against the five opponents Golden named — although a home matchup against Alabama remains — Florida's controlled the rest of the competition to sit at 10-5 in league play while producing one of the nation's top 30 resumes in the country.
UF rests at No. 24 in the AP Poll, No. 28 on KenPom and No. 33 in the NET rankings with three games remaining. The squad's dominated the competition it's supposed to, holding just one loss in 18 matchups against Quad II-IV opponents on the season (at Ole Miss), and has notched three Quad I wins (Pittsburgh, at Kentucky and vs. Auburn).
The Gators have proven their fortitude throughout the year, and are on a promising path to surpass the goal the head coach set out for his squad before the season commenced: return to the NCAA Tournament field.
Accordingly, they're ahead of schedule through Golden's lens.
"It's not that easy to break into that mix, especially considering every single one of those programs that I just mentioned, their coach has been there for a long time and they have very sustained programs and sustained success. So for us to be in that equation, yeah, I think we're a little ahead of where we 'should be' in Year 2."
Florida is, indeed, in the mix. But being at the party of the league's elite once isn't enough for Golden. He wants to sit at the head of the proverbial dinner table this year, and for years to come.
"But what does that matter? Like, what does it mean?" he asked when wrapping up his brief state of the program address. "We're gonna be judged on how we finish the year anyways and you'll forget we ever had this conversation."
Despite Golden's dismissiveness, the job he's done to quickly flip the Gators into a tournament-level squad and darkhorse candidate to steal an SEC crown with a run in Nashville is commendable beyond the present.
After a 16-17 finish in year one, the 38-year-old has flipped the script. His drastically retooled roster vies for a top-four finish in league play and, thus, a coveted double-bye in the conference tournament.
On the path to achieving the feat post-Missouri, Florida turns its attention to a road contest against No. 18 South Carolina on Saturday at noon ET. The Gamecocks operate under similar circumstances, considerably outplaying expectations this season to realize a year-two surge under Lamont Paris.
As a result, significant conference tournament seeding implications loom in the clash of unexpected SEC titans.
But, Florida ultimately has greater short- and long-term objectives in mind.
"I'm pleased, but I'm definitely not satisfied with where we're at."
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