Columbia to Hire Florida Gators Basketball Coach As Next Head Coach

The departing Florida Gators assistant coach has ties to Columbia and overlapped there with Todd Golden for a few seasons

The Gators assistant coach is heading back to the Big Apple | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

A Florida Gators men’s basketball coach is on the move. According to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, Columbia is set to hire assistant coach Kevin Hovde as their next head coach. 

Sources: Columbia will hire Florida's Kevin Hovde as its next head basketball coach.

Official announcement expected soon.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 24, 2025

After three seasons in Gainesville, he’s heading back to Manhattan. Hovde has previous ties to the Lions. He was part of their staff for five seasons before heading to San Francisco in 2016. 

At Columbia, he served first as the director of basketball operations and then as an assistant coach. 

A long stint alongside Godlen comes to an end as well. He and Golden first overlapped at Columbia from 2012 to 2014. Golden originally took over Hovde’s role as the director of basketball operations before joining him as an assistant coach. The two reunited on the west coach. Hovde and Golden both joined the Dons in 2016 - Golden was coming off a stint in Auburn under Bruce Pearl. 

Hovde spent a couple years at his alma mater, Richmond, before once against partnering up with Golden at Florida. The two have worked together for a total of nine seasons. Given that Hovde is heading to a head coaching role, this could be it for these two working together - at least for now. 

The soon-to-be Columbia head coach has seen success wherever he’s been. While coaching at Richmond, the Spiders won the Atlantic 10 and won a tournament game. Richmond notably upset Iowa to pick up the win in March Madness. 

Meanwhile, the Lions are coming off a 12-15 finish to the regular season that saw them finish 1-12 in conference play. They started off 11-2, only making the optics of the downward spiral look worse. 

The lone win in Ivy League play came in a tight bout with Brown on Feb. 8 at home. The difference between home court and road play is even more noticeable. At home, losses came by single digits. On the road, it was blowout after blowout. The Lions just never found their way in the eight seasons under Jim Engles. 

The Lions last made the tournament in 1968. However, in recent years, they have made the CIT under Kyle Smith. 

Hovde takes on the task of improving the program’s fortunes. At the very least, he’s a coach who is able to bring them back to respectability.