GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Gators have a new men's basketball coach.
Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin announced Friday that Todd Golden has been hired.
Golden, 36, comes to Florida after three seasons at San Francisco, where he led the Dons to a 57-36 record, including a 24-10 campaign WHAT that culminated with the school's first NCAA tournament appearance since 1998.
The hire comes less than a week after Mike White left for the same job at Southeastern Conference rival Georgia.
Florida wasted little time settling on a replacement for White, sealing the deal with Golden one day after San Francisco lost to No. 20 Murray State 92-87 in overtime during the first round of the NCAA tournament.
"We're incredibly excited about bringing in Todd, who is an innovative, relationship-oriented coach, to lead our men's basketball program," Stricklin said in a statement. "Todd brings a smart and analytics-driven approach to the game and a relational approach to leadership that puts student-athletes first. He has a wide range of experience, particularly for a coach his age, and brings an outstanding track record and high level of integrity to the job."
Golden has some familiarity with the SEC, having spent the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons as an assistant at Auburn. He served as the associate head coach at San Francisco under Kyle Smith from the 2016-17 through 2018-19 seasons.
"I'm energized by the opportunity to lead an elite program at Florida, and I'm ready to get started," Golden said. "Florida has a championship-level athletic department, university and men's basketball program, and I embrace the standard of excellence at Florida and the passion of Gator nation. We couldn't be more excited about what the future holds in Gainesville."
