At 39 years old, Todd Golden is in a league of his own after leading Florida basketball to its third championship in program history.
For just the third time in NCAA Basketball Division I history, a coach under the age of 40 led his team to a national championship. Todd Golden did that on Monday, as Florida basketball came back and held on in the final moments, topping Houston, 65-63, for the 2025 National Championship.
Golden is the youngest coach to win the natty in the 64-team bracket.
“I’m super proud, obviously,” said Golden. “But I’m just a piece of this puzzle.”
Of course, Golden is referring to the puzzle that is Florida basketball. A team made up of zero 5-star recruits, led by 0-star recruit and fifth-year senior star Walter Clayton Jr. It’s not necessarily a rag-tag bunch but in the transfer portal era, Florida decided to key in on mid-major talents in hopes they could develop into stars at the power conference level.
That idea turned out to be a pretty bright one. Clayton (Iona), Alijah Martin (FAU), and Will Richard (Belmont) formed a big three of scoring stars that upped their games from the mid-major level to the SEC. Clearly, either we were all sleeping on them, or the Florida basketball staff did something right, because their leadership led the Gators to their third national championship.
While Golden likes to deflect the praise to his players, it’s silly to think he didn’t have a major role in this Florida basketball championship. After coming over from San Francisco, in only his third year with the program, they’re on top of the college basketball world. Stuff like that doesn’t just happen overnight, and it didn’t for Golden – but it did happen pretty quickly.
“My staff, been together three years, worked incredibly hard to help get our players to this point, said Golden. “How our guys have played together and for each other all year. Because of that, we can call each other national champions for the rest of our lives.”
It’s tough to call this a fluke. Florida basketball beat two 1 seeds in San Antonio, taking down the top talent on the biggest stage. Both teams – Auburn and Houston – boasted some incredible defense. But it didn’t matter in the end.
“Houston was guarding us great,” said Clayton. “We have multiple guys on this team that can go. Tonight was one of those nights with Will. He showed it multiple times this year. Never know whose night it’s going to be, and we showed that as a team.”
Of course, Will Richard’s 18 points led the way in the finals, despite Clayton taking Final Four Most Outstanding Player.
But the real mastermind? Todd Golden. Even if he won’t admit it, getting a bunch of young players to buy in – when you’re not to much older than them yourself – is a major accomplishment. And getting them to continue to buy in and fight through the adversity of March Madness shows poise. Poise far beyond his years.
“Give credit to coach Golden and Florida,” said Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson. “They’re a very worthy champion.”
Worthy, indeed. And worthy of potentially more championships in the future.
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