Todd Golden ‘Planning’ to Coach Florida Next Season
In the midst of a chaotic transfer portal, alongside players signing new NIL deals and managing declarations for the NBA draft, Florida basketball’s Todd Golden had a lot on his plate for a coach in the month of April. Then, on Monday morning, another wrench flew into Golden’s hectic offseason.
Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor reported that the Golden State Warriors will pursue, fittingly, Golden should current coach Steve Kerr not sign a new contract in the coming weeks. So on Wednesday morning, Golden threw on his best Gators polo and addressed the media at the UF Women’s Club to address the rumors.
“That’s an interesting question,” he said sarcastically through a chuckle from the room. His verdict: “I’m definitely planning on coaching the Gators.”
Golden’s buyout is only $2 million if he leaves for the NBA, compared to $11 million if he were to sign with another college program. His previous experience at San Francisco drew an immediate tie to the Warriors, along with former Gators Will Richard and Al Horford – one of which he coached – being on the Warriors’ roster. But those rumors came to a halt as the 40-year-old declared where his focus resides: Florida.
With All-American forward Thomas Haugh announcing his decision to return to Florida on Tuesday, foregoing an NBA draft in which he would’ve been a potential lottery pick, Golden will get to coach one of the most seasoned teams in college basketball next season.
Four key contributors from the 2024-25 championship team have announced their return to Florida for the 2026-27 season: Alex Condon, Thomas Haugh, Urban Klavzar and Isaiah Brown. Two more players could be added to that list, with Denzel Aberdeen transferring back to Florida from Kentucky, pending an NCAA eligibility case for a fifth year, and Rueben Chinyelu, who declared for the NBA draft on Monday while retaining his college eligibility. “It’s just awesome that we can provide an experience here at Florida where guys feel good about turning down first round guarantees to come back and play here,” Golden said.
The decision has become much easier for college athletes in the NIL era. For teams like the 2004-05 Gators, where Al Horford, Joakim Noah and Corey Brewer all made impacts as freshmen, Golden explained that it was a much harder choice for them to return, which allowed them to eventually go on to win two national championships for Florida. The decision to stay and pursue a degree doesn’t come with the same financial consequence these days.
“With rev share and NIL, these guys have more appealing options coming back to school,” Golden said. “These guys are unique, they really enjoy the student-athlete experience.”
Not only does the 2026-27 roster flash championship experience, but the chemistry between teammates makes the Gators a hard team to leave behind. Golden expressed that Condon and Haugh’s “tight relationship” that budded over the last three seasons, combined with the retention of the entire coaching staff, all made the Gators’ decisions easier.
Such roster retention also means the Gators don’t have to “go portaling,” an option they’ve had to resort to over Golden’s entire tenure. Just last year, with the loss of Walter Clayton Jr., Will Richard and Alijah Martin to the NBA, Golden had to bring in Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee through the transfer portal for guard relief. This year, Golden finally gets a chance to take a backseat to the madness of the transfer portal.
“Anytime you can build and maintain your roster internally, that’s the way to do it,” Golden said. “For this year’s team, we felt like if we could get continuity, then we’d be in really good shape — and we throw Denzel into that bucket.”
Golden’s confident that the NCAA will grant Aberdeen a fifth year of eligibility. It’s a “common-sense situation,” he contended, since Aberdeen only played 41 minutes across 11 games in his freshman year, with eight coming in a first round NIT Tournament loss to UCF.
Golden also thinks Aberdeen’s academic situation should make the decision simple, since Aberdeen is planning on graduating in his last year at Florida, with his academic plan already mapped out by college advisors to have Aberdeen graduate in the spring of 2027.
“This isn’t a 27-year-old trying to play his eighth year of college at his sixth different school,” he joked. “This is a 22-year-old within his fifth-year clock coming back to get his degree.”
Another player that’s planning to graduate in his final year is Haugh, who announced his return to Florida after a week of “lounging” in Hawaii, as Golden called it. Haugh didn’t provide Golden with a wealth of information about his decision over the past week, and was certainly taking his time, but a phone call from an NBA legend — also on the Warriors — aided.
Draymond Green spoke with Haugh about life in the NBA compared to the joy of being a student-athlete. He expressed that the NBA will be there for Haugh, no matter if he chooses to forego this year’s draft. However, when it comes to college, this is the last chance Haugh has to dominate the college hardwood. Green knows the situation best, as he spent four years at Michigan State before departing as the 35th pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.
Another factor in that decision was Florida’s loss to Iowa in the Round of 32, which wouldn’t be a fitting ending to Haugh’s legendary career with the Gators. “If we would have made a deep run, we probably wouldn’t have as good of a chance of getting him back,” said Golden.
The championship trio of Condon, Haugh and Aberdeen could also give Chinyelu a severe case of FOMO if he leaves for the NBA. Golden said it’d be a tough decision to head out when all of your “boys” are back on the court together next season.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t think Tommy coming back and Condo coming back appealed to him,” he said. “They all want to be together.”
Chinyelu is another player that wants to complete his degree, but he’s still testing the NBA waters for the second year in a row. Golden says Florida is ready to pivot in the portal if Chinyelu leaves, but he believes Chinyelu could make another big jump for the Gators next season, potentially securing a better slot in the 2027 NBA Draft, which is expected to feature a weaker class.
Freshman CJ Ingram, who announced his decision to return Wednesday morning, adds even more depth to Florida’s roster. Golden said it’ll be harder for Ingram to get on the floor with the return of Haugh, but Haugh’s close relationship with Ingram as a leader and “bigger brother” factored into Ingram’s decision.
Florida will likely have another tough out-of-conference schedule in 2026, with the Gators appearing in the Players Era Men’s Tournament in Las Vegas, along with a “couple more really tough opponents,” that Golden alluded to Wednesday morning.
Lucky for the Gators, the same fiery coach will be on the sidelines leading a roster filled with chemistry and accolades.
Category: Basketball, Feature Sports News, Gators Men's Basketball
