Florida hires Todd Golden following San Francisco’s loss to Murray State

The San Francisco Dons entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 10 seed. However, they gave the 2-loss No. 7-seeded Murray State Racers a run for their money, taking the favorite to overtime and having plenty of opportunities to pull ahead.

The Dons were led by head coach Todd Golden, and they had an incredible season in the West Coast Conference. San Fran finished 39th in points per game out of more than 300 Division 1 programs.

Kenpom did them even better, ranking them as the No. 22 team in the nation with the 41st-best adjust offensive rating and 22nd-best adjust defensive rating.

Now, the Dons will have to find a new leader as Golden’s run was good enough to get him an offer from the Florida Gators, one that he’s already accepted.

Golden will be bringing a fresh style of play to Florida, a team that missed the NCAA Tournament despite having high potential and a few key victories, having taken down No. 2-seeded Auburn earlier in the season.

Golden had been the head coach at San Fran since 2019 and served as an assistant prior to the promotion. He also was an assistant with Auburn prior to traveling out West. This will be a huge opportunity for Golden to make an impact on the SEC.

The Gators currently have the 19th-ranked recruiting class for 2022 with a 5-star, 4-star and 3-star having committed. The 5-star is Malik Reneau, the eighth-best player in the state of Florida and fourth-best power forward.