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SAN ANTONIO — On the eve of his program’s first national title, Florida coach Todd Golden could not help but look ahead for a fleeting moment.
Kelvin Sampson’s Houston Cougars had Golden’s undivided attention, but the steps to build a winning roster are an omnipresent calculation for the analytically minded 39-year-old.
Golden and his staff had crafted a winner, culminating with Monday night’s 65-63 come-from-behind win in the Alamodome. He is off to a nice start as he aims to do it again.
“We’re at the point in our program where we want to recruit young guys that are high-character kids that want to be Gators [and], regardless whether they’re playing a lot or not as a freshman, want to stick with us,” he said Sunday. “Then retaining, retaining, retaining is going to be huge, just like last year.”
Attrition, roster churn and a mercenary mentality in the age of name, image and likeness are a widespread challenge Golden could sidestep this offseason because of his track record and his players buy-in since his March 2022 arrival.
“The whole thing was building a culture here at Florida,” All-American Walter Clayton Jr. said. “Hopefully that culture has been set. It’s going to be the standard now — go deep in the tournament, wins games.
“We set a good culture here. Hopefully teams come in and follow that.”
Golden expects to return an established and robust nucleus of players who understand expectations and how to win in seemingly dire circumstances. UF’s rally from 12 points down to Houston was the fourth second-half comeback in six NCAA Tournament games.
Beyond talent and will, a family-like bond built on sacrifice and accountability was at the core of UF’s rapid success.
“It’s been multiple games like that this year where guys have stepped up and knocked down big shots — and this is one of those nights,” Clayton said. “This was a team win. Everybody had a part in this on offensive and defensive side.
“It just showed what this team is all about, just being there for each other.”
Clayton’s clutch play and shotmaking earned him Most Outstanding Player, but he posted a tournament-low 11 points against Houston. Yet, he had 7 assists and made the game-winning defensive stop.
Backcourt mate Will Richard’s 14 first-half points were half of UF’s total and kept the Gators viable. Later, senior shooting guard Alijah Martin made the go-ahead free throws with 46 seconds remaining.
All three stalwarts, and more than 55% of the team’s scoring, are moving on.
Yet, UF will bring back plenty, including experienced guard Denzel Aberdeen, ready for a larger role, and four inside players, Rueben Chinyelu, Alex Condon, Micah Handlogten and Thomas Haugh. The foursome rotated seamlessly and wore down opponents during a season-ending 12-game winning streak.
Auburn’s Johni Broome, the SEC Player of the Year and a unanimous first-team All-American, had nowhere to hide against them as he managed just 3 points and the Tigers lost a nine-point, second-half lead to UF in the semifinals.
“Our depth played out pretty well,” Golden said. “Having Micah, Tommy, Rueben and Condo being able to run bodies at their frontcourt was effective.”
The Gators expect their quartet of post players and Aberdeen back, along with sophomore guard Urban Klavzar, 20, and Orlando freshman Isaiah Brown. The future is less clear for Apopka’s Sam Alexis, a 6-foot-9 forward who was injured and unavailable down the stretch.
“I’m so excited,” said Handlogten, who stands 7-1. “We have all four or all five bigs that have played minutes this year, that have the ability, have the eligibility to come back next year. I think a lot of us will come back next year.
“Having that, like core group of bigs is really huge.”
The Gators also will welcome Hawthorne native CJ Ingram, a 6-6 small forward at Montverde Academy ranked No. 22 nationally by 247Sports and son of former UF tight end Cornelius Ingram, a star for the 2008 national champions. Also signed is Alex Lloyd, a 6-3 combo guard and nation’s No. 40 prospect out of Fort Lauderdale’s Westminster Academy.
Despite experience and talent, Golden plans to hit the transfer portal to pick up a key piece or three as he’s done the past two seasons, highlighted by Clayton, Tyrese Samuel and Zyon Pullin in 2023 and Martin in ’24.
“We were able to fit and bring in the right pieces,” Golden said. “It’s going to be similar for next year. We have a lot of guys we can bring back and build around, then pepper in what we need to.”
Whatever the Gators ultimately need, Golden made quite a recruiting pitch Monday night.
“There’s going to be some players wanting to come here,” Clayton said.
Handlogten agreed.
“Who doesn’t want to come to a national championship-winning team with a national championship-winning coach?” he said.
Martin, who played in the ’23 Final Four at FAU, said he expects other players will see what he saw in Golden and will get their own championship shot.
“That guy is special,” he said. “I’m so excited to see what he does going forward. When I made my decision to come to this school, I saw something in him. I saw the trajectory of the program and how it was going, and I trusted my gut.
“I went with it, and now we’re national champs.”
Haugh isn’t satisfied.
“We’re going to lose three really important guys,” he said. “But we’re bringing back a really good core and try to get back to back. Why not? Right?”
Edgar Thompson can be reached at [email protected]
Continue reading...
Kelvin Sampson’s Houston Cougars had Golden’s undivided attention, but the steps to build a winning roster are an omnipresent calculation for the analytically minded 39-year-old.
Golden and his staff had crafted a winner, culminating with Monday night’s 65-63 come-from-behind win in the Alamodome. He is off to a nice start as he aims to do it again.
“We’re at the point in our program where we want to recruit young guys that are high-character kids that want to be Gators [and], regardless whether they’re playing a lot or not as a freshman, want to stick with us,” he said Sunday. “Then retaining, retaining, retaining is going to be huge, just like last year.”
Attrition, roster churn and a mercenary mentality in the age of name, image and likeness are a widespread challenge Golden could sidestep this offseason because of his track record and his players buy-in since his March 2022 arrival.
“The whole thing was building a culture here at Florida,” All-American Walter Clayton Jr. said. “Hopefully that culture has been set. It’s going to be the standard now — go deep in the tournament, wins games.
“We set a good culture here. Hopefully teams come in and follow that.”
Golden expects to return an established and robust nucleus of players who understand expectations and how to win in seemingly dire circumstances. UF’s rally from 12 points down to Houston was the fourth second-half comeback in six NCAA Tournament games.
Beyond talent and will, a family-like bond built on sacrifice and accountability was at the core of UF’s rapid success.
“It’s been multiple games like that this year where guys have stepped up and knocked down big shots — and this is one of those nights,” Clayton said. “This was a team win. Everybody had a part in this on offensive and defensive side.
“It just showed what this team is all about, just being there for each other.”
Clayton’s clutch play and shotmaking earned him Most Outstanding Player, but he posted a tournament-low 11 points against Houston. Yet, he had 7 assists and made the game-winning defensive stop.
Backcourt mate Will Richard’s 14 first-half points were half of UF’s total and kept the Gators viable. Later, senior shooting guard Alijah Martin made the go-ahead free throws with 46 seconds remaining.
All three stalwarts, and more than 55% of the team’s scoring, are moving on.
Yet, UF will bring back plenty, including experienced guard Denzel Aberdeen, ready for a larger role, and four inside players, Rueben Chinyelu, Alex Condon, Micah Handlogten and Thomas Haugh. The foursome rotated seamlessly and wore down opponents during a season-ending 12-game winning streak.
Auburn’s Johni Broome, the SEC Player of the Year and a unanimous first-team All-American, had nowhere to hide against them as he managed just 3 points and the Tigers lost a nine-point, second-half lead to UF in the semifinals.
“Our depth played out pretty well,” Golden said. “Having Micah, Tommy, Rueben and Condo being able to run bodies at their frontcourt was effective.”
The Gators expect their quartet of post players and Aberdeen back, along with sophomore guard Urban Klavzar, 20, and Orlando freshman Isaiah Brown. The future is less clear for Apopka’s Sam Alexis, a 6-foot-9 forward who was injured and unavailable down the stretch.
“I’m so excited,” said Handlogten, who stands 7-1. “We have all four or all five bigs that have played minutes this year, that have the ability, have the eligibility to come back next year. I think a lot of us will come back next year.
“Having that, like core group of bigs is really huge.”
The Gators also will welcome Hawthorne native CJ Ingram, a 6-6 small forward at Montverde Academy ranked No. 22 nationally by 247Sports and son of former UF tight end Cornelius Ingram, a star for the 2008 national champions. Also signed is Alex Lloyd, a 6-3 combo guard and nation’s No. 40 prospect out of Fort Lauderdale’s Westminster Academy.
Despite experience and talent, Golden plans to hit the transfer portal to pick up a key piece or three as he’s done the past two seasons, highlighted by Clayton, Tyrese Samuel and Zyon Pullin in 2023 and Martin in ’24.
“We were able to fit and bring in the right pieces,” Golden said. “It’s going to be similar for next year. We have a lot of guys we can bring back and build around, then pepper in what we need to.”
Whatever the Gators ultimately need, Golden made quite a recruiting pitch Monday night.
“There’s going to be some players wanting to come here,” Clayton said.
Handlogten agreed.
“Who doesn’t want to come to a national championship-winning team with a national championship-winning coach?” he said.
Martin, who played in the ’23 Final Four at FAU, said he expects other players will see what he saw in Golden and will get their own championship shot.
“That guy is special,” he said. “I’m so excited to see what he does going forward. When I made my decision to come to this school, I saw something in him. I saw the trajectory of the program and how it was going, and I trusted my gut.
“I went with it, and now we’re national champs.”
Haugh isn’t satisfied.
“We’re going to lose three really important guys,” he said. “But we’re bringing back a really good core and try to get back to back. Why not? Right?”
Edgar Thompson can be reached at [email protected]
Continue reading...
