Todd Golden evaluates influx of international prospects to college basketball

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — With the prevalence of the transfer portal over recent seasons, focus has been placed on the impact it has on traditional high school recruiting. But just as coaches looks to get a grip on their ideal balance between young and old, a new debate has started to permeate college basketball: American or international.

In recent seasons, more international prospects have opted to leave their club team and experience American college basketball with dreams of making the NBA. In 2019, Spanish National Team forward Santi Aldama enrolled at Loyola-Maryland before being selected in the first round of the NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies. Fast forward to 2023 and UCLA brings in multiple European prospects who are projected to be pros, and Kentucky made a late push to add Zvonimir Ivisic.

Florida is among the leaders in international players with four on the roster for 2023-24. Todd Golden has leaned on foreign players throughout his time as a head coach dating back to his time at San Francisco, and will so again with Tyrese Samuel (Canada), Alex Condon (Australia), Aleks Szymczyk (Germany) and Kajus Kublickas (Lithuania).

During his appearance at SEC Media Day, Golden offered his thoughts on the growing trend and the benefits it brings.

“As coaches we see guys when we go recruit internationally that are really ready to go,” said Golden. “They’ve kind of come up through clubs or different organizations where – transparently – they get to train more than our young men and women do. And these international prospects that are coming over generally don’t have a lot of baggage with them. They’re coming over to play basketball, go to class, and do the best they can to prepare themselves to become pros. So you have guys who are really focused and have an understanding of why they’re coming over.”

International players interested in college route

The idea of playing in America has also become a more attractive idea for the players coming in, and the past success of several trailblazers is a major reason why.

“I think they’re more interested simply because they’ve seen guys come before them and have success,” said Golden. “And it’s been going on for a while but now you’re starting to see more guys coming over and having really good careers that lead them for the opportunity to play in the NBA and I think that’s number one.”

Golden sees the addition of international prospects as a win-win situation, making it a no-brainer to pursue those who can make an impact while chasing their American dream.

“I think when you put those things together, it explains a lot. International players have done really well in our program, so we obviously added a couple more this year and it’s a space that we’ll continue to recruit really hard as long as we’re at Florida.”