Todd Golden reveals Florida legend Taurean Green joining coaching staff

Newly hired Florida Gators men’s basketball coach Todd Golden is bringing in a legendary Gator to assist in helping him rebuild the program. Golden announced on Friday that the school will be hiring Taurean Green and what role he would be taking on.

“We’re going to bring in Taurean Green to be our director of player development, which I’m really, really excited about,” Golden said on the Field of 68 podcast.

Green was a member of the Gators’ dominant 2006 national championship winning team under then-head coach Billy Donovan. Since then, the former Gator has joined Donovan and is a member of the Chicago Bulls staff, where his former head coach is currently employed.

“We’re going to bring him after the season’s over, I hope they go win the title,” he said. “We haven’t announced him yet, but he was super. Billy was super on board with it and he thought it was a great idea to bring back somebody that really understood what made Florida great.”

Golden also revealed that he has spoken to Donovan, calling him “amazing.” The Gators’ new head coach has not shied away from the expectations that Donovan created in Gainesville. Instead, he hopes to be able to use Donavon as a resource.

Todd Golden adds new staff members

New Florida Gators hoops coach Todd Golden has now hired four members to his inaugural staff.

His latest hires are associate head coach Carlin Hartman and Jonathan Safir, who was named director of basketball strategy and analytics Thursday.

Golden announced Hartman on announced Friday, joining Korey McCray and Kevin Hovde on the coaching staff.

“Carlin brings a wealth of experience and a highly-respected track record to Florida,” Golden said. “We’re excited to add his expertise as a basketball mind, a developer, a relationship-builder and a recruiter to our staff. He sets a great example for all of us as a family man, and he will be a tremendous mentor to our student-athletes off the court in addition to helping us collectively and individually become our best on the court.”

Hartman brings 22 years of coaching experience in college, including five years at Oklahoma under Lon Kruger before spending the past season at UNLV. He was also associate head coach at Columbia during Golden’s two seasons on staff there.