Florida visits The White House this week to celebrate 2025 title
The Florida Gators men’s basketball team will be recognized this week for its 2025 national championship with a trip to the nation’s capital.
UF coach Todd Golden and his staff and players visit The White House and President Donald Trump on Wednesday, May 21, a team spokesperson told Gators Online.
Golden revealed after his team’s halftime celebration at the spring football game that they would be making the trip to Washington, D.C.
“I’ve been told we’re going to the White House, so I’m pretty excited about that,” Golden said. “We’ll have to get everybody back together to be able to go do that.”
Florida’s previous title teams in 2006 and 2007 also made White House visits, meeting with former President George W. Bush in consecutive years.
The Gators rallied four times in their March Madness run, including the NCAA Tournament Final to defeat Houston, 65-63, for the program’s third national championship. Golden became the second coach to lead UF to a title after Billy Donovan went back-to-back 18 years ago.
He also tied the school record for wins with a 36-4 record, won the SEC Tournament title and produced a first-team All-American in Walter Clayton Jr. for the first time in school history. Clayton added Final Four and West Regional Most Outstanding Player recognition and SEC Tournament MVP.
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Florida earned its sixth Final Four trip and third No. 1 seed in school history. Florida’s path to the national championship matched the toughest of all-time for a No. 1 seed, and the Gators were the first team to take down three ranked opponents to win an SEC Tournament.
Florida’s historic championship run saw the Gators win 12 straight games to close the season, including nine top-25 wins, eight of which were against top-12 teams. UF had never previously defeated more than eight top-25 opponents in an entire season.
“I think we’re still waiting for that moment of it sinking in completely,” Golden said after the national title celebration in The Swamp. “It has felt like we’ve never really been able to take a breath during the process and then the final horn sounds against Houston and it’s just over all of the sudden. And then there’s elation, jubilation, there’s exhaustion.
“There’s a million different feelings going on. The best way I can describe it is there are moments where it sinks in for a second and it’s pretty unbelievable, but big picture wise, I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet. The fact that we went 36-4 and won the SEC Tournament and won the national championship. It’s been a good couple months for Gator basketball.”
