Todd Golden: 'Our goal is to add one more guy'

Florida Gators basketball coach Todd Golden is still riding high after leading the program to the NCAA Tournament championship in April — but he’s far from satisfied. In fact, he’s already pushing ahead, determined to build on the success. Golden joined The Sideline with Andy Katz on Monday to discuss Florida’s national title and what lies ahead for the program.

“You know, I think we’ve shown we can do it and now that expectation, it’s not going to get lower,” Golden said. “I can promise you that. But we’re going to enjoy it, man. We’re going to keep rolling and my hope is that we can be doing it here in Gainesville for a long, long time. We got the drive, man. I’m only 39, man. I got a long time left to have to do this. And we’ll see if we can continue to shock people down here.”

Despite the championship glow, the Gators are facing major roster turnover. Florida is set to lose its top four backcourt players: All-American point guard Walter Clayton, starters Alijah Martin and Will Richard, and backup guard Denzel Aberdeen. While Clayton, Martin, and Richard are moving on to professional basketball, Aberdeen is transferring to Kentucky.

Todd Golden, UF have had a strong offseason already

To fill those gaps, the Gators have already made moves. Florida added two guards via the transfer portal: Ohio’s AJ Brown and Princeton point guard Xaivian Lee. In addition, two standout recruits are on their way in the 2025 class — CJ Ingram and Alex Lloyd, both 4-star prospects and top-50 national recruits. Each offers versatility in the backcourt.

Golden credited last season’s result to roster continuity.

“The key to our success last year was retention,” Golden told Katz. “You know, we got Will Richard and Walter Clayton back. We had two young ones in (forward) Alex Condon, (forward) Tommy Haugh that were studs and then Denzel (Aberdeen) from his sophomore to junior year. And then we put pieces around them in Alijah (Martin) and (center) Rueben Chinyelu, (froward) Sam Alexis, (guard) Urban Klavzar— with those guys we were able to plug those holes, so to speak.”

Golden believes the formula can work again, even with a retooled backcourt.

“And this year, I don’t think it’s that much different,” he said. “We’ve done a great job retaining our front court. Knock on wood, we should get all those guys back. We’ll see how Alex’s pro prospects go over the next couple weeks. But the backcourt’s going to be new and getting Xaivian was huge. Xaivian Lee from Princeton is a huge addition. Him and Tommy Haugh were teammates back in prep school and so he has a really good understanding of how we operate and what we do. We have some really good young ones in the program. I think of (guard) Isaiah Brown as a guy that should be a really impactful riser from freshman to sophomore year. AJ Brown, his brother, is a really good shooter scorer from Ohio that’s coming in.”

The Gators continue to recruit from the transfer portal

And the Gators may not be done just yet.

“Our goal is to add one more guy,” Golden said. “I think if we can do that over the next couple weeks—and we’re not trying to rush; want to be picky—but if we can add another impact guard, I think this team has a chance to be really good next year.”

Adding to the momentum, Golden recently signed a six-year, $40.5 million contract extension. The deal averages $6.75 million annually, a $2.65 million raise, making him the fourth highest-paid coach in college basketball.

“I just feel super fortunate to get this opportunity here at Florida three years ago. I’m sure a lot of people thought that I was going to be above my skis a little bit,” Golden told Katz. “Three years, you know, that probably is a little quicker than we thought to be able to win a national championship, but we’re definitely not going to be upset about it. And we feel, you know, good pressure in having to keep it up.”