Florida coach Todd Golden celebrates a win during the NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship game at the Alamodome Monday in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
PHOENIX – In the early 1900s, William R. Norton was enjoying a buggy ride with his daughter north of the Arizona Canal. His daughter looked up and said, “What a pretty sunny slope.” Norton liked the phrase and named the area Sunny Slope, which abutted North Mountain in a rural part of the Valley. After World War II, the name of the city was condensed to one word.
In 1953, Sunnyslope High School opened. Fresh into the 20th century, 49 years after the school opened, Sunnyslope brought home its first boys basketball state championship. Todd Golden, Mike Nixon and Jon Simon led the Vikings to their 2002 state title as players, under the guidance of legendary coach Dan Mannix.
From a state championship to a national championship, Golden, 39, is now the darling of college basketball after leading the Florida Gators to a thrilling come-from behind 65-63 victory over the Houston Cougars Monday at the Alamodome in San Antonio. He is the youngest coach since the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament went to 64 teams to win a national title.
I’m just really proud,” Golden said in a postgame press conference. “I’m proud to be the head coach of Florida. I’m proud of the way our players performed. I’m proud of the way our staff prepared our guys to become national champions.”
Before the Final Four, those who knew Golden at Sunnyslope marveled at his career ascent.
“It’s amazing. I get emotional,” said Mannix, Golden’s coach at Sunnyslope. “All of my former players are like second sons to me, and to see him accomplish what he’s done … to come from a mid-major San Francisco to a blue blood program. Florida won two championships in a row. To go there and in three years do what he’s done, it’s just absolutely amazing.
“I’m on the verge of tears sometimes when I see him. I was jumping up and down, you know, screaming. I’m by myself in the house, screaming and yelling at the last game. But, it’s been so much fun to watch. I’m so proud of him.”
Mannix is one of many basketball mentors along Golden’s journey. But one mentor is a little closer to home than the rest: his dad, Scott. Golden’s love for basketball from a young age fostered a special father-son relationship.
“He had a basketball in his hand from the time he was probably two or three months old,” Scott Golden said. “The greatest thing in the world was being able to watch him play, and then coaching him in RAMMS (the Recreation Association of Madison Meadows and Simis) and recreational leagues and then being able to play with him, pick up. Knowing, probably when he was in fifth or sixth grade, I needed to stop playing because he was going by me already. It was an incredible experience.”
A young Todd Golden poses with the 2002 Arizona 4A boys state championship trophy – one of his first tastes of team success. (Photo courtesy of Scott Golden)
Todd Golden was born and raised in Phoenix. He played three seasons on the Sunnyslope varsity basketball team after missing the cut his freshman year. Golden won the first state championship in school history his junior season, and attended St. Mary’s College of California, where he played guard.
St. Mary’s coach Randy Bennett grew up in Mesa and played basketball at Westwood High School. Bennett was very connected to the Arizona basketball world, and loved finding talented athletes from the Valley. When Bennett was recruiting Golden, he wasn’t the initial target. Bennett and his staff noticed Golden in the process of scouting Brett Collins, who later became teammates with Golden at St. Mary’s. Golden and Collins played on the same AAU team, and Golden’s swagger and confidence stood out.
“Todd was on that team, and Todd was wearing his little red, white and blue USA headband on his head, and had his hair dyed blonde or whatever he had. Frosted tip, I don’t know what he had,” Bennett said. “We just kept watching, and we’re like, ‘He’s got some confidence. He’s got some swagger about him.’ So we’re like, ‘This guy can probably help us.’ We got to know him, and really liked him on the phone and in person.”
Bennett told Golden he could offer him a scholarship for his final three years. So Golden walked on his freshman year and ended up redshirting. He earned his scholarship and played the next four years, becoming the team captain his senior year.
“I truly believe one of the most important things is that he was really never given anything along the way,” Scott said. “He had to earn everything. His first year here at Sunnyslope, he didn’t make varsity. He had to work; kept working through that. When he went to St. Mary’s to play ball, he was a preferred walk-on and Randy Bennett and Kyle Smith didn’t show him any favoritism; worked him like a dog. Always wanted perfection, and I think that has continued on in terms of what Todd brings to the table.”
After college, Golden traveled overseas to play for Maccabi Haifa in Israel’s top professional basketball division. He spent two years in Israel, winning gold on the USA Open Team in the 2009 Maccabiah Games. Golden was a co-captain on the team coached by the man he will square off with Saturday: Auburn’s Bruce Pearl.
Golden returned to the U.S. for a sales and marketing job in the San Francisco Bay Area before he landed his first coaching job as the Director of Basketball Operations at Columbia University. In one year, he became the assistant coach at Columbia, before taking the Director of Basketball Operations role at Auburn.
During Golden’s two years with the Tigers, he was reunited with Pearl. In 2016, the young, rising coach returned to the Bay Area as an associate head coach at the University of San Francisco. In three years, Golden took over as the head coach of USF and spent three years in that role before Florida gave him a shot.
Now, following a meteoric rise through the highly competitive coaching ranks, Golden, 39, has the Gators in the Final Four.
“You’re excited for him, and at the same time, kind of amazed that his trajectory has been ridiculous,” Bennett said. “This is only his sixth year as a Division I head coach. He was three years at USF. Made it to the NCAA tournament his third year, was able to get the Florida job, which is incredible. They took a leap of faith and ended up hitting a home run on it.
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“Then for him in his third year, age 39, to make the Final Four. Those guys that make it that early at that level, those are the future stars in coaching. So, he and obviously (Jon Scheyer) from Duke, they’re on a trajectory that just doesn’t happen very often. I’m so excited. He’s done a great job. We’re proud of all of our guys, but not many make it into this big of a spotlight, especially at such an early age.”
Before Florida or USF, Auburn or the Maccabiah Games, or even his days at St. Mary’s College and Sunnyslope High, Golden attended Mannix’s summer camps at Sunnyslope when he was in elementary school, where his demeanor stood out to his future high school coach.
“Todd must have been in fourth grade, and I had my summer camp. Prior to blowing the whistle and getting everybody organized, we let the kids shoot around a little bit. These other fourth graders are doing little kid things, jumping around, he’s out behind the 3-point line,” Mannix said, as he motioned the balls going through the hoop. “Just, you know, full extension follow through, elbow above the eyebrow, the whole bit. So I said to myself, ‘Who is this kid?’ You know, he was so serious while they were messing around.
“Then he comes to Sunnyslope and right away I could see he had the characteristics that in any endeavor he would have been successful. He was highly disciplined in terms of athletics. He hated to lose even in a drill. Really perceptive, he could see the game and really counter. He wasn’t a real quick twitch athlete, but he had great anticipation defensively, because he recognized situations, was very alert and very coachable.”
Golden’s competitiveness was evident from a young age, and that attribute was contagious on his 2002 state championship team. Nixon, Simon and Golden all knew each other growing up playing RAMMS basketball, a non-profit, parent-run recreational basketball league in north central Phoenix.
Golden’s competitive attitude made him an enemy of his future teammates when playing against them, but once they all joined together at Sunnyslope, that competitive nature led to the three thriving on a state title run.
“When we’re in seventh and eighth grade competing against each other, I hated it, because he was confident, he was good, and he hated to lose. He was so competitive, and if he lost, he wasn’t happy, and you knew about it,” Nixon said. “Then, for the first time, to be able to play with him rather than going head-to-head, it was like, ‘OK, I think we can get something going here.’
“The best teammates, they want to compete. So you hold each other accountable, and the best teams do that. I know there were plenty of times where, if he wasn’t putting out the effort, or I wasn’t, we had the relationship where he’d let me know, or I’d let him know. We both kind of gave each other a nod, like, ‘Let’s get back in shape. Let’s lock back in and let’s go.’ Then after the game, we went out and grabbed food together and everything’s good. It’s kind of a mutual respect when you know the other person wants it as badly as you do.”
Known for his intensity, Todd Golden has carried his passion for basketball from Sunnyslope High to the national stage. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
The Sunnyslope community is tight with many members growing up playing sports together. The success the trio of Golden, Nixon and Simon and headed by Mannix brought in 2002 will always be remembered.
“It was amazing,” Nixon said. “We had the whole community behind us. We hadn’t won a state title. Coach Mannix was already a legend here, where everybody grew up going to his Tri-Star basketball camps as a 7, 8, 9 year old, all the way up through high school. We had kids who didn’t even make the high school teams who would come back and play in the Tri-Star camp.
“So, to be able to do it for coach Mannix and knowing what it meant to the Sunnyslope community is pretty amazing.”
Throughout Golden’s years in high school, his teammates began noticing little aspects that hinted he had a future in coaching. Nixon and Golden played computer games Baseball Mogul and High Heat together in middle school, building programs in dynasty mode. Now, Golden has translated it to reality with Florida.
Scott Golden sees a lot of the same winning culture at Florida that was evident at Sunnyslope as Todd creates success with the Gators.
Golden’s affinity for the game as a coach was first evident during his playing days in high school. His IQ on the court came naturally to him, eventually translating to his ability to teach his players.
“His leadership. He’s always had a great knowledge of the game. He knows the game really well and he communicates that game really well to his teammates, to the coaches, and was always a good point guard and leader on the floor,” Simon said. “That was evident in high school, and as he has moved on to college too.”
In three years at Florida, Golden’s success has been eye-opening, his record jumping from 16 to 24 wins in his first two years. Last year, the Gators made the NCAA Tournament before falling to Colorado in the first round.
This year, Florida went 27-4 in the regular season, won the SEC Tournament and rode a 10-game winning streak to the Final Four.
Although Florida has found historic success on the court this season, the team has dealt with legal issues off the court, including a sexual assault complaint filed with the Title XI office against assistant coach Tuarean Green. Green has yet to be cleared from the Title XI accusations but has remained on the Gators’ sideline.
Despite those off-court issues, Florida continued to find success when the ball is tipped. After pulling away from Maryland in the Sweet 16, the Gators found themselves down nine points with barely three minutes to go against Texas Tech in the Elite Eight. Florida went on a 9-0 run to tie the game, eventually winning 84-79. On Monday, they rallied from a 12-point deficit.
Those endings brought Simon back to a game from their Sunnyslope days.
“When they made that big comeback at the end (against Texas Tech), it reminded me of a big comeback that we had our sophomore year,” he said. “We were down really big at Tempe High School, and we kind of came back and made a bunch of 3s and won the game. When they made that first 3, I was like, ‘Hey, this might happen. They’ve got a chance. Todd knows how to do it.’ So that’s kind of what I was thinking.”
Florida’s late-game comeback against Texas Tech wasn’t the only thing that reminded Simon of his playing days with Golden. His coaching style brought back memories as well.
“He just seems like the same guy,” Simon said. “Watching him on the sidelines, and there’s his mannerisms and everything … I can hear him yelling out there, like yeah, that just seems like the same Todd. I’m just glad that it’s just the same guy that I know.”
Bennett is extremely proud of Golden’s ability to remember where he’s from and value the people who helped him get to where he is. Golden played at St. Mary’s College during its developmental stages and since he graduated, the Gaels have made the NCAA or NIT tournament every year.
Todd Golden, left, and his family share a moment with longtime mentor and former Sunnyslope coach Dan Mannix (right). (Photo courtesy of Scott Golden)
During Golden’s years at St. Mary’s, Nixon had been drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers and was playing in the minor leagues. Mid-season, Golden took a trip to go watch his high school teammate play.
“He was the one friend who called up,” Nixon said. “He said, ‘Hey, I’m coming out to watch you.’ He flies up to Great Falls, Montana, sleeps on the floor at my host family’s house, and he just wanted to come out and watch some ball. Meanwhile, he’s supposed to be doing all these tournaments trying to earn a DI scholarship, but he found the time to support a friend who was chasing the dream of playing baseball.”
The connections made between Nixon, Golden, Simon and their coach, Mannix, built relationships that will last a lifetime. Last summer, as Mannix was running his camp, Golden stopped by after playing a round of golf and Mannix turned him over to the kids. Golden talked with the campers for 20 minutes, teaching them about the game.
Golden’s basketball journey started very young and already consists of a state championship, but a national championship before he turned 40 greatly enhanced the young coach’s legacy.
“His players care about him, obviously he cares about his players, and to do what they’ve done collectively is just an amazing thing,” Mannix said before the Final Four. “If they win the championship, I don’t drink, but I might even have a beer.”
Bottoms up, Dan Mannix.