Florida Gators coach Todd Golden, who played at Sunnyslope High School, has led his team to the Final Four in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at the Alamodome in San Antonio. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
SAN ANTONIO — In 2002, point guard Todd Golden helped lead the Sunnyslope Vikings to a 4A state title. Twenty years later, coach Todd Golden has guided the Florida Gators to their first Final Four appearance since 2014.
In just his third year with the program, Golden has helped transform the team into a basketball powerhouse. The Gators are set to tipoff in a rematch against the Auburn Tigers at 3:09 p.m. (MST) Saturday in the Alamodome.
Golden had one word to describe where the journey has taken him: “surreal.”
“When I was back at Sunnyslope, I was just praying that I could find a way to become a Division I basketball player,” Golden said during a press conference Thursday. “I would not have believed at that point that I’d be here today.”
Golden attributed much of his success and development as both a coach and player to the “really great coaches” he play for. He pointed to coaches Dan Mannix – a member of the Arizona High School Athletic Coaches Hall of Fame – and head assistant coach Steve Rosenbaum, whom he played for while attending Sunnyslope High School.
These were the men responsible for instilling in him the belief that he could be a Dvision I player, Golden said. Now, he’s leading the charge, and he’s done so by developing one of the most potent offenses in the country, averaging 85.4 points pr game with an average scoring margin of -15.8.
Though Golden says he “would not have believed” that, in his days at Sunnyslope, he would eventually be coaching a No. 1 seed team in the final stages of March Madness, Mannix said he knew early on that Golden had the right ingredients.
“He was a fiery competitor,” Mannix said. “He absolutely hated to lose, even in drills in practice, he was going to do everything in his power to not lose.”
Golden said that he became well-acquainted with winning while at Sunnyslope, sporting a career record of 77-12 in the years he played for Mannix – a stat that he recalled without a moment’s hesitation.
As the leader of the Gators men’s basketball team, Golden has adapted that same fierce mentality he had as a player into a coaching style that Mannix himself has been more than impressed with.
“It just amazes me how they run their offense and just how physically tough they are defensively,” Mannix said.
Florida beat Auburn earlier this season on the road in a mid-season conference matchup. The Gators persevered with a spectacular display of offensive prowess, winning 90-81.
With a high level of physical and mental toughness that he originally learned under Mannix and Rosenbaum, Golden is gearing his team up for Saturday’s game against his close friend Steven Pearl and former mentor Bruce Pearl. Golden coached alongside both of these men while he was director of basketball operations at Auburn in 2014 before being promoted to an assistant role in his final season with the Tigers.
“When you’re in the Final Four, it is what it is,” Golden said. “You’re going to go out there and do everything you can to take each other out.”
While Golden has ascribed much of his success and development to his mentors, he now embraces the same responsibility for his players. Senior guard Will Richard spoke about the feeling of responsibility he has toward Florida and Golden as a result of being brought into the program following his 2021-2022 season at Belmont.
“Playing for Florida, playing for coach Golden means a lot, and so we’re paying him back by winning, and winning at a high level,” Richard said.
What Golden has done as a representative of “West Coast basketball” has been remarkable and unparalleled in recent history, Mannix said. And to think this extraordinary season can be traced back to Golden’s time playing public school basketball in Phoenix over two decades ago. A time in Golden’s life that he’s not likely to forget any time soon.
“Sunnyslope, I’ll love it forever,” Golden said.