Florida Hires Former San Francisco’s Todd Golden

Florida has hired former University of San Francisco men’s basketball coach Todd Golden as its new coach, the school announced.

The news was first reported by Pete Thamel of ESPN.com.

Golden, 36, replaces Mike White, who left last week to take the Georgia job.

The Phoenix native went 57-36 (.613) in three years at San Francisco, leading the Dons to the NCAA Tournament where they lost to Murray State, 92-87, on Thursday.

“I’m energized by the opportunity to lead an elite program at Florida, and I’m ready to get started,” Golden said in a statement. “Florida has a championship-level athletic department, university and men’s basketball program, and I embrace the standard of excellence at Florida and the passion of Gator Nation. We couldn’t be more excited about what the future holds in Gainesville.

“I also want to express my thanks to the University of San Francisco, Joan McDermott and Rev. Paul J. Fitzgerald for the incredible support they’ve given me over the past six years at USF and the opportunity to lead a special group of young men.”

San Francisco finished 24-10, 10-6 in the West Coast Conference where Golden matched wits against Gonzaga’s Mark Few, St. Mary’s Randy Bennett and Santa Clara’s Herb Sendek.

The SEC still has coaching openings at LSU, South Carolina, Mississippi State and Missouri.

“We’re incredibly excited about bringing in Todd, who is an innovative, relationship-oriented coach, to lead our men’s basketball program,” Florida AD Scott Stricklin said. “Todd brings a smart and analytics-driven approach to the game and a relational approach to leadership that puts student-athletes first. He has a wide range of experience, particularly for a coach his age, and brings an outstanding track record and high level of integrity to the job.”

Golden played collegiately at Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif., where he helped the Gaels to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. As a senior point guard, he ranked second in the nation with a 3.68 assists-to-turnovers ratio and led the West Coast Conference with a .574 3-point field goal percentage. The lone captain of Saint Mary’s 2007-08 team, Golden finished his career as the Gaels’ all-time leader in free-throw percentage (.852) and eighth with 269 career assists.

After earning his degree in business administration, Golden played two years professionally for Maccabi Haifa in Israel’s top division. In 2009, he was co-captain of the USA Open Team, coached by Bruce Pearl, that won gold at the Maccabiah Games. Following his playing career, he spent two years working in sales and marketing in the San Francisco Bay Area, spending time with IMG College and Comcast SportsNet Bay Area.

Golden is married to the former Megan York, who was a four-year volleyball standout at Saint Mary’s and the WCC’s Co-Freshman of the Year in 2007.