Gainesville, Fla. – Tournament Highlight - With less than a minute remaining and the result already secured, the Florida Gators successfully broke Tennessee’s full-court press on Sunday. Forward Thomas Haugh drove toward the baseline and delivered a precise alley-oop pass to the rim, where guard Alijah Martin soared for a powerful two-handed dunk that ignited the Florida fans seated behind the bench at Bridgestone Arena.
As the team hustled back on defense and the final seconds wound down, Florida head coach Todd Golden turned away from the court, lifted his arms toward the cheering crowd, and celebrated with a spirited Gator chomp. The moment capped Florida’s impressive run through the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Nashville, finishing with an emphatic 86-77 victory over the sixth-ranked Volunteers in the championship matchup.
"We loved it," All American point guard Walter Clayton Jr. said of his coach’s celebration. "I think everybody who's a Gator loved it."
Back in Gainesville, one of the program’s most iconic figures was watching closely. Steve Spurrier once again came away impressed.
"Just the way they hustle, the way they play defense and just their attitude. There is no loafing in these guys. They hustle all over the place," Spurrier said this week from his "ambassador" office at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. "Obviously, Todd and his coaches emphasize that. It begins with him and the assistants, then it goes through the older guys, those seniors. Clayton Jr. and Will [Richard] and Alijah [Martin], those guys get after it and play so hard every game."
The Gators, ranked fourth nationally and holding the No. 1 seed, are set to face 16th-seeded Norfolk State (24-10) in the NCAA Tournament’s West Region opening round Friday night in Raleigh, North Carolina. Florida enters the matchup with a 30-4 record, riding a six-game winning streak and victories in 12 of their last 13 contests. Across 34 games this season, they’ve dominated opponents with an average margin of plus-16.2. It’s no surprise Spurrier admires this team’s effort.
Looking deeper, the similarities stand out:
- A fast-paced, high-scoring style of play that delivers wins.
- Talented, dynamic athletes who consistently overpower opponents.
- A bold, animated coach who radiates confidence and openly talks about chasing championships.
Sound familiar?
Former UF football coach Steve Spurrier and wife Jerri at a basketball game during the season.
"Confidence is very important," Spurrier said. "You can sense the way Todd talks that their goal is to win it all. They don't talk too loud about it, but he'll say if we play to our capability and standard, we got a chance. I think he's said that, right?"
Indeed, Golden takes it further, often telling his players, "If we do this, this and this, we will win the game."
Back in November, as Florida prepared for a holiday tournament in Orlando, Golden described it as the first of four opportunities to capture titles during the 2024-25 season: the ESPN Events Invitational, the SEC regular season, the SEC Tournament, and the NCAA Tournament. The Gators went on to win the Thanksgiving Invitational, finished just behind Auburn in the regular-season standings, and then claimed their second championship with a strong showing in Nashville. Now, they look poised to chase the biggest prize of all.
Golden reinforced this mindset on Feb. 8 after Florida’s 90-81 road win over top-ranked Auburn:
"Bottom line, after today, we understand there is no ceiling for this group. We talk about it all the time: We're trying to be the best team in the country, trying to be a 1-seed and we're trying to go get a natty."
The Gators have embraced that mentality. From his courtside seat at Bridgestone Arena last weekend, Chris Doering—former All-America wide receiver, UF touchdown record-holder, and current SEC Network analyst—watched with pride as his alma mater displayed the fiery personality of its coach. He’s witnessed this formula succeed before.
"Just like we did, as a team, took on the air of Coach Spurrier. We knew how good we were and it became a self-fulfilling prophecy when we took the field," Doering said. "Since I've watched this [basketball] team, even dating back to the pre-conference schedule, you saw how ultra-competitive they were, just fighting and diving for loose balls, contesting shots, crashing the offensive boards. Getting guys to play that way from opening tip to the end of game, coaches are tasked with that. It's not easy. And then you have the fiery way Todd is on the sidelines; hugging guys and pushing them back onto the court when they're diving out of bounds for 50-50 balls … I mean, they're playing the way they're coached."
Chris Doering
The Gators are carrying themselves with confidence, but the toughest test is still to come. In the unforgiving, single-elimination format of the NCAA Tournament, Florida must navigate the pressure of being a No. 1 seed while managing the flood of praise and lofty expectations from analysts who have labeled them championship favorites.
Just a week ago, there was debate about whether Florida had earned that top seed. Victories over No. 21 Missouri, No. 5 Alabama, and No. 6 Tennessee—each essentially on the road and all within a 50-hour stretch—by an average margin of 15 points silenced the doubters.
"Yeah, it's changed a lot over the past week. And, yeah, it is a challenge and something this team hasn't had to deal with," Golden said. "The message to the guys [Monday] is that we can't forget why we got [here]. And now that we're starting to get a lot of respect, and different people are selecting us to win the national championship, which is an incredible honor, we can't let that soften us up. We can't let it change who we've been over the course of the season."
Florida’s identity has been forged around an underdog mentality. Golden himself was a college walk-on. His assistants have yet to hold head-coaching roles. Seniors Walter Clayton Jr., Will Richard, and Alijah Martin weren’t recruited by powerhouse programs in their home states, instead arriving at UF through mid-major opportunities and the transfer portal. Sophomores Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh weren’t ranked among the top 150 prospects in their class. Preseason publications projected the Gators anywhere from sixth to ninth in the SEC.
"Overlooked guys with a chip on their shoulder, starting with the coach," Chris Doering observed. He compared the mindset to Steve Spurrier’s own history of proving doubters wrong—whether against LSU, Kentucky, or Georgia. Spurrier’s record speaks for itself: 11-1 against LSU, including a 58-3 rout in Baton Rouge; 12-0 against Kentucky, with blowouts of 73-7 and 65-0; and 11-1 against Georgia, highlighted by some of the most lopsided wins in the rivalry’s history.
Golden, who arrived from the University of San Francisco, doesn’t carry personal grudges or decades of Gator lore. What he does bring is conviction in the program he’s built and relentless competitiveness. If he wore a visor, it would have been tossed more than a few times already. That fiery edge is reflected in the players he recruited—athletes chosen for their toughness and drive to prove themselves.
First-team All-America guard Walter Clayton Jr. and his head coach.
"He does such a good job of making sure we're confident in what we do every day and the work that we do and understanding we're definitely one of the best teams in the country," Clayton said. "But he also makes us understand we can't get arrogant or too big-headed about it and think we can just show up and win. He does a good job of balancing our confidence and making sure that we still respect the people we're going to play."
Florida’s accomplishments this season—marking the second-most wins in program history heading into the NCAA Tournament—have been remarkable. Yet, only one team will ultimately claim the championship. The Gators are not just capable, but widely considered a strong contender. When the games begin, Golden will ensure his team unleashes its trademark orange-and-blue intensity.
It’s part of his DNA, and now it’s embedded in theirs.
Another title opportunity awaits.
"You just got to be honest with yourselves about it. It's in front of us. We're going to try to chop this tournament up a little bit and focus on the first weekend and do everything we can to get out of Raleigh," Golden explained.
"We're trying to enjoy it, man. We have a special group, and I don't take that for granted in any way. We have a special staff. And just as amazing as it is, we know it can be over in one day if we don't play well and if we don't take advantage of our opportunities. So we're going to continue to kind of lose ourselves in the moment and focus on getting better before Friday and just letting our preparation do the work for us and see what happens."
The mission is clear: more Gator chomps to come.
Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu
