Florida’s Todd Golden highlights SEC's dominance as key to Gators’ national championship run

Florida coach Todd Golden led the Gators to a dominant national championship win in April when his team defeated the Houston Cougars in the natty game. Golden's team also won a hard-fought Southeastern Conference Tournament championship in a stacked field.

During a Friday segment of "Run It Back on FanDuel TV," Golden revealed how the stacked SEC field that produced 14 teams in the NCAA Tournament helped to fuel the Gators' national championship run.

"Yeah, there's no doubt the league prepared us — and the rest of the teams — very well," Golden said (2:48). "When we won the SEC Tournament, as a staff, we talked a lot about how if we were able to do that, we could win the whole thing.

"Because we weren’t going to play three better teams over three games than we did against Missouri, Alabama, and Tennessee to win it."

Todd Golden reveals benefits of winning natty

Todd Golden leading the Florida Gators to the national championship has had tangible benefits in recruitment as revealed by the coach on Friday during an appearance on "ESPN 2" at the NBA Draft combine.

“Now obviously because of the success we’ve had last season, now more than ever, I think guys really understand that our program’s really tailor-made to come in and get better,” Todd Golden said. “Not just go play, but our guys get better from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.”

Under Golden's guidance, the Gators have produced several prospects that have been tabbed to be first-round picks during the 2025 NBA Draft including forward Alex Condon and guard Walter Clayton Jr., both of whom were invited to the combine.

During his interview at the combine, Golden made a pitch to prospective recruits about why they should choose Florida over other programs.

“The way we play, I think, is very conducive for guys having success at the NBA level,” Todd Golden said. “We like bigs that can pass, dribble and shoot. We like guards that can attack, get in the paint, but also shoot with a lot of confidence from the 3-point line.

"We play fast. We expect our guys to guard. We challenge our guys to defend at a high level. A lot of the NBA teams are respecting what we’re doing. So I think guys do want to be a part of that.”

Todd Golden revived the Gators as a major college basketball power by winning the Gators' first national championship in 18 years and is establishing Florida as a major recruitment hub in college basketball.