It’s Florida’s third nationwide title in program historical past after beforehand reducing down the nets in 2006 and 2007. In solely his third season with Florida, Todd Golden (39) turned the youngest head coach to win a nationwide championship since Jim Valvano (37) in 1983.
Earlier than Golden took over earlier than the 2022-23 season, Florida had not made it previous the primary weekend of the NCAA Match since 2016-17. Golden has led the Gators to 2 NCAA Match appearances in his three seasons on the helm, together with the nationwide title on Monday.
Florida had the third-best offense within the nation (85.3 PPG) all season. Monday’s title-clinching efficiency was the exact opposite, because the Gators held Houston to 63 factors and received the clutch cease to seal the win within the waning moments.
Three of Florida’s starters (Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin, Will Richard) are all seniors. They have been the highest three scorers on the workforce, with Clayton’s 18.5 PPG main the way in which all season. Regardless of an uncharacteristic 11 factors (3-of-10 FG) within the title recreation, Clayton nonetheless managed to go away his mark with seven assists and 5 rebounds on offense and prevented Houston from changing the potential game-winning three within the closing seconds on protection.
Florida has an enormous gap to fill going into 2025-26 with the departure of its three seniors, in addition to the potential lack of sophomore Alex Condon (10.5 PPG, 7.6 RPG), who’s projected as a first-round draft decide within the 2025 NBA Draft.
Thomas Haugh (9.9 PPG), Denzel Aberdeen (7.7 PPG), Rueben Chinyelu (six PPG), Sam Alexis (4.7 PPG) and Micah Handlogten (2.7 PPG) averaged 10 minutes or higher every recreation this season. Assuming most of them return, Chinyelu can be the one returning starter again whereas the remaining have some invaluable in-game expertise.
Relying on the way in which every thing shakes out within the offseason, Florida nonetheless might be positioned for fulfillment for years to come back. Take note, the Gators orchestrated a 36-4 document and gained the SEC Match title throughout a historic 14-bid season for the convention.
If Golden can proceed to draw gamers to Gainesville and preserve most of his roster intact, this might be the start of a turnaround for a program that had not skilled a ton of success previous to his arrival. In spite of everything, he has already confirmed how rapidly he can put a championship-winning workforce collectively.
It’s laborious to know the way every season goes to look with the switch portal and the ever-changing collegiate panorama. With its third title in hand, Florida had its “One Shining Second” this season and can look so as to add to it as Golden places extra years collectively.
