Todd Golden is college basketball's version of Dabo Swinney
Remember how Dabo Swinney convinced elite college players to stay longer at Clemson several years ago? Todd Golden is doing that for Florida hoops
As we follow the college sports industry month after month and year after year, we sometimes ask ourselves about a coach: "How does he keep convincing players to stay? " It's true that NIL has increased the incentives for players to stay, something we will discuss here as we go along. Nevertheless, the NBA does offer very substantial money.
Todd Golden is making a lot of us ask, "How does he keep convincing players to stay at Florida ? " It calls to mind Dabo Swinney at Clemson several years ago. Thomas Haugh Thomas Haugh easily could have chosen to go into the 2026 NBA draft, but he chose to stay at Florida.
He is a veteran player who knows that in the NBA, older players often slide on draft night. That didn't dissuade him from coming back for another year in Gainesville. Alex Condon Condon's size makes him an obvious NBA draft pick.
He was going to get picked if he entered. Yet, Todd Golden got him to return to Florida for another year. We reiterate the point one more time: NBA teams generally like to pursue younger prospects, not older ones, so the return of Condon is yet another move that cuts against the grain in terms of maximizing an NBA opportunity.