Last Monday, Florida basketball became the first team in the modern era to win a national title without a top 100 recruit. How did the Gators’ underdog mentality carry them to a title?
Throughout college basketball history, star recruits build championship teams.
Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim suffered one heartbreak after another in March, until the vaunted Carmelo Anthony arrived and won the coach a title in his lone season in Central New York.
Star coaches will recruit highly-ranked prospects. They’ll shine in college and move onto bigger and better things in the NBA.
This makes Florida basketball’s national championship last Monday in San Antonio a massive anomaly. The Gators became the first team in the modern era to win the title without a top 100 recruit.
247 Sports didn’t even rank the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player – Walter Clayton Jr. – out of Bartow High School. He received one in-state offer from Stetson.
How did UF pull this remarkable feat off? It all starts with Todd Golden.
Finding the ‘right’ guys
‘It’s just a testament to putting your head down and working and not being so hyped up about having stars and wanting to be the top recruit,” Alijah Martin said.
Golden didn’t have much of a choice when it came to building the Gators roster. Without the pedigree of programs like Duke or Kansas, the coach had to search for players who were willing to believe in a coach with a vision. He needed to do it fast
“We needed an influx of talent in our program,” Golden said. “We have done a really nice job of finding the right young guys to recruit and to bring into our program.”
The first was Denzel Aberdeen, who was one of three who committed under Mike White. Aberdeen, the Orlando native, is the lone who stayed.
2023 brought Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh. One from Australia, one who grew up in Pennsylvania but idolized the Gators.
“Both those guys had great attitudes, great work ethic, wanted to be at Florida. We thought they had really good potential,” Golden said. “High IQ, came from great families, really fit the DNA of what we wanted our program to be.”
Isaiah Brown, who played minimally this season, arrived this season and expects to have a much bigger role in 2025. Those four players were all ranked as three-stars but stood outside the top 100.
Transfers filled out the rest of the roster. Clayton led Iona to the postseason, Martin took FAU to the Final Four. They were sought after by other programs in the country, but Martin said Golden’s vision kept them all in Gainesville.
“It was more the fit, it was more of the swagger, and the history of Florida basketball really intrigued us,” Martin said. “Wanted to help get the Gator boys back hot.”
Undermined from the opening tip
Yet this collection of talent ranked just 21st to begin the season – making Florida the second squad (UConn 2023) in the last 10 years to win it all after beginning the season outside the top 20.
All season and tournament long, Florida spoke about its underdog mentality. The Gators were the “hunter.” In the SEC alone, Kentucky rules the roost. Alabama and Auburn each made the Final Four in the last five years. Tennessee and Arkansas are coached by legends.
UF soon began to prove that notion wrong. Two wins over No. 1-ranked teams, a win at Alabama, dominant victories over Texas A&M and Ole Miss. Then Florida avenged losses to Missouri and Tennessee in the SEC Tournament.
All that was barely enough for a No. 1 seed – in the West Region. Florida then marched through the tournament with four comeback wins and left the Alamo with the sport’s ultimate prize, governed by a certain motivation.
“That’s been our thing the entire year is how we all felt kind of disrespected, and we all summed the proof,” center Micah Handlogten said. “I’m glad that we were able to come out and prove that.”
It’s an easy mindset to follow since Golden himself lived it – a walk-on at St. Mary’s.
“He has the same story as us. He played at a mid-major program in college, and he worked his way up. He went to USF (San Francisco) as a head coach, had a few good years there, ended up at the University of Florida and won a national championship in his third season,” Handlogten said.
All different in 2026
Everything will change next season. Golden will bring in his best recruiting class with Florida natives in Hawthorne’s CJ Ingram and Fort Lauderdale’s Alex Lloyd – both in the top 40 nationally. Furthermore, the Gators will be the “hunted.” Every team in the conference and nationally will want to dethrone them.
Golden believes the experience of this season has prepared them well for the new expectations.
“We’re not going to sneak up on anybody. Teams are going to be geared up and excited to play us, and they’re going to give us their best shot,” Golden said. “We got to be even better in terms of our consistency and our effort if we want to find a way to sustain this thing and keep it going.”
Noah Ram covers Gainesville-area high school sports and University of Florida athletics for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him by email at Nram@gannett.com and follow him @Noah_ram1 on X/Twitter.
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