One month after leading Florida to the national championship in his third season as head coach, Todd Golden is getting paid. The 39-year-old has agreed to a six-year, $40.5 million contract extension to stay at Florida through the 2030-31 season.
Golden will make $6.75 million per year, which ranks fourth among college basketball coaches behind Kansas’ Bill Self, Arkansas’ John Calipari, and UConn’s Dan Hurley. Previously, he was making $4 million per year. He’s now the second-highest-paid coach in the SEC behind Calipari. Bruce Pearl, Rick Barnes, and Nate Oats all rank ahead of Mark Pope, who is now No. 12 at $5 million per year. Golden took over for Mike White in 2022 after three years at San Francisco and led the Gators to the NCAA Tournament in his second season, losing to Colorado in the first round. A year later, he became the youngest coach to win it all since Jim Valvano in 1983. The Gators finished the year with a 36-4 record; of course, one of those four losses was at Kentucky to start SEC play.
Next season could be a rebuilding one for the Gators. Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin, and Will Richard are out of eligibility; Alex Condon and Reuben Chinyelu are testing the NBA Draft waters; and Denzel Aberdeen and Sam Alexis transferred out, Aberdeen joining Kentucky’s roster. Thomas Haugh is back for a junior season, potentially the lone player from the top eight to return. The Gators added Princeton point guard Xaivian Lee and Ohio shooting guard AJ Brown to the roster from the portal, along with four-star guards CJ Ingram and Alex Lloyd from the high school ranks.
Six SEC teams in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Rankings
Despite the forthcoming rebuild, Florida is still a top 25 team in ESPN’s eyes. The Gators are No. 18 in Jeff Borzello’s latest Way-Too-Early Rankings for the 2025-26 season, one of six teams from the SEC. Your University of Kentucky Wildcats are No. 11, just behind Arkansas, which is No. 10, the highest-ranked team from the league that just means more.
10. Arkansas
11. Kentucky
15. Auburn
18. Florida
20. Tennessee
24. Alabama
Fourteen SEC teams made it into the 2025 NCAA Tournament, a record for any conference. In his first Bracketology of the offseason, Joe Lunardi projected 13 teams to make the cut in 2026. Kentucky is the highest-seeded team from the SEC at No. 2, with Florida and Tennessee next as No. 3 seeds.
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