Holmdel’s Dave Klatsky steps onto college basketball’s biggest stage as Florida assistant

The rims are still 10 feet above the court, but the college basketball world looks a lot different to Dave Klatsky since he stepped off the coaching carousel last week.

After guiding New York University to the Division 3 NCAA Tournament title game in March, the former Holmdel High School star was hired by D-1 national champion Florida as an assistant coach.

“You show up to a recruit breakfast and a manager already has the tables put together, or you get your film and a manager has already cut up offense and defense,” Klatsky said of his new gig. “Those are things that in my career I’ve been doing myself.”

The 44-year-old is no stranger to Division 1 – he was an assistant coach at Colgate for 11 seasons before taking charge at NYU in 2022 – but it’s been quite a whirlwind for a guy who’s used to sweeping the floors. First, there was the dramatic ending to NYU’s 29-2 campaign, a last-second loss to Trinity College of Connecticut in the title game.

“It was an incredible run,” Klatsky said. “I was so proud of our team for the resolve, the camaraderie and sacrifice that they put in to make it happen. We had a lot of talent, but that talent really came together and showcased itself in that tournament.”

Then he was a finalist for the head-coaching opening at Penn, his alma mater, which wound up hiring another former Quaker – deposed Iowa skipper Fran McCaffery.

“I was extremely excited about the Penn opportunity, and they didn’t see me as their guy – that’s how it works sometimes,” Klatsky said. “I was disappointed in that, I was frustrated; those are the feelings you get on the coaching carousel. But you just bounce right back, and for me I was fortunate enough to have another opportunity a couple of weeks later in Florida – and it’s one I’m extremely excited about.”

His arrival at Florida was no accident. Brother-in-law Kevin Hovde was an assistant coach on the Gators’ championship squad and had just taken the top job at Columbia.

“We are super close; we talk basically every night,” Klatsky said. “Through that family connection I had gotten to be really close with (Florida’s) staff.”

Gators head coach Todd Golden had two openings to fill because another assistant, John Andrzejek, got the head-coaching gig at Campbell. The fit made sense for both Klatsky – who is one step closer to becoming a Division I head coach – and Golden, who gets a reliable analytics mind that fits what he’s built.

“I can come right in and help with running the offense and help Todd running the program,” Klatsky said. “I think they’ve got a pretty good grasp of recruiting right now; I’ll eventually get into that as well. But I think the void that Kevin and John left, I have a lot of similar skills I can fill in.”

As a former point guard, he’ll have an intriguing playmaker to work with in Xaivian Lee, who is coming off an All-Ivy League campaign at Princeton and was one of the most sought-after transfers this offseason.

“I’m extremely excited to get on the court with him,” Klatsky said. “I haven’t coached a player like him yet, but at Colgate we used to call it ‘Point Guard U’ because pretty much every year we ended up with an all-league point guard. (Lee) should be in the NBA someday, and hopefully this year we can get him prepared for that and get him to be the best player he can be.”

Like Lee, Klatsky is encountering a vastly different culture. He’s coming from a place where there is no NIL and where players sometimes miss practice due to class conflicts, joining a program that is big business – with the fan base and the pressure to match.  

“It’s a big adjustment; I’m learning that on the fly,” Klatsky said. “Luckily I’m coming into a really good program that is established and has a successful way of doing things. I can add a little bit of my flavor to it, but I don’t have to reinvent the wheel. I’m excited about it and it’s a different world, but at the end of the day it’s basketball. I just got done watching their full offense, and I’m excited to keep that offense going and be the guy that runs it now.”

Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.

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