Exclusive: Golden’s Gators Striving for ‘Next Step’ With Reconstructed Roster

Gators head coach Todd Golden is striving for Florida to take the next step in 2023-24 after reconstructing its roster, he told All Gators in an exclusive interview.

The buzzer sounded for the final time on the Gators' 2022-23 season in a round one NIT loss to the UCF Knights, dropping Florida's record to 16-17 (9-9 SEC) in the first chapter of Todd Golden's book as a head coach in Gainesville.

The on-court results were subpar and met with scrutiny, partly due to the lofty goals Golden set before his inaugural campaign.

It was a trying stretch for the now 38-year-old coach in his first season in the SEC. Departing from San Francisco to assume the head coaching duties at the University of Florida, Golden understood the task of replenishing the unit with a winning standard. The one Billy Donovan created occupied his role at the program's helm.

Year one might not have brought the immediate results Golden sought upon arrival, but, in his eyes, it laid a firm foundation for the future of the program under his thumb.

"There were obviously some really, some different times throughout the year that were trying," Golden told All Gators in an exclusive interview this preseason. "But, with that being said, I think we laid a really good foundation."

Now, he looks to use the trials he and the team faced to expedite the program's rebuild into a rapid rise in an increasingly difficult conference.

Year two is about taking the next step.

The Gators' firm foundation

While there are adjustments to make from a coaching perspective following the mediocre season, Golden's foundational outlook mainly entails the four players who return to the roster in 2023-24.

Reserves Denzel Aberdeen and Aleks Szymczyk, two of the three signees of the staff's transition recruiting class, are viewed as critical components of the team's path forward. Golden described them as program guys.

However, the substantial assets are Riley Kugel and Will Richard due to their large-scale usage and output a year ago.

"We feel really good about those guys being a part of what we're doing this year and moving forward," Golden said.

Kugel is set to return for his sophomore year after a breakout second half of the season in 2022-23.

In the final ten games, Kugel produced at an elite clip for the Gators. He averaged 17 points on 49.6% shooting during that stretch, showcasing an uber-effective scoring prowess with the ability to create shots from all three levels.

Out of need, he didn't operate much as a facilitator, but his vision of the court flashed at times as well. As a result, he earned substantiated pre-draft buzz — presenting an opportunity for him to potentially jump to the NBA. He would've become the first Gators one-and-done player since Bradley Beal in 2012 if he declared.

However, Kugel elected to maintain his eligibility, striving to boost his stock further in hopes of earning a lottery selection in the 2024 NBA Draft process.

Gators guard Riley Kugel shoots from beyond the three-point line against No. 2 Tennessee on Feb. 1. Kugel's four points and six rebounds aided Florida in upsetting the Volunteers, 67-54 / Zach Goodall

In doing so, the Preseason All-SEC Second Team honoree supplies the Gators with a defined top-scoring option heading into year two of his stint in Gainesville. He's expected to headline the Gators in their quest for sustained success. 

Golden said he has seen Kugel's growth to turn that expectation into reality as he hopes to compound last year's outbreak with another uber-productive slate of contests. 

It has started with becoming "much more consistent with his day-to-day."

Richard, on the other hand, transferred into the Florida program following a one-year stint with Belmont in 2021-22.

Producing as a highly effective defender with the length to guard several positions while simultaneously finding ways to disrupt passing lanes, the 6-foot-4, 206-pound wing aided Florida in its strong defensive form.

He saw spurts of sustained play offensively — namely in his ability to space the floor and knock down shots from the perimeter. His scoring output culminated in a 24-point performance against Georgia in Athens on Feb. 28, where the two-way skillset several top schools coveted when he initially hit the transfer portal shined.

Richard capped off his season averaging 10.4 points on 49.3% from the floor and 39.8% from three, 4.5 rebounds and 0.9 steals per game, proving to be the most valuable transfer addition Golden and Co. made ahead of the year. His standing as the lone piece from the portal class to stick around for another run with the program illustrates that fact.

Richard is anticipated to occupy a critical role for the Gators again in his junior season. 

But, while the on-court role is essential, his emergence off the court only elevates his value to the squad.

"I think Will's done a great job," Golden said. "He's done a great job just in terms of his approach every day, his consistency, his ability to talk. It's harder and harder to find guys that are vocal leaders these days and I think Will is someone that takes pride in doing so."

As a result, Kugel, Richard, Aberdeen and Szymczyk became the corner pieces to the Gators' personnel puzzle to begin the offseason. Golden believes he and his staff worked well in compiling talent complementary to the established quartet of scholarship players.

Florida's Offseason Roster Overhaul

Upon the 2022-23 season's conclusion, Golden and Co. immediately began preparation for the ensuing roster overhaul it would experience with several pieces of their inaugural squad set to depart. Eight players eventually left Gainesville.

Florida held commitments from two class of 2023 prospects at the time. Forwards Thomas Haugh and Alex Condon were set to occupy spots in the Gators' frontcourt, leaving six scholarship openings to fill.

Golden, as a result, began to scour the transfer portal to bolster Florida's personnel with ready-now talent.

His goal: Find "proven producers" to stack on the roster, whether from the high-major or mid-major levels of college basketball.

"I think the one thing we wanted to address this year that we didn't do a good enough job with," Golden admitted, "in terms of last year's transfer recruiting was we took — I don't want to say we took some chances — but some guys that weren't necessarily like super proven producers. You know, whether it was in high major level, or guys at the mid-major level."

This time around, he strived to obtain athletes at all spots with the numbers to back up what the staff was seeing on tape during their scouting efforts. Heading into the year, he feels confident they did an adequate job of achieving the objective.

"I think to a man, we did a really good job of getting guys who were highly efficient and higher than 20 [minutes of] usage for the most part, which you know, for them is going to give you guys who are consistent, can really score, make plays," noted Golden.

"Adding nine guys is really challenging to kind of get everybody on the same page. But, now we have 13 guys in our program that we've recruited and signed. Everybody was kind of recruited on 'the right terms.' You know, the way we envision this program being. 

"And we're by no means a finished product, but we're seeing a lot of progress in terms of our competitiveness, our skill, our physicality, our size and those are things that we really wanted to address and improve on as we got into year two."

Gators transfer addition Walter Clayton Jr. in preseason practice. The combo guard averaged 16.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game for Iona in 2022-23 / Zach Goodall

In the backcourt, Florida notably acquired former Iona guard Walter Clayton Jr. — who averaged 16.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists a season ago for the Gaels while serving as a talented scorer and facilitator. Golden felt his commitment made a resounding statement on the trail as they landed one of the transfer cycle's top commodities.

It set the tone for the remainder of the roster reconstruction moving forward.

"I think Walt was a really important one for us because that was a relatively local guy," Golden said about the Lakeland, Fla., native. "It was us against St. John's. Does he go play for his old coach [Rick] Pitino at St. John's, or does he come home? 

"So, for us to get that recruiting win was really important to build this program."

Florida later pinned down UC Riverside transfer Zyon Pullin as a desired asset to pair with Clayton following the commitment of North Texas guard Tylor Perry — a prospect the Gators pursued heavily — to Kansas State in May.

Pullin, initially exploring his options in the professional waters, maintained consistent contact with the Gators while he worked toward his decision: Forgo his final season of eligibility or return to the collegiate level as a graduate transfer?

Ultimately, he withdrew his name from the NBA Draft pool before choosing to attend the University of Florida.

"I think, one, you look at the history and the national championships," Pullin told local media on Sept. 14 when asked what stood out to Florida. "That kind of jumps out at you. Then, the coaching staff, when I came down on my visit, I really saw a family fit here. Then the players, I think they fit me well."

The four-year starter under Mike Magpayo produced 18.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 2022-23, presenting UF with the highly effective three-level scoring threat it previously lacked.

"Zyon, can't say enough about him," Golden said. "Just being a veteran presence. I think he's a really strong, heady player. He can really score. Can make shots, make threes, make floaters and they're going to have to honor him on the court."

The fluidity between Clayton and Pullin from a positional perspective provided the unit another luxury in the effort to grow more multidimensional offensively in 2023-24, according to Golden.

Within that effort for an expanded scoring presence, Golden took a piece of his past to build for the future. Acquiring two-guard Julian Rishwain from San Francisco, Golden reunited with a complementary piece to the Dons' unsuspected tournament run in 2021-22.

During that campaign, Rishwain produced as USF's sharpshooter, knocking down 43% of his attempts from beyond the arc and 44% of his shots from the floor to post 7.4 points per game off the bench. His production dipped in his lone year without Golden — five points per game on 26.9% from the floor and 24.3% from beyond the arc — until he suffered a severe right knee injury in January to effectively end his senior season.

However, after recently being cleared for full contact, Florida anticipates Rishwain to be ready for the 2023-24 campaign. Golden is confident he can return to form as a knockdown shooter to provide the Gators a legitimate threat from the perimeter.

"Julian is a guy that played great for us in our tournament season," Golden said. "Kind of had a tough year last year before getting hurt. But, if he's able to get healthy, will provide a lot of shooting for us and spacing the floor, which is something that, as you know, we couldn't do last year. We just couldn't make shots. He's a proven commodity that can space the floor for us."

Lithuanian guard Kajus Kublickas rounded out the additions when he enrolled as part of the 2023 class in August, filling one of the eight open scholarship spots available at the staff's disposal this offseason.

In the frontcourt, Yale transfer EJ Jarvis' commitment preceded any others. However, the athletic four prospect elected to retire prior to his fifth season of college after just a short time on UF's campus.

Florida also earned pledges from Seton Hall center Tyrese Samuel and Marshall big man Micah Handlogten. Each possesses the size and length to enhance the team's substandard rebounding prowess while maintaining the rim protection quality that former center Colin Castleton provided before his season-ending injury in mid-February.

Samuel, the Gators' lone Power Six transfer, falls into the proven producer category after averaging 11 points and 5.9 rebounds for the Pirates as a senior a season ago. He's expanded his repertoire to possess the ability to occupy both the four and five spots for Florida throughout his line season in Gainesville.

It includes his range to knock down shots from the top of the arc, demonstrated during the team's preseason practices open to the media. He'll likely begin the season at the four for Florida.

Meanwhile, the 7-foot-1 Handlogten stands alongside him at the five to notably present the unit with stout rim protection and glass cleaning ability.

Gators transfer center Micah Handlogten goes above the rim during preseason practice. The 7-foot-1 center is expected to shoulder a prominent frontcourt role for Florida in 2023-24 / Zach Goodall

"Micah, Sunbelt Freshman of the Year, a guy that had tons of offers, could've picked where he wanted to go and really liked the opportunity here," Golden shared. "He's a guy that we'll have for a while, only being a sophomore. He's again, a guy that we would have loved to have last year, for sure."

Finishing 11th in the nation in blocked shots per game (2.3) and 16th in rebounding (9.8) during his true freshman season at Marshall, Handlogten took home Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year honors in 2023.

Golden is content with the talent he and his staff were able to compile ahead of the upcoming campaign. 

Filling various needs with each new player bringing a unique skill set to the table, the head coach is no longer focused on having a roster that can contend in the uber-competitive Southeastern Conference. Rather, he's shifted focus toward outlining a healthy rotation. 

"I just feel like we solidified our depth, we solidified our production," Golden assessed. "We have a lot of guys that can play. So, it's going to be challenging for us as a staff to really kind of drill down on a rotation right now.

"I think in the perfect world, that number is around nine, and for as much depth as we think we might have today, it feels like you need every single one of them during the season, right? So, I think, again, it's a good problem to have."

The Gators have begun to compete for playing time in practice, giving even the walk-on athletes the opportunity to carve out a role if it would aid Florida to reign victorious on the hardwood from November through April.

"We'll really compete a lot in practice and give these guys opportunities," Golden continued. "You know, one of the things that will always be a part of our program, and the only reason why I was ever able to play at St. Mary's was because Randy Bennett gave us an opportunity to compete practice for jobs. I was a walk-on. If he didn't do that, then I would have never really played. 

"So, for us, I don't care if you played a lot last year and killed it or if you're a walk-on, whatever. If you're going to help us win, you're going to play. How do you tell us that you're going to help us win? By winning in practice all the time."

With two preseason scrimmages against Miami and FIU in the books, Golden aimed to get a good pulse for the starting lineup and desired rotation. 

Given the two victories in those contests, albeit mere exhibitions, the anticipated usage of talent has expectedly aligned prior to game one on Monday against Loyola Maryland.

Todd Golden's Expectations for 2023-24

The buzz of the Gators' tournament-level expectations have once again grown louder as the college basketball season grows closer.

Last September, Golden outlined his plan to quickly return the once prestigious program back to the postseason stage.

"I think this team has the makings of an NCAA Tournament team," Golden said prior to last season. "So that will be a simple barometer that we can use once we get to March to see if we've had a successful season or not."

That obviously wasn't the case.

When asked again this time around, he exuded similar confidence for his team's success, but was quick to emphasize the process rather than the end goal in year two.

"I think the easiest way to say it is simply just consistently better than last year," Golden said. "It's like, as you take over a program and, obviously, our goal is to get it back to where it's been in the past, the only way to do that is keep getting better."

Unlike a year ago, perfection will not be required to achieve the objective of returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2020-21 season.

Todd Golden coaches during Florida's preseason practice ahead of the 2023-24 season / Zach Goodall

Instead, with the newly acquired talent and depth on the roster, coupled with the experience under Golden's belt coaching in a league of increased competition, the head coach is focused on that gradual improvement.

In his mind, doing so will result in the Gators winding up where they want to, and feel they belong, at the season's end. Where is that? Amongst the field of 68 teams competing for a national championship. 

"I don't think we have to be as perfect as last year to become that. I think we have a little more room for error. So, we can take that next step, which to me, is making the NCAA Tournament. I would say that would be a good season."

The Gators begin their quest to return to the Big Dance in 2023-24 on Monday when they take on Loyola Maryland inside Exactech Arena at 8 p.m. ET. 

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