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ESPN evaluates Florida’s Todd Golden and other first-year coaches

When looking at the Division I college basketball first-year head coaches, Florida’s Todd Golden doesn’t stand out the way Sean Miller at Xavier and Jerome Tang at Kansas State do, but he’s far from a bad hire compared to the underachievers in the class.

ESPN’s Jeff Borzello took a look at each major first-year head coach in the 2022-23 college basketball season after about 20 games, and Golden is still a work in progress that’s showing promise in his eyes. Things didn’t start out so hot for Golden in Gainesville, but the team is starting to string together wins in conference play and is on the bubble of an NCAA Tournament bid.

The month of February will be crucial in determining whether Florida makes it to March Madness, but the foundation has been laid after some early struggles.

“The Gators are starting to pick up some momentum after an inauspicious start to life in the SEC,” Borzello wrote. “They’ve won five of their last six games, with the lone loss coming by two at Texas A&M. That stretch came directly after Florida lost three in a row to fall to 7-7 overall and 0-2 in the league. Golden, whose San Francisco team last season ranked in the top 30 in defensive efficiency, has the Gators at No. 12 in adjusted defensive efficiency at KenPom.

“He’s used a combination of holdovers and newcomers, with Colin Castleton anchoring the defense on the interior and Belmont transfer Will Richard showing flashes offensively.”

One thing Borzello neglected to mention is that Golden has already gone 5-0 against the five first-year SEC head coaches: Dennis Gates at Missouri, Chris Jans at Mississippi State, Matt McMahon at LSU, Lamont Paris at South Carolina and former Florida coach Mike White at Georgia.

Things could be a lot worse for Golden. Kyle Neptune’s first year at the helm for Villanova isn’t going so hot and Kenny Payne is facing a disaster scenario at Louisville, according to ESPN. Golden’s situation is more comparable to Seton Hall’s Shaheen Holloway, who is beginning to figure things out after a slow start.

It’s too early to say that Golden is among the better hires in the class, but things are pointing up more than they are down right now. Closing out Year 1 strong will help solidify him as an above-average hire.

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Story originally appeared on Gators Wire