Transcript courtesy ASAP
THE MODERATOR: We are now ready to begin Coach Golden's portion of the press conference.
Coach, could you please give us an opening statement.
TODD GOLDEN: Obviously really, really fortunate and happy to be here. Really proud of the season that our players have had to this point. 30 wins, winning the SEC Championship last week in the tournament, and earning the 1 seed is something we're really proud of, and we're hoping we're just getting started.
Q. Smile, man. So the big 3 was just up here, the veteran guard guys, and there's more than for, but the main post players, how much of a separator are they from what most teams can bring to the table in terms of their effort and their depth?
TODD GOLDEN: For a large part of the season, our perimeter received a lot of the credit, as they should for the level in which they played consistently. Denzel is in that group as well. Urby has come on and played very well.
As you said, I do think the separators are frontcourt. Reuben and Alex did a great job starting for us all year. Tommy, definitely an additional starter-level player, one of the best sixth man in the league, has played an all league level for a majority of the season. Being fortunate enough to add Micah back about a month ago was just an addition, that for lack of a better term, completed us. It gave us strength on the front line and allowed us to go nine deep.
As we won 12 out of the last 13, our frontcourt deserves a lot of credit for that. Coach Barnes talked about it after the SEC Championship game as being one of the most complete front lines in America, and I agree with that.
Q. Just with regard to Walter, just curious how much you'd followed his journey prior to coming to Florida and what separates him, what makes him special.
TODD GOLDEN: When we were fortunate enough to get the opportunity here at Florida, we kind of did a research project on all the young men from the state that were playing elsewhere to try to prepare for the transfer portal and try to just have a good understanding of who was out there.
So we were able to identify him. He obviously had a fantastic season at Iona as a sophomore and played for Coach Pitino, one of the best coaches in our profession. So when he became available, he was a guy we really, really wanted to add to our program because we felt like he would really raise the bar for us.
When we were able to secure his commitment and add him, obviously we haven't looked back. He's a big part as to why we've been so successful. He had a great year for us last year, playing alongside Zyon Pullin, but the strides and the growth that he's made this year, I can't say enough about him and the work he's put in to get there.
A lot of people questioned his ability to play point guard at the SEC level, and he, in my humble opinion, is playing like the best guard in America right now. He's as big a part of our success as anybody. His leadership has been fantastic. He's consistent. He works hard. He asks a lot out of his teammates, but he always delivers himself.
Walter Clayton is very, very, very impactful as to why we've been able to kind of raise the level of our program.
Q. Todd, last year you guys had confidence, you were close, but this year there's almost an assurance about this team, and it's paid off. Where does that come from, the buy-in, what is it? Where's the giant leap from last year, year 2 to year 3?
TODD GOLDEN: To that point, I thought we were close last year. We did a lot of good things. We were fantastic offensively we were explosive, averaged close to 90 a game. But we also had some areas of weakness.
Our defense specifically was a spot where we were really inconsistent, and we didn't play consistently enough at the level to be a very, very good team.
After last year, I think our staff did a good job of self-evaluating and understanding where we needed to improve and get better, both from a coaching perspective and a roster perspective. We went out, and the two main guys obviously that we added from the portal in Alijah and Reuben, have just added a level of toughness and physicality and really raised the bar for us on the defensive end.
We bet on our guys and our program making a jump, and those guys certainly have done that. Alex Condon, Tommy, Denzel, Will, and Walt, all five of them specifically have made a big leap this year and are much better than they were last year. The personality of our team is starting to show in terms of their unselfishness and their willingness to play for each other.
All of those things together have given this group a lot of confidence. Our players compete really hard, they're really talented, but they allow us to coach them and hold them accountable. Those are the main reasons why we've been so successful this year.
Q. Todd, obviously you guys have big goals and aspirations, but for this first game, how much is it important for you and your team to get this win? For you as a coach and then for the group that went through last year.
TODD GOLDEN: Obviously incredibly important because, if we don't, we're going home. This is kind of just the next step. Norfolk State honestly is a very good team. They're a very good team. I think they're incredibly well coached. They run good stuff offensively. They're unique defensively. They'll throw different defenses at you.
They're going to make us think tomorrow, which I think is a good strategy in this type of situation. But our guys will be prepared. From a program standpoint, we obviously made a big jump last week getting back to being able to raise a trophy at the SEC Tournament, and now we feel like taking this next step in the NCAA Tournament, obviously winning tomorrow will be the first step in our ability to make a deep run.
As you said, it starts tomorrow. We've got to have a great game tomorrow night.
Q. You talked about near the end of the season, throughout the season, the underdog mentality that your team carries. How do you maintain that mentality while also seeing basically almost the entire national media still choose you guys as National Championship favorites.
TODD GOLDEN: It's changed a lot over the last 72 hours, I can promise you that. We went into Nashville still feeling like we had a lot to prove and that we maybe weren't getting the respect nationally that we deserved.
After three great games in three days there, it's flipped, and now we have a different challenge ahead of us, and that's handling success. Being in the eye of the media and having people talk about us. ESPN, their four media guys, all selected us to win the National Championship Sunday afternoon after we won the SEC Tournament.
The talk of our team has been we have to do everything we can to stay consistent, to stay humble, and not allow all the just excitement around our program take away from what's made us who we are this year, which is a tough team that plays with an edge.
I believe our guys are mature enough to handle that. Our staff understands what's in front of us. We're going to do everything we can to continue to play the way we have up to this point.
THE MODERATOR: We are now ready to begin Coach Golden's portion of the press conference.
Coach, could you please give us an opening statement.
TODD GOLDEN: Obviously really, really fortunate and happy to be here. Really proud of the season that our players have had to this point. 30 wins, winning the SEC Championship last week in the tournament, and earning the 1 seed is something we're really proud of, and we're hoping we're just getting started.
Q. Smile, man. So the big 3 was just up here, the veteran guard guys, and there's more than for, but the main post players, how much of a separator are they from what most teams can bring to the table in terms of their effort and their depth?
TODD GOLDEN: For a large part of the season, our perimeter received a lot of the credit, as they should for the level in which they played consistently. Denzel is in that group as well. Urby has come on and played very well.
As you said, I do think the separators are frontcourt. Reuben and Alex did a great job starting for us all year. Tommy, definitely an additional starter-level player, one of the best sixth man in the league, has played an all league level for a majority of the season. Being fortunate enough to add Micah back about a month ago was just an addition, that for lack of a better term, completed us. It gave us strength on the front line and allowed us to go nine deep.
As we won 12 out of the last 13, our frontcourt deserves a lot of credit for that. Coach Barnes talked about it after the SEC Championship game as being one of the most complete front lines in America, and I agree with that.
Q. Just with regard to Walter, just curious how much you'd followed his journey prior to coming to Florida and what separates him, what makes him special.
TODD GOLDEN: When we were fortunate enough to get the opportunity here at Florida, we kind of did a research project on all the young men from the state that were playing elsewhere to try to prepare for the transfer portal and try to just have a good understanding of who was out there.
So we were able to identify him. He obviously had a fantastic season at Iona as a sophomore and played for Coach Pitino, one of the best coaches in our profession. So when he became available, he was a guy we really, really wanted to add to our program because we felt like he would really raise the bar for us.
When we were able to secure his commitment and add him, obviously we haven't looked back. He's a big part as to why we've been so successful. He had a great year for us last year, playing alongside Zyon Pullin, but the strides and the growth that he's made this year, I can't say enough about him and the work he's put in to get there.
A lot of people questioned his ability to play point guard at the SEC level, and he, in my humble opinion, is playing like the best guard in America right now. He's as big a part of our success as anybody. His leadership has been fantastic. He's consistent. He works hard. He asks a lot out of his teammates, but he always delivers himself.
Walter Clayton is very, very, very impactful as to why we've been able to kind of raise the level of our program.
Q. Todd, last year you guys had confidence, you were close, but this year there's almost an assurance about this team, and it's paid off. Where does that come from, the buy-in, what is it? Where's the giant leap from last year, year 2 to year 3?
TODD GOLDEN: To that point, I thought we were close last year. We did a lot of good things. We were fantastic offensively we were explosive, averaged close to 90 a game. But we also had some areas of weakness.
Our defense specifically was a spot where we were really inconsistent, and we didn't play consistently enough at the level to be a very, very good team.
After last year, I think our staff did a good job of self-evaluating and understanding where we needed to improve and get better, both from a coaching perspective and a roster perspective. We went out, and the two main guys obviously that we added from the portal in Alijah and Reuben, have just added a level of toughness and physicality and really raised the bar for us on the defensive end.
We bet on our guys and our program making a jump, and those guys certainly have done that. Alex Condon, Tommy, Denzel, Will, and Walt, all five of them specifically have made a big leap this year and are much better than they were last year. The personality of our team is starting to show in terms of their unselfishness and their willingness to play for each other.
All of those things together have given this group a lot of confidence. Our players compete really hard, they're really talented, but they allow us to coach them and hold them accountable. Those are the main reasons why we've been so successful this year.
Q. Todd, obviously you guys have big goals and aspirations, but for this first game, how much is it important for you and your team to get this win? For you as a coach and then for the group that went through last year.
TODD GOLDEN: Obviously incredibly important because, if we don't, we're going home. This is kind of just the next step. Norfolk State honestly is a very good team. They're a very good team. I think they're incredibly well coached. They run good stuff offensively. They're unique defensively. They'll throw different defenses at you.
They're going to make us think tomorrow, which I think is a good strategy in this type of situation. But our guys will be prepared. From a program standpoint, we obviously made a big jump last week getting back to being able to raise a trophy at the SEC Tournament, and now we feel like taking this next step in the NCAA Tournament, obviously winning tomorrow will be the first step in our ability to make a deep run.
As you said, it starts tomorrow. We've got to have a great game tomorrow night.
Q. You talked about near the end of the season, throughout the season, the underdog mentality that your team carries. How do you maintain that mentality while also seeing basically almost the entire national media still choose you guys as National Championship favorites.
TODD GOLDEN: It's changed a lot over the last 72 hours, I can promise you that. We went into Nashville still feeling like we had a lot to prove and that we maybe weren't getting the respect nationally that we deserved.
After three great games in three days there, it's flipped, and now we have a different challenge ahead of us, and that's handling success. Being in the eye of the media and having people talk about us. ESPN, their four media guys, all selected us to win the National Championship Sunday afternoon after we won the SEC Tournament.
The talk of our team has been we have to do everything we can to stay consistent, to stay humble, and not allow all the just excitement around our program take away from what's made us who we are this year, which is a tough team that plays with an edge.
I believe our guys are mature enough to handle that. Our staff understands what's in front of us. We're going to do everything we can to continue to play the way we have up to this point.