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Todd Golden calls it ‘surreal’ to face mentor Bruce Pearl in Final Four
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Todd Golden considers Bruce Pearl a mentor and Steven Pearl a close friend. Now, Golden will be coaching against the Pearls for a spot in the national championship game as Florida and Auburn face off in the Final Four on Saturday night in San Antonio.
Golden was asked by Jon Rothstein about his UF squad drawing Pearl’s Tigers in the Final Four.
“It’s crazy, to be honest,” Golden said. “If we would’ve said this at the beginning of the year, a lot of people would’ve laughed at us. … It’s surreal.”
Pearl coached Golden in the 2009 Maccabiah Games. In 2014, Golden joined Pearl’s Auburn staff as director of basketball operations. He was at Auburn until 2016, before leaving for an assistant position at the University of San Francisco, where he became head coach in 2019. Golden remains close with the Pearls.
“As you know, Bruce is one of my mentors and his son, Steven, is one of my best friends,” Golden told Rothstein. “I had FaceTime with Steven last night after they got the win (over Michigan State), we were just shaking our head like, ‘Really? We’re meeting up here again in the Final Four?’ It’s hard to believe.
“But I’m incredibly happy for them and just proud of the success that their’s program had and I know they feel the same way about us. If you’re going to play somebody you care about, you might as well make it in the Final Four where one of you will have the opportunity to go win the national championship the next game you play in.”
Basketball fans are going to hear a lot about the Todd Golden–Bruce Pearl storyline between now and the final horn in Saturday’s showdown.
"It's crazy, to be honest… If we would've said this at the beginning of the year, a lot of people would've laughed at us… Surreal."
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 31, 2025
— @GatorsMBK head coach Todd Golden on coaching against his friend and mentor, Bruce Pearl, in the Final Four. Interview by @JonRothstein pic.twitter.com/S5JnTqZSFW
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
