Source -- Florida Gators targeting San Francisco's Todd Golden as next men's basketball coach

The University of Florida is targeting San Francisco's Todd Golden as the school's next basketball coach, a source told ESPN. Expect the sides to move quickly with San Francisco's season over after in the losing NCAA tournament on Thursday night.

Golden, 36, led San Francisco to the school's first NCAA tournament bid since 1998. He's led the Dons to a 24-10 record this season, which included a No. 10 seed in the NCAA tournament. No. 10 San Francisco fell to No. 7 Murray State, 92-87, in an overtime thriller in Indianapolis on Thursday night.

In three seasons at San Francisco, Golden compiled a record of 57-36. That included an upset of then-No. 4 Virginia in November of 2020.

The qualities that attracted him to Florida officials included his ability to innovate and connect with players, fitting the mold of other young and hungry coaches who've had success there. Golden's background impressed Florida officials with his fluency in analytics. Golden learned under noted analytic maestro Kyle Smith, who is not the coach at Washington State.

Golden's career prior to taking over at San Francisco in 2017 included assistant coach stops at San Francisco, Auburn and Columbia. The stop at Auburn gives him familiarity in the SEC, as he served both in an operations role and as an assistant coach during his time there from 2014 to 2016.

Golden's San Francisco team this year built an identity as a rugged defensive team, ranking in the Top 25 in KenPom statistics in overall defense (adjusted for efficiency), average defensive possession length and 3-point defense. San Francisco's wins this season included Arizona State, UAB and Davidson.

In the WCC, Golden went up against top-flight coaches like Mark Few (Gonzaga), Randy Bennett (Saint