- The Florida Gators men’s basketball team displayed a relaxed and confident atmosphere in their locker room ahead of their Final Four matchup against the Auburn Tigers.
- The Gators, led by coach Todd Golden, believe their experience, consistency, and ability to bounce back from losses have earned them their spot in the Final Four.
- Auburn, despite being the No. 1 overall seed, enters the game as underdogs against Florida, but they remain confident having faced tough opponents throughout the tournament.
SAN ANTONIO – Miami and Florida were on the field playing in a game of EA Sports’ NCAA Football 2024 while chants of “DJ Lagway!” filled the space.
It sounded and felt like a typical college dorm room.
Instead, it was Florida basketball’s locker room two days before the program’s biggest game in a decade.
Inside the bowels of the Alamodome in San Antonio at the Final Four, the Gators projected a relaxed vibe. Florida’s All-American point guard Walter Clayton Jr. was screaming, 7-foot-9 freshman Oliver Rioux enjoyed reporters gawking at his height and sophomore forward Alex Condon remained his stoic self.
Florida basketball feels it deserves this spot
Coach Todd Golden embraces his team’s mentality. Sure, UF’s players, with the exception of Alijah Martin who made a Final Four run with FAU, have never been here before, but the team deserves to be here.
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“We didn’t make it here by accident,” Golden said. “We earned the opportunity to be here and to compete. I think they understand what’s at stake, but at the same time they want to enjoy being here and enjoy the fruits of the labor that we’ve had all year.”
It stems from the maturity of UF’s group. Martin, Clayton and Will Richard all have four years of experience under their belt.
“Very unselfish group, guys that are very driven. You look at the way we played all year,” Golden said. “We’ve been a very consistent team. We’ve always been able to bounce back from losses the right way.”
Richard said his approach is to take it all in. Most collegiate basketball players never reach this stage.
“It’s what you dream of as a kid,” Richard said. “It’s a blessing to be a part of it.”
This is especially true for Richard, who transferred from Belmont in 2023 and bought into Golden’s vision before he ever coached in Gainesville. He saw the players coach that he was.
“He was just as eager to win as anyone I ever met,” Richard said. “I connected with him from my first conversation, and you knew that something goes on come out of this. It’s good to see how big the program has changed from that first year to now.”
Gators big men ready to show themselves off
Center Micah Handlogten said the game story couldn’t be written up any better for him. Auburn, of course, is the team Florida was playing when he broke his leg in the SEC Tournament last season. He was still recovering when the Gators played the Tigers in February, meaning AU hasn’t seen him with the 40 pounds he put on. In addition, Handlogten believes his bench role this season allows him to impact the game in different ways.
“I can see how they’re playing. What I can do to impact the game through looking at how they’re playing,” Handlogten said.
Alex Condon’s injury in the Sweet 16 vs. Maryland applied quick pressure to Handlogten and the rest of the frontcourt. Handlogten, who scored six points against Texas Tech, didn’t shy away and called the frontcourt depth the “beauty” of Florida’s team.
“We have so much depth in our in our frontcourt that some person can go down and we can still be good,” Handlogten said. “We have Sam Alexis, who would start at 90% of schools in America, that is coming off the bench.”
No one stepped up more in Condon’s hobbled state than Thomas Haugh. The forward endeared himself to Gator Nation with two clutch 3-pointers in a 20-point, 11-rebound game vs. Texas Tech.
Haugh said the nerves didn’t bother him in San Francisco when he knocked down the two triples to cut the Red Raider lead from nine to three.
“I just practiced a lot this summer and was able to knock them down,” Haugh said. “Teammates found me in the right spots, Walt made some good passes, and we were able to get it done.”
He acknowledged the nerves might bother him a little bit more now, in the biggest stage in college basketball. He isn’t worried about the shooting and depth perception of playing in a dome.
“We got here three days early, so it’s going to be it’s going to be great to get out there and get some shots, and I think everybody’s starting to get adjusted well,” Haugh said.
How Florida’s locker room compared to Auburn
Auburn’s locker room, while a little less boisterous than Florida, still carried a loosened feeling. Players battled in NBA 2K and waited for microphones to be shoved in their face.
The Tigers are the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament and won the SEC regular-season title. Yet, the Gators are favored Saturday. AU star Johni Broome didn’t say the Tigers are motivated per se. More so, they are confident because they already played Houston, Duke and Florida.
“We played everyone here, so we’re ready for each matchup we got to play against,” Broome said. “We’re looking to, you know, come out on top.”
While no Auburn players have played in a Final Four, its coach – Bruce Pearl – was here in 2019. He’s told his team to eliminate distractions with media and off-the-court activities.
“Just keeping the main thing, the main thing,” guard Miles Kelly said. “We played basketball our whole life, so just rely on our work and go out there and show it.”
The Gators and Tigers tip off at 6:09 p.m. Saturday from the Alamodome.
Noah Ram covers Gainesville-area high school sports and University of Florida athletics for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him by email at [email protected] and follow him @Noah_ram1 on X/Twitter.
