Todd Golden stood in front of the SEC Media Day microphones on Wednesday with a familiar kind of weight on his shoulders.
A year ago, he was doing the same thing in Birmingham, talking as the coach of the defending national champions and carrying the burden that comes with being everyone’s target. This time, the Gators were not the reigning champs, but the pressure looked awfully similar. Florida arrived at SEC Tipoff ’27 at the Grand Bohemian Hotel coming off a regular-season SEC title and sitting at No. 1 in the league’s preseason rankings for the second year in a row.
Golden, along with Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu, spent the day answering the kind of questions that come with that status. And this time, the group could point to last season as proof that they had already lived through the noise once.
“All of our guys, myself included, can use last year as a learning experience to not allow the expectations to affect us or dictate how we go,” Golden said. “We are more ready for this this year than we were last year.”
The return of Florida’s frontcourt trio gave the event a familiar look, too. Haugh, Condon and Chinyelu were all back at media day after attending last year, and this time the buzz around them is even louder. Golden called them “great models, great leaders,” and said, “These guys have put the team first, and I've really appreciated the way they led so far.”
Each of them brought a different layer of star power into the room. Haugh earned preseason SEC Player of the Year honors, the first Gator to do it since Keyontae Johnson ahead of the 2020-21 season. He also finished last year on All-SEC First Team after putting up 17.1 points and 6.1 boards per game.
“Playing in this league, it’s the most difficult, the most physical league in America and college basketball,” he said. “Being able to play in this, you become the most pro-ready player.”
Chinyelu, meanwhile, enters the season as the defending Naismith Defensive Player of the Year after averaging 10.9 points and 11.2 rebounds last year. That rebounding total made him the first Gator in 50 years to finish a season with double-digit boards on average. Condon also drew strong preseason recognition, landing on the second team after a second half of the 2025-26 season in which he averaged 16.5 points.
That trio’s return to Gainesville was one of the biggest storylines of the offseason. All three passed on the 2026 NBA Draft, where they were expected to hear their names called, and Haugh said the choice ultimately came down to one thing.
“It was an amazing decision that was in front of me either way I chose,” Haugh said. “Eventually, it was these guys coming back … Just that ability to have another year to go try to cut down a net was huge for me.”
For Condon, the goal is bigger than another strong season. “Us three, we want to leave a legacy at Florida,” Condon said. “We were able to get that national championship our sophomore year, and hopefully our fourth year we can say the same thing.”
Golden also found himself answering questions about a more personal subplot that has followed Florida for two straight media days: Denzel Aberdeen.
Last year, Golden was asked about losing Aberdeen, who had played an important reserve role during Florida’s 2025 national championship run. He said then, “We would have loved to have Denzel back,” and added, “There were other things that were more important to him than what we had to offer.
This time, the conversation flipped after Aberdeen got a temporary injunction on Sept. 29, making him eligible for the upcoming season. In his lone year at Kentucky, he averaged 13.5 points and 3.4 assists per game and scored 17 points per game over three meetings with Florida last season.
Golden said there was never any lingering tension.
“When he left, obviously we were disappointed to see him go, but there was never really ill will,” Golden said. “He remained really close with the guys on the team … Of course we were excited to bring him back.”
Florida now turns all of that attention toward Nov. 2, when it opens the 2026-27 season against Miami in Tampa at Benchmark International Arena, the same building where the Gators came up short in March Madness.
In Other News...
Todd Golden Calls Out NCAA Fight Hanging Over Floridas Season
Florida has already seen how the NCAAs shifting eligibility rules can ripple into a season, and Todd Golden is not hiding his frustration with the latest version of the issue. Denzel Aberdeen was cleared to play in the 2026-27 season after a dispute over the five-year eligibility rule that had initially left out athletes from the high school class of 2022, a wrinkle that Golden argued made little sense given how the policy was being applied.
Aberdeen took the standard college path and is now eligible under the revised rule, which applies to the class of 2023 and beyond, but the broader fight is still hanging over the sport. Golden has made clear he views the NCAAs approach as inconsistent, and the legal battles tied to it have become another reminder that roster planning can shift just as fast as the rules themselves. [Read more 🡒]
Florida Needs Vernell Brown For Texas But One Problem Remains
Florida has a chance to get a key piece back at the right time, with wide receiver Vernell Brown III practicing recently after missing the past two games because of a knee injury. His timing matters because Brown has been one of the more reliable targets in the offense this season, piling up 17 catches for 271 yards and two touchdowns, and the Gators could use that kind of production with Texas coming to town.
The wrinkle is at quarterback, where Aaron Philo is questionable because of a shoulder injury. If he cannot go, sophomore Tramell Jones Jr. is expected to start, which would only add to the uncertainty around how Florida will piece together its passing game. Browns availability is still a positive sign, but the Gators may not know until later how much of that boost they can actually use. [Read more 🡒]
Florida's Defense Has One Growing Problem At The Worst Time
Floridas defense has reached an uncomfortable point midway through the season, with the unit giving up 29.0 points per game overall and 37.0 in conference play, numbers that put the Gators near the bottom of the SEC. Head coach Jon Sumrall has responded by taking a more hands-on approach, while defensive coordinator Brad White has pointed to the accumulation of small errors as a major reason the group keeps losing ground.
The timing is what makes it sting. Florida is trying to clean up communication and play more consistently, but the next test is a daunting one in No. 7 Texas, a matchup that offers little margin for the kind of breakdowns White has been describing. With the schedule tightening and the standard for defensive improvement getting higher by the week, the Gators need the fixes to show up quickly. [Read more 🡒]