By Rivers Hughey
Auburn and Florida will meet in the Final Four on Saturday, but the matchup carries more than just conference implications. The game will feature two coaches with a long personal history: Auburn’s Bruce Pearl and Florida’s Todd Golden.
The two share a connection that dates back to 2009, when Pearl coached Golden in the Maccabi Games in Israel. At the time, Golden was playing professionally for Maccabi Haifa in the Israeli Pro League. Pearl recruited Golden to join a team that included his son, Steven Pearl, agent Steven Gruber, and Danny Grunfeld, a former Stanford standout.
“Todd was a great point guard, a great scoring point guard,” Pearl told CBS Sports’ Jaclyn DeAugustino. “And I always said, don’t be fooled by…that beautiful face. He’s a good-looking kid. He’s a tough guy. And his teams play hard. They play physically.”
“Don’t let that sheepish look fool you, he’s the real deal.”
Bruce Pearl on his relationship with Todd Golden. pic.twitter.com/ftcbl44I50
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) April 1, 2025
Pearl said the roster for that gold medal–winning team nearly included another familiar name.
“Scheyer actually had an opportunity to play on that team in 2009,” Pearl said, referring to current Duke head coach Jon Scheyer. “But he had another opportunity that he could not join us. So I almost had all those guys on that team that won the gold medal.”
Golden later joined Pearl’s staff at Auburn in 2014 as Director of Basketball Operations before moving on to become the head coach at San Francisco and eventually Florida.
Auburn and Florida already met once this season, with the Gators winning 90–81 on the road. Auburn went on to win the SEC regular-season title, while Florida claimed the conference tournament championship to secure an automatic NCAA Tournament bid. Both teams enter Saturday as the last remaining SEC representatives.
Each team has taken a different path to the Final Four. Auburn defeated Yale, Baylor, Illinois, and Clemson. Florida advanced by beating Colorado, Marquette, Arizona, and UConn.
Golden said he and Pearl have remained in contact throughout the tournament.
“We don’t necessarily like playing each other,” Golden told FL Teams’ Isaac Edelman. “It’s not something that excites us, but at the same time, when you’re doing it in the Final Four, it’s a little different. One of us will have an opportunity to play for a national championship.”
Golden also spoke with CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein about the unusual nature of the matchup.
“It’s crazy, to be honest,” Golden said. “I think if we would have said this at the beginning of the year, a lot of people would have laughed at us, that we would have been meeting in the Final Four. Surreal. As you know, Bruce is one of my mentors, and his son, Steven, is one of my best friends. I FaceTimed with Steven after they got the win, and we were just sitting there shaking our heads like, ‘Really? We’re meeting up again here in the Final Four?’ It’s hard to believe.”
The winner of Saturday’s game will face either Duke or Houston in the national championship. Tipoff for Florida and Auburn is set at 5 p.m. for the first semifinal, followed by the Blue Devils and Cougars that night.
