(JTA) — Todd Golden became the first Jewish coach in 37 years to win the NCAA men’s basketball tournament as his Florida Gators edged Houston 65-63 in the final on Monday night.
Golden’s championship capped an especially Jewish- and Israeli-inflected Final Four. Along with Florida, Duke and Auburn were coached, respectively, by Jon Scheyer and Bruce Pearl, both of whom are Jewish. Houston player Emanuel Sharp is the son of longtime Maccabi Tel Aviv player Derrick Sharp, and himself played for Israel’s national youth team.
Golden’s previous post was as coach of the basketball team at the University of San Francisco. In 2022, he led the Dons to their first March Madness appearance since 1998, though they didn’t get far.
He grew up playing basketball at the JCC in Phoenix, Arizona, and became an Israeli citizen while playing two seasons for Maccabi Haifa.
Golden, 39, is also the youngest coach to win it all since the tournament expanded its current structure in 1985. After playing college ball himself, he played for Maccabi Haifa, an Israeli pro basketball team, for two seasons. In 2009 he also played under Pearl in the Maccabiah Games in Israel.
Golden faced, and beat, his mentor on Saturday as Florida topped Auburn in the semifinal. Ahead of that game, Pearl and Golden sat for a joint interview.
Earlier this season, Golden was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women, which led to a Title IX investigation. Investigators dismissed the charges as they found Golden had not committed misconduct “within a university program or activity,” the investigators said.
The most recent Jewish coach to win the tournament before Golden was Larry Brown, who led Kansas to a championship in 1988.