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What kind of challenge is Florida facing vs. Houston? (1:04)
Seth Greenberg previews Florida’s matchup vs. Houston for the national title. (1:04)
SAN ANTONIO — At 39 years old, Todd Golden is one of the youngest college basketball coaches to lead a team to a national title game. Kelvin Sampson, who will turn 70 later this year, is one of the oldest.
The Houston leader has been a head coach for more than 40 years and reached the Final Four three times, but Sampson’s success and experience do not intimidate the Gators, Golden said.
“I obviously respect everyone that we’re playing against,” Golden said. “We don’t fear people. We respect them. That goes for the coaches, as well. All these guys that we’re competing against at this point are either Hall of Fame coaches or potentially on their way to being Hall of Fame coaches or really, really successful head coaches.
“The fact that we’ve been able to compete and stay alive through five games in the tournament, [we’re] incredibly proud of that. This is a great opportunity again for us [Monday] night. Coach Sampson is a Hall of Fame head coach. If we’re able to beat them, it will be a great honor.”
On Saturday night, Sampson employed his top-ranked defense to beat Duke in the Final Four, despite being down by nine points with 1:31 to play in the game. After one of the most miraculous comebacks in NCAA tournament history, the Cougars will now play in their third national championship game.
Florida will also play in its fourth national championship game and its first since winning back-to-back national titles in 2006 and 2007. Golden said his team — ranked second in adjusted offensive efficiency on KenPom — will have to play smart to defeat a Houston squad that has held opponents to an average of 58.5 points per game, the top mark in the country.
“I mean, their defense worries me a lot, absolutely,” he said. “You look at a guy like [Joseph Tugler], [J’Wan Roberts], they have incredible length and athleticism and physicality inside the paint. They wear you down, make it really hard on you. Yeah, it definitely concerns me. I think we’re going to have a couple different ideas, a couple different pitches, for lack of a better term, to throw at them late in the game. I think there’s going to be some issues for us out there. If we don’t troubleshoot well, we’ll be in trouble.”
While Sampson could put a bow on a decorated career with his first national title on Monday night, Golden could also join a short list of coaches under 50 who’ve cut down the nets. But no matter what happens in the championship game, Golden said he’ll feel privileged to face off against a legend in his profession.
“He’s just an amazing coach,” Golden said. “That’s the biggest challenge. He’s done it at an incredibly high level for a long, long time, at a lot of different places. Coach Sampson and the Houston program are definitely one of, if not the toughest program in America. They’ve been doing it for a long time.”
