The Florida men’s basketball team defeated Grambling State on Monday night with Todd Golden on the sidelines in his normal role as head coach.
Golden will remain as the team’s head coach despite a reported Title IX investigation into alleged sexual harassment and stalking. According to a report from The Alligator last week, Golden is accused of sexual harassment and stalking multiple women. Those women reportedly include current and former students from Florida.
The 39-year-old coach called the past few days ‘challenging’ and was asked at his post-match press conference what he would say to the female fans.
“It is clear that in this situation we must follow due process and continue to support our boys. I just hope they let the process play out and see where it ends up,” Golden said.
According to the report, Golden is accused “on more than one occasion” of taking photos of women while they were driving or walking and then sending those photos to them via social media. One woman has accused Golden, who is married, of sending her a photo of his genitals.
After the report was published, Florida took no steps to suspend Golden or place him on leave. The third-year coach released a statement Saturday confirming the existence of an “investigation” and said he had consulted an attorney about possible defamation claims.
“Over the past month, I have actively participated in and respected the confidentiality of an ongoing school investigation,” the statement said. “I recently engaged Ken Turkel to advise me on my ability to pursue defamation claims while this confidential investigation is ongoing. My family and I appreciate the support we have received and remain confident that the university will continue its efforts to complete the review quickly.”
Golden was also asked after Monday’s 86-62 victory if he was concerned about how his circumstances would affect his players. He said he felt good about them participating in the game.
“I wasn’t necessarily worried, I think they know who I am and again, they’re mature, they’re all really good guys and they’re all super focused,” Golden said. “We had really good training and we had a great shoot today, they were locked in.”
