UF basketball coach accused of sexual harassment and stalking

On By Littum

Florida men’s basketball head coach Todd Golden has been accused by an unspecified number of women of sexual harassment and stalking, according to Title IX documents obtained by The Alligator.

The University of Florida received a formal Title IX complaint on Golden Sept. 27 alleging that he engaged in various types of conduct that potentially violated UF’s gender equality policy.

To comply with federal law, UF cannot comment on or confirm any Title IX inquiries, complaints or investigations, according to a UF spokesperson.

The formal Title IX complaint against Golden obtained by The Alligator includes allegations of sexual exploitation, sexual harassment and stalking. The complaint alleges that over the course of a year, Golden specifically directed this behavior toward UF students.

The allegations of sexual harassment, which could also include sexual exploitation, cited sending pictures and videos of his genitalia while traveling for UF, unwanted sexual advances on Instagram, requests for sexual favors and various occasions of stalking.

There was allegedly more than one occasion where Golden took pictures of women walking or driving and sent those pictures to the people involved. Various stalking incidents also included Golden showing up to places where he knew the women would be.

On more than one occasion, Golden allegedly engaged women on Instagram by liking photos and then waiting until they read the DM before disliking the photos to avoid suspicion.

The UF men’s basketball coaching staff did not respond in time for publication.

The Alligator spoke to two separate women who attested to Golden’s behavior and requested to remain anonymous for security reasons. Since the investigation began, there was little action taken by UF, both women said.

The first woman, a former UF student, said Golden stalked her personally, both in his car and on foot, and that this happened “more than 10 times.” On one occasion, she said, she posted her location on her Instagram story, and Golden messaged her shortly after saying he was in the area and “waiting for (her).”

She also said Golden sent her unsolicited pictures of his genitalia. On several occasions, the first woman said she received the images while the team was traveling on the road. The nature of Golden’s alleged stalking became more assertive over time, she said.

“At first it starts off slow, like, ‘Oh, wow. This is weird. This guy is showing us attention,'” said the first woman. “And then it becomes, ‘Wow, he’s kind of crossing a line. No, he didn’t mean it that way’. Then it’s, ‘Wait, he’s stepping fully over that line.’ And then it’s, ‘Wow, there’s a picture of his d*ck.’ It was a full nursing process with all of us.”

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Both the first woman and the second woman, also a former UF student, confirmed that Golden liked their Instagram posts as far back as 2023, sometimes even older. Additionally, they said he liked multiple posts at once, allegedly in an attempt to get the women’s attention, before going back and disliking them to avoid suspicion.

“He would go to such lengths about it,” said the first woman. “He would go back like a year and like ten pictures at once. Then of course (he) followed up with a DM, always in disappearing mode… Just really aggressive Instagram stalking is the best way to put it on.”

Golden had been in contact with both women for over a year before unfollowing them after they learned UF began investigating his conduct last August, they said.

According to Snoopreport, a publicly available Instagram activity tracking software, Golden unfollowed 118 accounts on the platform between August 1 and September 1. At least 20, if not more, of those accounts appear to have been young women unaffiliated with the Florida basketball program or other organizations with which Golden was previously associated. The women separately confirmed that Golden had blocked them instead of following along.

The other woman said Golden told several women they were “his drug” or “his good luck” before games.

“He just had this manipulation tactic over everybody,” she said. “And he sent us all the same shit. It was copy-paste for every girl.”

Both women also claim UF Special Assistant Ralphie Ferrari and UF Director of Basketball Strategy and Analytics Jonathan Safir were complicit in Golden’s wrongdoing and had knowledge of it. Neither man was named in the Title IX complaint. Neither responded for comment.

The first woman said this offense goes beyond Golden. She believes there is a culture of sexual harassment within Florida’s coaching staff that has only grown since his arrival in Gainesville more than two years ago, she said.

“I think it’s just a sick f*ck joke that they all do, within that organization, all the coaches,” she said. “They probably get away with showing each other the pictures… There’s something sick going on there.”

Contact Jack Meyer and Max Tucker at [email protected] and [email protected]. Follow them on X @jackmeyerUF and @Max_Tuckr1.

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Jack Meyer

Jack Meyer is a fourth-year reporter and assistant sports editor for The Alligator. In his free time, he enjoys reviewing music, spending time with friends, playing video games, and going to the gym.

Max Tucker

Max Tucker is a junior transfer student at UF. After earning his AA in Journalism from Santa Fe College in 2023, he chose to further his education at Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications. Max is working on his bachelor’s in journalism with a specialization in sports and media. He enjoys playing golf and going to the beach with his friends in his spare time.