Florida basketball coach Todd Golden accused of sexual harassment – ​​report | College basketball

On By Littum

Multiple women have accused Florida men’s basketball coach Todd Golden of sexually harassing female students, school’s student newspaper reported Friday.

Alligator, citing Title IX documents filed Sept. 27, said he has been accused of potential violations of the school’s gender equality policy. They include acts of sexual exploitation, sexual harassment and stalking of Florida students over the past year.

A Florida spokesman declined to comment to the student press, and the university had not issued a statement by early Friday afternoon.

According to the report, Golden “sent photos and videos of his genitalia while traveling for UF,” used social media to make sexual advances and solicit sexual favors, and stalked women. He is said to have taken pictures of women, then sent the pictures to them and also to have visited places where he knew he could find the same women.

The Alligator interviewed two women who said they had complained about Golden, and they confirmed the Title IX documents.

They said Golden had followed, then unfollowed, several women on social media to avoid suspicion, and one of them said his reach for women was vast. He told many women they were “his drug” or “his good luck” before games, she said.

“He just had this manipulation tactic over everybody,” the woman told The Alligator. “And he sent us all the same (messages). It was copy-paste for all the girls.”

Golden, 39, was hired March 18, 2022 as the 20th head coach in Gators history. He came from San Francisco, where he led the Dons to a 57-36 record over three seasons, including a pair of 20-win seasons and their first NCAA Tournament bid in more than two decades.

Before San Francisco, he worked under coach Bruce Pearl at Auburn.

Last season, in his second campaign with the Gators, Golden led the team to 24 wins, a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament and the SEC Tournament Championship for the first time since 2014.

The No. 21 Gators are 2-0 on the season and inactive until Monday when they will host Grambling State.

Golden is married and the father of a young son and daughter.