Florida’s cross-country trip hit a snag Monday.
Coach Todd Golden called his favorite restaurant in San Francisco, Original Joe’s, and got rejected. It didn’t help that he was trying to find space for 17 players, six coaches and at least a dozen more managers and staff.
“They’re too busy. I tried,” Golden said. “They don’t have enough room for the team.”
Golden and the top-seeded Gators (32-4) might have to settle for takeout from the popular Italian-American eatery.
“We’ll figure something out,” he said.
The 39-year-old Golden is counting on the rest of his return trip to Northern California going much smoother — and ending with Florida celebrating the program’s first Final Four in more than a decade.
The Gators play fourth-seeded Maryland (27-8) on Thursday in the Sweet 16 at the Chase Center. It will be a homecoming of sorts for Golden, who played at Saint Mary’s College (2004-08) in nearby Moraga and returned to the Bay Area to coach at San Francisco (2016-22), first as an assistant and then as the head coach for three seasons.
“It’s a handful. It’s a lot,” he said.
His phone has barely stopped buzzing since the Gators rallied past two-time defending national champion UConn, with calls and texts from friends and family members — some looking for tickets and others hoping to line up some time with Golden before his most important game of the season.
“I got a million friends who are like, ‘Hey, do you have 10 minutes for coffee?’ Well, I have 10. But I don’t six different 10s,” Golden said. “Big picture, it sounds great to be able to try to do all these things. But you get there and you’re not going to be able to do that much (stuff).”
Golden has a plan, though. He is inviting those closest to him to Florida’s practice Tuesday and/or walkthrough Wednesday at War Memorial Gym on San Francisco’s campus. The Gators are leaving Gainesville early Tuesday and trying to take advantage of the time difference to practice on the West Coast for a couple days.
“It’s going to be awesome being able to go back,” Golden said. “I’m trying to do everything I can to enjoy it, too.”
Playing better would help.
Florida dominated the first 15 minutes of its NCAA Tournament opener against Norfolk State, leading 51-19 before the Spartans rallied and outscored the Gators the rest of the way. And Golden’s team trailed UConn by six midway through the second half Sunday before wearing the Huskies down and escaping with a 77-75 victory in Raleigh, North Carolina.
“I do feel like it was a little bit of a weight off of our team’s shoulders,” Golden said. “We got the 1 seed, and we played great the first 15 minutes against Norfolk and then we just kind of coasted. And there was pressure going into (UConn). We’ve had an incredible year. But if we’re somehow not able to win this game, I certainly mentally was like, ‘It’s going to be a letdown.’ Like the season’s going to feel like a letdown if we can’t get through this UConn game, which is crazy considering we won 31 games up until that point.
“But that’s the pressure of a 1 seed. That’s the pressure of trying to get a program back to its glory days. And I felt it, and our guys felt that way, especially for the first 30 or so minutes of the game.”
Golden believes his guys played tight early, started pressing after falling behind and made uncharacteristic mistakes along the way. All-American guard Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and Thomas Haugh bailed the Gators out with several huge plays down the stretch.
“After winning, I do feel like the pin popped the balloon,” Golden said. “We can kind of play loose this week.”
Even if they don’t get to go to Joe’s.
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