Todd Golden is being rewarded with an extension before his first NCAA Tournament game as Florida’s head coach.

According to reports, Golden is getting a new contract that runs through the 2029-30 season. He will make $4 million per year on the new deal, which extends him two seasons. In 2022, Golden was signed to a 6-year deal worth $18 million. Jacob Rudner of 247Sports was first to report the news.

Golden’s extension comes after Florida went 21-10 overall and 11-7 in SEC play in 2023-24, the second season of his tenure. While the NCAA Tournament will not be set until Sunday, the Gators are considered a lock to make the Big Dance. For Florida, it will mark the first trip back to the NCAA Tournament since 2021.

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Golden off to encouraging start, but Florida basketball isn’t “back” yet

Golden has a 92-63 record as a head coach ahead of Thursday’s SEC Tournament game against a Georgia club coached by Mike White, his Florida predecessor.

Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin hired Golden, a former Auburn assistant under Bruce Pearl, after going 57-36 in 3 seasons at San Francisco, taking the Dons to the NCAA Tournament in 2022.

Golden’s Florida tenure began with a 16-17 season that ended with a first-round loss in the NIT. The 2022-23 Gators struggled down the stretch after big man Colin Castleton was lost to injury in mid-February.

Golden’s second season has been highlighted by wins over ranked Auburn and Alabama clubs at home, and beating a top-10 Kentucky team at Rupp Arena. If not for a late rally by UK in the ODome, the Gators would have posted a 15-0 record at home in Year 2 under Golden.

UF has not been a strong road squad under Golden. Last year’s team was 4-7 in true road games, and this year’s team went 3-7. The Gators are 4-2 in neutral-site games this season, a mark they are looking to improve in the SEC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.

Getting back to the Big Dance is an important accomplishment. Gator Nation, though, has higher standards for Florida basketball than just making the NCAA Tournament.

While White left on his own terms to UGA, he was clearly impacted by the hot seat chatter.

White was 4-of-6 on making the NCAA Tournament in his UF tenure (the 2020 team was 19-12 and 11-7 in conference play before the COVID shutdown). White made the Elite Eight in his second season, but the Gators could not get out of the opening weekend in 2018, ’19 or ’21.

While it’s unfair to expect Billy Donovan’s success of multiple national championships to be replicated, the Florida fanbase may sour on Golden’s extension if he struggles to make the Sweet 16 and bring SEC hardware home to Gainesville.