Todd Golden seemed to receive a smattering of cheers and little to no boos from the Florida crowd during pregame introductions on Monday night.
The Gators men’s head basketball coach is under the microscope after The Alligator, the University of Florida’s independent student newspaper, first reported that Golden was facing a Title IX complaint over allegations of sexually harassing female students at the school.
Despite the disturbing allegations against Golden, he has been allowed to continue coaching the Gators and was on the bench on Monday for Florida’s game against Grambling State.
Golden, 39, was the last person introduced during pregame introductions and fans could be heard cheering for him when the public address announcer at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center said his name.
In a video posted to social media by the Gainsville Sun’s Noah Ram, one boo could be heard as the arena’s light came on after player introductions.
The ESPN+ broadcast also appeared to go out of its way not to bring up the allegations against Golden.
WTV sports anchor Alex Walker posted on X that the broadcast team did not mention the sexual harassment allegations or the Title IX investigation into Golden once during the first half of the game and he was only shown a handful of times during the broadcast.
Golden said in a statement over the weekend that he had been “actively” participating in the inquiry and that he had spoken with a lawyer about “my ability to bring defamation claims while this confidential investigation is ongoing.”
Federal law prohibits the University of Florida from commenting on or confirming any Title IX inquiries, a school spokesperson told USA Today in a statement.
The school received the complaint on Sept. 27 and it included allegations that Golden had requested sexual favors and had sent photos and videos of his genitalia to current and former students on Instagram while traveling on university business.
Another former student told The Alligator that Godlen had stalked her and sent her unsolicited images of his genitals.
