By Jeff Faraudo
#WCChoops Columnist | ARCHIVES
 
Asked if Todd Golden, his successor this season as head basketball coach at USF, still looks like he’s 21 years old, Kyle Smith laughed.
 
“He looks younger,” said Smith, now the coach at Washington State after three seasons with the Dons. “Oh my gosh, he doesn’t age. He doesn’t put on weight. He’s amazing.”
 
Golden, actually 34, is demonstrating so far he’s ready for the assignment he was handed last spring after serving as Smith’s right-hand man.
 
USF opened the year with seven straight wins and was 11-3 when it absorbed its inevitable first tough stretch of the season, losing consecutively to Harvard, Saint Mary’s and Portland. The loss to the Pilots was a particularly hard swallow for the Dons, who’d beaten Portland eight straight times.
 
“Honestly, I was racking my brains pretty good after the Portland game. I couldn't put my finger on it but I knew we were off-kilter a little bit,” Golden said. “We took a step back and got back to basics. We focused on the defensive end and rebounding. Fortunately, our guys also looked in the mirror and knew we had to play better.”
 
A year ago, the Dons opened West Coast Conference play at 5-1. This year they were 0-2 heading into games last week vs. Santa Clara and Pacific, two of the league’s hottest teams. Things could have spun off in the wrong direction.
 
Instead, Golden’s common-sense response to the first adversity on his watch helped get the Dons back on course. They won twice to square their WCC record at 2-2. 
 
Golden’s calm at the wheel wasn’t lost on his players. “Being his first year, you’re not sure what’s going to happen when you have bumps in the road,” junior guard Charles Minlend said. “I think he handled it really well.”
 
The new head coach and his players have formed a good marriage. Golden is appreciative that veteran players such as Minlend, Jimbo Lull, Jordan Ratinho and Jamaree Bouyea bring maturity and consistency to the equation.
 
The comfort factor flows the other direction, too. When Smith left for WSU last spring, the players didn't know for sure who’d be coaching them going forward. 
 
“I wasn’t exactly sure what they were going to do,” said Minlend, adding that the players were hoping Golden would get the nod. And when he did? 
 
“The transition couldn't have gone any better,” Minlend said. “They kept the continuity and the culture we had been building. There wasn't as much uncertainty.”
 
Golden has put his own touches on the program, including a faster-paced offense that is producing nearly four more points per game. The Dons remain a balanced attack, with Minlend — the reigning WCC Player of the Week — leading the way at 15.2 points per game.
 
Minlend says the Dons, 13-6 heading into a home game Saturday vs, Loyola Marymount, are far from a finished work. “I think we have more room to grow. None of us are satisfied with what we’ve done,” he said. 
 
Golden isn't likely to let anyone on the roster get comfortable with the status quo. After all, he has gotten to where he’s at by consistently reaching for more.
 
A walk-on guard at Saint Mary’s in 2003-04, Golden was in Moraga when coach Randy Bennett, with Smith as his top aide, laid the foundation for the Gaels’ future success.
 
Golden’s undergrad years at Saint Mary’s spanned the careers of teammates Paul Marigney, Daniel Kickert, Diamon Simpson, Omar Samhan, Mickey McConnell and Patty Mills. 
 
He was a redshirt freshman when the Gaels made their first NCAA tournament in 2005 and a senior starter and co-captain in 2008 when they made it back. 
 
“He’s just a guy that’s overachieved,” Smith said. “He’s really smart and in step with what it takes.”
 
Even so, coaching was not on Golden’s career radar when he left Saint Mary’s. He played professionally for two years in Israel, then returned to the Bay Area to use his business degree, including a stint selling advertising for a local TV sports network.
 
“I enjoyed parts of the sales position . . . the chase, trying to close deals,” he said. 
 
The other side of it was being told a couple times on Friday afternoons he was supposed to remain at his desk until 5:30 p.m. Then developing what he called the “Sunday scaries,” where he began to dread the idea of going to work the next morning.
 
“I felt boxed in,” Golden said.
 
Just in time, Smith had an opening on his staff at Columbia in New York City. Hiring Golden was an easy call, said Smith, who already knew he was getting someone with passion and a work ethic. Golden quickly proved to be a good teacher and an effective recruiter.
 
Golden went on to spend two seasons at Auburn under coach Bruce Pearl, who hired him to work as director of operations, then promoted him to assistant coach. That led to him being reunited with Smith, who landed the head coaching position at USF prior to the 2016-17 season. 
 
But it was in those first months at Columbia, although hardly making enough money to get by, that Golden realized he had found the career he wanted.
 
“I really missed being part of a team, being part of a group that kind of has a common goal,” Golden said. “Obviously, the sales world is not like that. As soon as I got to Columbia, I realized that itch was scratched.”