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Florida men's basketball head coach Todd Golden reportedly faces accusations of sexually exploiting, harassing and stalking an “undefined number of women," according to Jack Meyer and Max Tucker of the University of Florida's student newspaper the Independent Florida Alligator in an exclusive report published on Friday (November 8).
A formal Title IX complaint accused Golden, 39, of requesting sexual favors and sending unsolicited photos of his genitalia through his Instagram account while traveling for school business, the newspaper reported. The coach is also accused of taking photos of women while they were walking or driving and sending them to the individuals involved in the complaint on multiple occasions.
A former UF student claimed Golden stalked her in person after she shared her location on an Instagram story and the coach replied that he was “waiting for [her]” in the area, which she claimed happened more than 10 times, and said she received unsolicited photos of his genitals while the team was on road trips.
“At first, it starts off slow, like, ‘Oh, wow. That’s odd. This guy is showing us attention,’” the woman told the Independent Florida Alligator. “And then it becomes, ‘Wow, he’s kind of crossing a line. No, he didn’t mean it that way.’ Then it’s, ‘Wait, he’s fully stepping over that line.’ And then it’s, ‘Wow, there’s a picture of his d–k.’ It was a full grooming process with all of us.”
A second woman claimed Golden would like several of her Instagram posts in an effort to get her attention before removing the likes to hide activity.
"He would go at such lengths about it,” one of the women said. “He would go back, like a year back, and like 10 photos at once. Then, obviously [he] followed up with a DM, always in vanish mode … Just really aggressive Instagram stalking is the best way to put it.”
The University of Florida reportedly received the Title IX complaint about Golden's alleged activity on September 27. The UF spokesperson told the Independent Florida Alligator that the school was complying with federal law and couldn't confirm nor comment on the Title IX inquiries.
Golden was hired in 2022 after three seasons at San Francisco, having initially worked as an associate from 2016 to 2019. The 39-year-old has a 42-29 (20-16 SEC) record through two full seasons and two games (2-0) into the 2024-25 season, having led the Gators to an NCAA Tournament berth last March.