Todd Golden, the head coach of men’s basketball, has reportedly made unwanted sexual advances toward several women on social media.
Todd Golden, the head coach of Florida’s men’s basketball team has been accused by several women of sexual harassment and stalking, according to documents obtained by The Alligator. A formal Title IX complaint was filed against Golden on September 27 alleging. That his actions violated the University of Florida‘s Gender Equity Policy.
UF officials cannot comment on specific Title IX complaints or investigations due to federal regulations.
The complaint includes allegations of sexual exploitation, sexual harassment and stalking. With claims that Golden targeted UF students over the course of a year. The accusations detail incidents such as Golden sending explicit photos and videos while traveling for the university, making unwanted sexual advances on Instagram, asking for sexual favors, and engaging in stalking behavior. These incidents allegedly involved Golden taking photos of women walking or driving and sending them the pictures. As well as showing up at locations where he knew they would be.
On more than one occasion, Todd Golden allegedly interacted with women on Instagram by liking their photos and then un-liking them after they had seen his direct messages, possibly to avoid drawing suspicion.
The UF men’s basketball coaching staff did not respond in time for publication.
The Alligator spoke to two women, who asked to remain anonymous for their safety, and both confirmed Golden’s inappropriate behavior. Both women claimed that, since the investigation began, only limited actions were taken by UF.
One of the women, a former UF student, said Golden stalked her both in person, in his car and on foot, more than 10 times. She recalled an incident where she posted her location on Instagram, and shortly after, Golden messaged her, saying he was in the area “waiting for [her].” She also reported receiving unsolicited explicit photos from Golden, particularly when the team was traveling. As time went on, she said Golden’s stalking became more aggressive.
She described the progression of his behavior, saying it started as unusual attention, but over time became more intrusive. “At first, it starts off slow, like, ‘Oh, wow. That’s odd. This guy is showing us attention.’ 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*ck.’ It was a full grooming process with all of us,” she said.
Both the first and second women, who are former UF students, confirmed that Todd Golden had liked their Instagram posts dating back to 2023, and sometimes even older posts. They said he often liked multiple photos at once, likely in an attempt to get their attention. Afterward, he would un-like the posts to avoid suspicion.
“He would go at such lengths about it,” the first woman explained. “He would go back, like a year back, and like ten 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.”
Read: Pistons vs. Lakers: Injury Report and Depth Chart as LeBron and Team Seek Winning Streak
Both women said Golden had been in contact with them for over a year before unfollowing them after they learned that UF had begun looking into his behavior this past August.
According to Snoopreport, an Instagram activity tracking tool, Golden unfollowed 118 accounts between August 1 and September 1. At least 20 of these accounts appeared to be young women with no known ties to the Florida basketball program or any organizations. He had been affiliated with. The women separately confirmed that Golden had blocked them instead of unfollowing them.
The second woman also revealed that Golden told multiple women that they were “his drug” or “his good luck charm” before games.
The second woman described Golden’s behavior as manipulative, saying, “He just had this manipulation tactic over everyone. And he sent us all the same sh*t. It was copy-paste to every girl.”
Both women also accused UF Special Assistant Ralphie Ferrari and UF Director of Basketball Strategy and Analytics Jonathan Safir of being complicit in Golden’s actions, claiming that they were aware of his misconduct. Neither Ferrari nor Safir were named in the Title IX complaint. And neither responded to requests for comment.
The first woman stated that she believes the problem extends beyond Golden, suggesting that there is a broader culture of sexual harassment within Florida’s coaching staff that has worsened since Golden’s arrival in Gainesville over two years ago. She expressed her belief that the behavior among the coaching staff was troubling, saying, “I think it is just a sick fcking joke that they’re all doing, within that organization, all the coaches. They probably get off by showing each other the pictures… There’s something fcking sick going on there.”
