When Florida went searching for a new basketball head coach in 2022, the school called Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl for advice on one of its candidates.

That candidate was Todd Golden, the man Florida wound up picking.

“I love Todd,” Pearl said Saturday. “I love him to death. I’m so proud of him. You all know him in the community now. You understand what you’ve got. You’ve got a brilliant young coach, highest character, unbelievable family, kids are playing for him, he cares about the kids, do it the right way. He’s one of the best young coaches in all of college basketball, and he’s here at Florida. I knew that. I was grateful I had a chance to actually talk to some people at Florida when they were deciding. Playing the right way, playing really hard, playing together. They’re good. I root for them every single night except for when they play us.

Pearl spoke so highly of Golden because the second-youngest major conference head coach in America used to be an assistant on Pearl’s staff, and remain close friends to this day.

But Pearl lost to his mentee Saturday by an 81-65 score in Gainesville. Auburn dropped to 19-5 with the loss and 8-3 in the SEC — now one game back of first place.

So what did Pearl tell Florida about Golden?

“‘Who’s better,” Pearl remembered telling Gators officials. “One of my messages was just, ‘Stop. You tell me who’s better? Who’s got a better basketball mind? Who has a better relationship with the kids? Who’s got a better family? OK, maybe you’re not sure if he’s got enough experience. That’s fine.’ I didn’t have to convince anybody at Florida. I think they knew what they had.”

Their relationship goes back to the 2009 Maccabiah Games where Golden was the co-captain of the American team and Pearl the head coach. They went on to win the gold medal.

Pearl then brought Golden to Auburn as an assistant from 2014-2016. After his tenure at Auburn, Golden took an assistant job at San Francisco where he worked his way up to be named the head coach in 2019.

Golden had two seasons with more than 20 wins and in the 2021-22 season, brought San Francisco to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in more than 20 years.

He was hired by Florida in 2022, and is now in his second season as the Gators’ head coach.

“The reality is, I’m not here without Bruce Pearl,” Golden said.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]