GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Todd Golden, the head coach of the University of Florida men's basketball team, had already designated a special place to keep the Final Four net he snipped down in San Antonio. And this past Saturday, that net looked perfectly natural draped around his neck.

Golden and his Florida Gators team basked in another national championship celebration, this time in front of roughly 60,000 fans packed into Florida Field during halftime of the annual football spring game. Another commemorative event looms for the basketball team: an expected trip to the White House this summer.

"It's surreal," Golden said. "Today was awesome. Especially for the older guys, they're going to be leaving to go train for the NBA draft. You don't know when you're going to get them all back together." He added, "For me, the most important thing was that we were able to honor our guys in front of our fans in such short order. For the fans who supported us all year, it was special that they got to see this group of guys together one last time."

Golden sported a piece of the championship net he cut down at the Alamodome, while center Micah Handlogten wore the rest. Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin, and Will Richard carried the championship trophy onto the field.

Players and coaches were introduced one by one as a highlight reel of Florida's six-game NCAA Tournament run played on the stadium's massive video board. Clayton, the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player, and Golden predictably drew the loudest cheers.

Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward presented Golden with a key to the city, telling him, "We hope you always remember this is home."

It doesn't appear Golden will be leaving that home anytime soon. He said contract extension discussions with athletic director Scott Stricklin are in the final stages. The coaches who led Florida to its last five national championships – men's golf's J.C. Deacon, track and field's Mike Holloway, baseball's Kevin O'Sullivan, and softball's Tim Walton – all signed 10-year deals after their titles. Could Golden be next?

"My whole family loves it here," said Golden, who made $3.6 million this season, ranking 12th among SEC coaches. "In a short three years, we've met a lot of great people and have been able to get comfortable. Florida is a place where you can win national championships, as we just proved. We love it here. I've had a lot of conversations with Stricklin. I think we're going to get to a really good place where the Golden family is going to be here for a long time. Hopefully, we'll get that wrapped up in the next week or two."

Golden unveiled a rendering of the team's third championship banner that will hang in the O'Connell Center next season. He also thanked fans and key boosters, one of whom donated $1 million to the team this week. The Gators are also slated to undergo an $8 million renovation to their practice facility this summer.

"In today's college sports world, financial support is the lifeblood," Golden said. "Realistically, we need a lot more. We need more to keep the guys we have. We're in a really good spot right now with a lot of good players, but we have to support them and keep them while also adding a couple of new guys."

Clayton, Martin, and Richard are graduating and moving on, while Golden said big man Alex Condon will go through the pre-draft testing process to determine if he will enter the NBA draft.

"If we're lucky enough to get Alex back, I think we'll have the best frontcourt in the country," Golden said. "There's depth there, there's athleticism there, and there are guys who have played a lot of minutes."

The Gators finished the season 36-4 and won their final 12 games. They rallied from second-half deficits in four of their six tournament games, leading Golden to quip that they "at least made it interesting."

At 39 years old, Golden became the youngest coach to win an NCAA men's basketball title since Jim Valvano of North Carolina State in 1983. Golden wore the championship net around his neck Monday night and still had it on when the team returned home Tuesday afternoon.

But he joked during Saturday's interview that he hadn't slept in it or thought too deeply about it since. "I brought it out for today," he said. "It'll go in the office with some other important memorabilia from the last month. It's a much bigger, more important piece now for the trophy case."

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