Todd Golden says what many coaches are thinking about college basketball right now

Todd Golden says what many coaches are thinking about college basketball right now originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

College basketball has spent the last few years changing at a speed nobody could have imagined. NIL deals worth millions, nonstop transfer portal movement and coaching carousel chaos have already transformed the sport. Now another development is creating even more debate across the country: professional players returning to the college game.

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And Todd Golden is one of the latest major coaches to publicly admit he does not like where things are heading. Speaking with The Field of 68, the Florida Gators head coach did not try to soften his feelings about former G League and overseas professionals entering college basketball rosters.

“That’s not what college athletics is supposed to be,” Golden said. “This is not what college basketball is supposed to be about.”

His comments immediately stood out because more coaches around the country are quietly expressing similar frustrations as the NCAA continues struggling to define what modern college basketball should actually look like.

LSU is becoming the face of the new era

No program represents this growing controversy more than the LSU Tigers under Will Wade. Wade has aggressively leaned into roster-building loopholes since returning to LSU, assembling a roster filled with players who already have professional experience.

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Former St. John’s Red Storm star RJ Luis Jr. became one of the highest-profile examples. After winning Big East Player of the Year honors in 2025, Luis went undrafted, signed a two-way NBA contract and later landed in the Boston Celtics organization before ultimately returning to college basketball with LSU.

Then came 25-year-old Yam Madar, who was drafted back in 2020 and spent years playing professionally overseas before joining the Tigers. Saliou Niang added even more fuel to the debate after…

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Publish date : 2026-05-20 17:44:00

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