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Florida Gators Become First Team With Jewish Coach to Win NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in Almost 40 Years
Florida Gators players celebrate with the trophy after defeating the Houston Cougars in the national championship game of the Final Four of the 2025 NCAA Tournament at the Alamodome, San Antonion, Texas, April 7, 2025. Photo: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
Todd Golden became the first Jewish coach in 37 years to win the NCAA men’s basketball tournament when his team, the Florida Gators, beat the Houston Cougars 65-63 in the final of the national championship game on Monday night.
Before Golden, the last Jewish coach to win the NCCA tournament was Larry Brown when he led Kansas to a championship victory in 1988. At the age of 39, Golden, in his third season with Florida, is also the youngest coach to win a national title since Jim Valvano in 1983. Additionally, Golden is the third coach in the last 60 seasons of the NCAA to win a national title after not having an NCAA tournament win, following in the footsteps of Kevin Ollie in 2014 and Steve Fisher in 1989.
Golden is one of three coaches in the history of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) to win a national title within three seasons with a team.
Florida’s Monday’s night win in the championship game marked the team’s third national title in its history, following back-to-back victories in 2006 and 2007.
“It was just a great display of grit and resilience,” Golden said in a post-game interview. “I thought our guys did a great job in the second half of finding a way to get nine stops in a row at one point, which flipped the script of the game … we made some big-time winning plays down the stretch on the defensive end that allowed us to win this national championship.”
The head coach of the Houston Cougars, Kelvin Sampson, is not Jewish, but the team includes a player who played professionally for Israel. Houston guard Emanuel Sharp, the son of former Maccabi Tel Aviv player Derrick Sharp, played for Israel’s national youth team.
Golden is an Israeli citizen who played professionally for the Maccabi Haifa basketball team in Israel for two seasons. He made his way to the 2025 NCAA tournament final on Monday at the Alamodome after facing and beating his mentor, Auburn University Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl, on Saturday in the semifinal. An avid supporter of Israel, Pearl is also Jewish. The NCAA tournament’s Final Four bracket this weekend included three teams with Jewish coaches: Florida, Auburn, and the Duke Blue Devils, led by Jon Scheyer.
In 2009, Golden was co-captain of the USA Open Team, coached by Pearl, that won gold at Israel’s Maccabiah Games, which is an international multi-sport event for Jewish and Israeli athletes. Golden was director of basketball operations for the Auburn staff for the 2014-15 season, under Pearl’s leadership, and was assistant coach for the 2015-16 season. Golden came to Florida in 2022.
Prior to coaching the Gators, Golden was the assistant coach at Columbia and the head coach at San Francisco.
In a post-game interview on Monday night, Golden credited Pearl for the success in his career. “I wouldn’t be here without him,” Golden said. “I certainly know that and I’m just grateful for the opportunity he’s provided me over my life. Playing for him back in 2009 was really the start of our relationship and coming for Auburn to work with him for two years, his first two years on the job, I learned so much from him. He’s a great leader, a great man. And it was honestly bittersweet after the game on Saturday, but I know he’s incredibly proud of me and my program right now.”
The post Florida Gators Become First Team With Jewish Coach to Win NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in Almost 40 Years first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.