Florida's championship basketball team takes final bow at spring football game

Edgar Thompson, Orlando Sentinel on Apr 12, 2025

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A national championship coach and collection of players exited the south end tunnel of the Swamp to reception befitting for a winner.

It had been a while in the place where, “Only Gators get out alive,” the slogan on the front of the T-shirt worn by Todd Golden.

On a day Billy Napier’s football program put on its annual Orange and Blue game, a celebration and culmination of the spring, the men’s basketball team seized center stage for the final time after winning the national title Monday night in San Antonio.

The Gators filed out of the tunnel one by one, with Golden the last to set foot on the field — his wife and two children in tow and a basketball net he cut down at Alamodome draped around his neck. Fans welcomed the 39-year-old coach warmly and raucously on the heels of the program’s third national title.

“It’s an incredible rush,” Golden said.

Golden had set foot before on Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium with people in the stands.

“The actual regular-season football games are insane,” he said. “They honor us once a year. We go out there.”

This time, Golden and his squad were a main attraction, helping lure a reported 56,563 — the most since Tim Tebow’s final spring in 2009 — to the Swamp.

The Gators also stuck around for more than a quick round of applause.

UF unveiled the 2025 championship banner, Golden thanked Gator Nation for their support and players hammed it up for the crowd as athletic director Scott Stricklin — who received a smattering of boos — recounted the run to the title, highlighted by four second-half comebacks during six NCAA Tournament wins.

All-American guard Walter Clayton Jr., a native of Lake Wales, concluded the 30-minute ceremony by addressing the crowd.

“I’m a real Florida boy,” he said, “so I know what this means.”

A day of celebration also served as a juxtaposition of the school’s two major athletics programs.

Golden has his Gators ahead of schedule. Meanwhile, Napier’s program could finally be finding its footing during the same three-year window for each coach.

A season-ending, four-game winning streak and the emergence of quarterback DJ Lagway provided something to build on. Yet, Lagway barely took part in Saturday’s game, a 38-29 win for his Blue squad, after the 19-year-old sophomore did not throw during spring practices because of a right shoulder injury that Napier has declined to detail.

The sophomore star did handle the game’s opening snap for the Blue squad. But after a hand-off to Ja’Kobi Jackson netted seven yards, Lagway exited for redshirt sophomore backup Aidan Warner of Winter Park.

Lagway did this a few times, but nothing more.

Jackson, though, was just getting started. The redshirt senior finished with 198 rushing yards on just 10 carries, highlighted by a 90-yard scamper.

After relieving Lagway on the opening series, Warner promptly completed a 15-yard pass to true freshman and former Orlando Jones standout Vernell Brown III, followed by a nice connection down field with UCLA transfer J. Michael Sturdivant. Following three runs by sophomore tailback Jadan Baugh totaling 11 yards, Warner found tight end Hayden Hansen in the right flat for an eight-yard touchdown.

Warner finished 10 of 23 for 157 yards and two scores, while Louisville transfer quarterback Harrison Bailey 29 of 43 for 363 yards, three scores and an interception. Playing with Bailey on the Orange squad, highly touted true freshman receiver Dallas Wilson, a Tampa native, caught two of those scores and ended with a game-record 10 catches for 195 yards.

Golden has begun to turn his attention to reloading his roster to make another title run in 2026.

“We have elevated our program back to a national championship level,” he said. “Now it’s about trying to sustain it. It’s about doing everything we can to not allow it to slip at all.”

Golden called the final day together with his team “bittersweet,” but did say the group had been invited to the White House this summer.

“I’m pretty excited about that,” he said. “We’ll have to get everybody back together to be able to go do that.”

Until then, Golden hopes he and his program have provided motivation, if not a template, for Florida football, seeking its first national title since 2008. Whether that is possible Golden does see a brighter future for Napier, just 19-19 in three seasons, and his program.

“They’ve done it from the ground up,” Golden said. “They recruited a lot of young guys that are starting to get to the age where they really impact winning in the best football league in America. Their younger guys are bigger, better and older this year, and I’m really excited for them.

“It’s a lot of work, and this league is really hard to break into the top four in the league, but I’m confident in Billy and his group that this year is gonna be the year that the great they’re going to do it.”