Taurean Green helping UF hoops recapture its championship tradition

After a 13-year, seven-country career playing internationally, Taurean Green is back at his alma mater — and in his home state — as the new director of player development for Florida men’s basketball.

The role was created by head coach Todd Golden, who wanted his staff to include a link to the program’s past. Golden wasn’t just looking for any former player, but one who was a part of the Billy Donovan era.

“One of the things really important to me is kind of recapturing that tradition and that pride that the program had in the 2000s. Winning back-to-back nattys, obviously, but they also were really good outside of those two years. I’m really passionate about being here, I’m very proud to be the head coach at Florida,” Golden said.

Golden will be able to learn a lot from Green, who played three seasons with the Gators from 2004-07 and was a member of the unforgettable “Oh-Fours” recruiting class that won back-to-back titles at UF in 2006 and 2007. The point guard was a two-time All-SEC honoree and earned MVP of the Midwest Regional in the Gators’ 2007 NCAA Tournament run, averaging 19.0 points in wins vs. Butler and Oregon. Green was also the leading scorer on Florida’s 2006-07 squad with a 13.3 scoring average.

Green finished his collegiate career with 1,174 points and was a 2007 NBA Draft pick by the Portland Trail Blazers. He played two seasons with Portland and the Denver Nuggets before embarking on a decorated overseas career that included league championships in France and Poland and an All-Star honor in Greece.

After retiring last year, Green reunited with Donovan in a player development role with the Chicago Bulls franchise. His father, former NBA player Sidney Green, works as a Chicago Bulls team ambassador.

The Gator Great enjoyed being back in the league and working alongside his father and Donovan, but he couldn’t turn down the opportunity to return home.

“I’m a Florida boy at heart, so this is home,” said Green told FloridaGators.com. “The chance to be back in Gainesville and the goal of getting us back to that elite level — where the Gators should be — was something I couldn’t pass up. I just want to contribute and help develop these guys any way I can, on and off the court.

“Player development is also life development. I was a student here once, so I know everything these are going to go through. Being a grown man and being able to look back on things that I could have done better — mistakes I made, things I could have handled better — I’m going to dive in all that and try to hold these dudes accountable and help make sure they’re making great decisions.”

Green was officially announced to Florida’s staff on May 23 and now has an office in the building he used to play in. His goal is to become a coach one day, and this is another step in that direction.

“You add a guy like Taurean, who talks about the years that he spent here in Gainesville as the best years of his life, and similar messaging from his other teammates that played with him that we talked to. I just thought, what better role model can these guys have? What better example can we have than a guy that played on those teams, won national championships and can impart his wisdom to the guys,” Golden said.

“I talked to Coach Donovan about him and he had rave reviews. Obviously Taurean was working with Coach Donovan this year in Chicago and I said, ‘This makes a lot of sense.’ The fact we were able to get him in the director of player development role is huge. He’s a guy that will do a great job for us there and has potential to rise the ranks in coaching.”