Because we still don’t know who they will be. Both Walter Clayton Jr. and Will Richard are going to go through their NBA evaluations before deciding whether or not to return to Florida.

The UF coaches feel confident and will know a lot more when the NBA draft combine invitations are sent out next week. But they are on pause right now until they know.

“A lot will depend on what they decide to do,” Golden said. “If they come back, we are probably looking at adding a big man. If they don’t we look at the backcourt.

“I’m happy with where we are. But we have to stay nimble.”

Micah Handlogten, who suffered a broken leg during the SEC Final, is “probably going to redshirt this year” Golden said.

Redshirt.

“It would be best for him to know that he doesn’t feel pressured to get back quick, which we didn’t want him to feel anyway,” Golden said. “When we had that conversation, it was great. It provided clarity for him. And in a way it helps us.”

Handlogten has actually done well after the surgery and has helped Florida recruit.

With Handlogten out and Tyreese Samuel gone, Florida had to go to the portal to continue having four bigs – a priority for Golden trying to play two big guys most of the time.

Florida did it with 6-foot-10-inch Rueben Chinyelu from Washington State and 6-foot-9-inch Sam Alexis from Tennessee-Chattanooga.

“Sam is a really good rim-protector,” Golden said. “We feel he’s got room to just keep getting better. He’s only 19. Really young, but strong, big body. It’ll be a great summer for him here.”

And Chinyelu may not have had the stats last year, but his 7-foot-8-inch wingspan is what caught the eye of Golden.

“We feel like he’s going to take a huge jump going into next season,” he said.

It’s to do better in it than Florida did last year after making the NCAAs for the first time in three years.

Florida hasn’t advanced past the second game since the Elite Eight run in 2017.

“If we can get better on defense, we can go from just making the tournament to being a second-weekend type of team,” Golden said. “The goal is to have a better seed.”

Golden mentioned being a four-seed, which Florida hasn’t been since that ’17 season.

Which would be defense. Florida was a bad defensive team last year and Golden said himself that he has to be a better coach.

He also hopes that his players – including the new ones – will grasp that it’s not all about scoring, especially when your last game was a 102-100 loss.

“If we can go from 93^rd defensively to top 50 next year, we’re going to be pretty good,” he said. “It was a little tricky last year when we were scoring all those points to spend time on the defensive end. We’ll do that this summer, for sure.”

How much point guard he will play is a question that will be answered when Clayton Jr. and Richard make their decisions.

He was a two-guard at Florida Atlantic, but a tough defender who averaged at least five rebounds a game in each of his last three seasons.

“I’m not sure there is anyone out there like Zyon Pullin,” Golden said. “At FAU, Alijah was an off-the-ball guard but we want to get him on the ball and driving it in our offense. It’s a good marriage for both of us.”

How can you say that when Riley Kugel left for Kansas? Um, you did watch the games last year, right?

Kugel was a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma.

It was important that Alex Condon, Tommy Haugh and Denzel Aberdeen came back.

“It’s a tough group to keep up with,” Golden said.  “They were important for us to keep because they had some success last year, especially in the SEC Tournament. We think all of them will be really, really impactful next year.

“Denzel could really take off.”

Nor was I, which is why I asked him the question — do you think your team dropped a line in the seeding because of Micah’s injury?

His answer was surprising, yet not.

“I think they finished the bracket probably on Thursday,” he said. “The games in the SEC Tournament clearly didn’t matter.”

No, they didn’t, which is why Billy Donovan used to lobby to move the tourney up a day.

Golden agrees that it’s not ideal to play four games in four days. But it’s not going to change.

Yes, he was asked about the team that made the Final Four for the first time ever and also lost twice to Florida by 32 points.

Golden texted Nate Oats when the Tide made the Final Four.

“I like Nate and I told him congrats and what a great run,” he said. “And I told him that it also makes me feel good about our program right now.”

Yes, but that goes back to the point about the seeding.

After Florida lost to Colorado, Karen first was angry and questioned why she married a sportswriter (I question it every day).

But then she calmed down and said this – “Florida would have been better off losing to Texas A&M in the semifinals.”

Because they would have been rested. And would not have lost Handlogten.

“It was still good for our program to make a run and play for a championship in our second year,” Golden said.

Don’t tell her, but I agree with Todd.

Oh, Olivier Rioux? The world’s tallest teenager?

He is listed at 7-foot-7-inches — or even an inch more, depending on who you ask.

How much he plays will be the question. Or if he plays at all while Florida works on his speed and footwork.

He is definitely a project, but it will be interesting to see where this goes.

A lot will depend on what happens with Clayton Jr. and Richard. I still have concerns about point guard play in terms of just bringing up the ball when other teams press. It was a problem WITH Pullin last year.

But the bottom line is that if Florida gets those two guys back and they can get just to the point of being a top-50 defense, this is a team that can make some noise.

I don’t think Florida will be picked to finish eighth in the conference, but with the two added teams the SEC is going to be a bear.

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