In the world of college basketball the kinds of movement that people care the most about are head coaches through the hiring and firing cycle and the acquisition and shuffling of talent through recruiting and the transfer portal.
One of the most underrated elements of the college game is the work of the assistant coaches, the people who are often dealing with the on-court product in a way that head coaches don’t as they deal with the various organizational elements of running a program. Assistants often have a much bigger impact on success that fans or media recognize, and having a great staff behind a head coach is likely the most important element of the game that doesn’t get talked about enough.
Continuity on a coaching staff is great, but winning at the highest level always means losing assistants to jobs elsewhere as people look to import that winning culture. For Florida, this year it meant losing Kevin Hovde, who handled offensive duties, to Columbia, and John Andrzejek, who handled defensive duties, to Campbell. One of these vacated spots went to Jonathan Safir who was promoted from a position that was technically off-court, a seamless move given the multiple years he has spent alongside Todd Golden. The other spot went to a very interesting name in Dave Klatsky, a coach who comes to Gainesville after being the head coach at New York University in a rare D-III to high-major transition.
Klatsky isn’t at all new to D-I as he spent a number of years at Colgate where he had a focus on offense as well as with the utilization of analytics. During this time Colgate was one of the best mid-major offenses in the country including multiple top-60 adjusted offensive efficiency rankings according to KenPom–an unheard of accomplishment for a team from the Patriot league. While Klatsky was comfortable in his role on the staff at a dominant mid-major team, he chose to make the leap to NYU where he could be a head coach at a place that could compete for a championship, which is just what he did in 2024-25. The Violets finished the season 27-4 on their way to an appearance in the National Championship game where they fell just short in a heartbreaking 64-60 loss in a game that had its fair share of drama and controversy.
This head coaching experience will be extremely valuable for Klatsky, who will now bring what he learned to the Gators.
Taking a look at how his NYU team played, you have to start with their excellence on the offensive end. The Violets were 4th in the country in points per possession, and they were able to score efficiently in just about any way they chose to play. Featuring some talented post players, they could throw the ball down to the block and get into off ball cutting and screening, and they ended up 7th in the country in efficiency on post ups.
Pick and roll? 30th in the country in efficiency.
Transition? 8th in the country.
Anyways…you get the picture–Klatsky oversaw an offense that was absolutely lethal at the D-III level.
Because of Klatsky’s focus on the offensive end while at Colgate and the success his teams had scoring the ball at NYU it was fair to assume he’d be working on that side of the ball at Florida, though sources around practice say he has actually taken a keen interest in the defensive side of this while Todd Golden takes on more of the offensive role. NYU was also strong on the defensive side of the ball ranking 27th nationally in defensive points per possession, and played a style of defense that translates to the high-major level as they weren’t overly aggressive or as extended as a lot of teams are at the D-III level where you can still get away with more full-court pressure and junk defenses than at D-I. Watching the film, the best thing his NYU team did was protect the rim while also doing a good job of taking away open three-point attempts–something that Todd Golden has valued at Florida as well.
With the Gators changing out some key faces in the backcourt they will certainly have a different feel this season, and while it is going to be the players on the court that have the biggest influence, behind the scenes will be Dave Klatsky who is ready to have his impact felt in the SEC.