SAN ANTONIO — Some home cooking in San Antonio has helped spur the Florida Gators to the cusp of a national title.
Todd Golden’s coaching cachet continues to surge at age 39, All-American point guard Walter Clayton’s star is on a meteoric rise and the rest of the Gators — led lately by veteran shooting guard Alijah Martin — attack opponents from all angles.
But look no further than the Gator moms as a key ingredient in the recipe of the team’s success, culminating with a national-title shot Monday night against Houston.
“That’s a testament to how we were raised,” Martin said. “Our parents get along. We can get along as well. So it’s amazing to see that our family gets along so well.”
Tina Martin, Jenn Haugh, Denise Handlogten, Helen Richard and the rest of the team’s matriarchs brought up sons willing to sacrifice and share the spotlight while forging a bond that has been unbreakable during a remarkable run.
A collection of women and sons from disparate backgrounds and different parts of the world have quickly come together to now enjoy the time of their lives while also forging lasting friendships.
“We’re like one big Gator family,” Tina Martin told the Orlando Sentinel.
The affection has trickled down to the court, where the Gators’ never-die attitude has ignited a five-win NCAA Tournament run featuring three second-half comebacks and too many big moments and clutch plays to count.
“I’ve been saying it for a while now — just the togetherness of our team, the love we all got for each other, allows us not to break apart during adversity,” Clayton told reporters Sunday. “We just stay together in those moments.”
The Gators moms, along with family members, are never far apart themselves out on the road.
They often eat and always pray together prior to games. During the action, they sit side by side cheering their sons.
“Everything’s together,” Micah Handlogten said. “The families love each other, and the players love each other. Everything is held together like glue.”
When times are toughest, the Gator moms mobilize.
After Handlogten suffered a compound fracture of his lower right leg during the 2024 SEC Tournament championship game against Auburn, all the families in Nashville immediately came to his family’s aid.
“We were all really pretty close and everything,” Danielle Handlogten said Sunday. “But when Micah got hurt, their attention turned to our family. There was an instant: ‘We need to stop; we need to focus on our family that’s down on that court.”
“We all walked through this journey together.”
Helen Richard, mother of senior guard Will Richard, soon gathered families to pray for the injured Gator. A ...
