By Bob Redman
They say absence makes the heart grow fonder and that works both ways when it comes to Florida Gators hometown heroes coming back to the nest. That’s exactly what has happened in this offseason as former two-time national champion point guard Taurean Green returned to his alma mater. Green is ready to help the direction of the program at Florida under the leadership of new head coach Todd Golden. As a former leader on the floor, he’s going t be doing it on the sidelines now.
Green played at Florida between 2004 and 2007. He was part of the recruiting class nicknamed the ‘Oh-fours’ that included the likes of Joakim Noah, Al Horford, and Corey Brewer. The foursome would go on to star for back-to-back national championships in their second and third years on campus. That group was part of the last program to win it in consecutive years in NCAA Division 1.
The leader on the court as the point guard of the group, Green also could score. He led the team in scoring with a 13.3 average in the 2006-07 championship year. He also finished his career with 1,174 points. He was drafted by the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers in 2007 and played for Portland and the Denver Nuggets before spending most of his career playing professional basketball overseas.
Green stepped away from his playing career last October. He found a spot working with former Florida head coach Billy Donovan who is the head coach of the NBA’s Chicago Bulls. The hookup with Donovan is something that Green worked on.
“I’d been in touch with Coach. I put the bug in his ear four or five years ago, when he was at OKC (Oklahoma City Thunder) and he didn’t know what was going to happen,” Green said Wednesday. “He just told me to wait. I was in Poland. I was able to win a championship over there and I felt it was a good time to get out. I talked to Coach and he gave me the opportunity to be there with him in Chicago. To be able to be on the court with the guys, do some video work, a little scouting. It was a great opportunity, I learned a lot. In that one year behind with Chicago it will help transition into my role here.”
Named the Director of Player Development at Florida, it means he’ll be helping the current roster be more than just basketball players. Green was able to get back to Florida and finish his degree since he left in just three years after enrolling. He is now to help groom the players for what is ahead of them in life and whatever direction they may go.
“That’s part of my job, player development. Just trying to teach these kids what’s important, how to move the right way, how to take care of themselves,” he said. “Just teaching them. These kids need to be taught. They’re still kids at the end of the day. I look back when I was 16, 17, 18, 19, you just got to remember at the end of the day, they’re still kids, man. Ain’t nobody perfect. They’ll make mistakes. You just got to teach them along the way.”
And now he’s home. A native Floridian, Green loves Gainesville and the school he chose out of high school.
“It feels great. Everything comes full circle,” he said. “I’m just appreciative Coach Golden giving me an opportunity to be part of the staff, to come back to the University of Florida. It’s a great opportunity – young, energetic staff, really knows basketball – and the guys have really been working so far, but it’s early.”
He also has a young child that lives in Orlando that he is closer to now and will be able to see more often.
“It was big, just being able to come back here to my alma mater,” he said. “I also had to take into consideration I spent a lot of time in Europe. My daughter (Kylie), she just turned nine. I’m happy to be able to be close to her now and be able to drive up and be able to go to all her gymnastics events. She’ll be here for some gymnastics and tennis camps, as well.”
Green is so excited to get back and get things going, he feels like his first time on campus really wasn’t that long ago.
“It feels like 18 months ago,” he said about how long it’s been. “Time flies but just being able to be back on campus and seeing everything it’s surreal. I’m just happy to be back (at) my university and being able to help us getting back to being elite.”