GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida coach Todd Golden doesn’t talk much about his Jewish faith, but takes tremendous pride in his heritage.

This week will be a rare celebration of it at the Final Four.

Three of the four coaches in the national semifinals are Jewish: Golden, Auburn’s Bruce Pearl and Duke’s Jon Scheyer.

“It’s going to be a very Jewish event, I can promise you that — three out of four, man,” Golden told the Orlando Sentinel on Tuesday.

Raised in Phoenix by a father, Scott, from White Plains, N.Y., Golden eventually attended Saint Mary’s College, a private Catholic college in Moraga, Calif.

While playing for the Gaels, he struck up a relationship with Pearl and his son, Steven, who will be on the sideline with Auburn against the Gators during Saturday’s Final Four.

Golden and Steven teamed up on the U.S. squad coached by Pearl at the 2005 World Maccabiah Games, akin to the Jewish and Israeli Olympics. He later coached Golden and his son’s gold-medal squad during the ’09 Games.

But long before Golden and the Pearls got together, the sport had served as a source of pride and entertainment in the Jewish community.

The success and interest dates to the 1920s and Nat Holman of the Boston Celtics — the first star of the fledgling NBA founded in part by Maurice Podoloff, who also is Jewish.

Dolph Schayes was an early star once the NBA became more mainstream in the late ’40s and early ’50. Meanwhile, Abe Saperstein founded the Harlem Globetrotters.

Florida legend Neal Walk, the No. 2 pick in the 1969 NBA draft, is among other Jewish success stories on the court. On the sideline, Red Auerbach built the Celtics dynasty in the ’50s and ’60s, while Red Holzman coached the New York Knicks to the ’70 and ’73 titles.

Golden often jokes about a poor grasp of basketball history. Yet, he also tries to keep his faith low key rather than overly capitalize on his platform.

“I’m incredibly proud to be Jewish,” he said. “I don’t necessarily love or feel like it’s something that I need to be talking about all the time as a basketball coach. Because at times, I feel like we have a little more of a stage than we deserve when it comes to these topics.”

This week will be a bit different, not to mention unavoidable as storylines are sure to be exhausted by tipoff time.

“Definitely super prideful to be able to be one of three coaches at the Final Four that are Jewish — when we make up I think 2 percent of the population, or whatever it is,” he said. “Against all odds that way. It’s great, and it’s something that I hope younger Jewish people look at are like, ‘Wow, we can, I can accomplish something pretty special if these guys can be doing what they’re doing.' ”

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