Golden: ‘Clearly, this was the first obstacle’

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Miami coach Al Golden says he “felt helpless to defend” players on his team whose involvement with a former booster resulted in eight of them having to miss at least one game.

Golden also said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press that having already engineered one rebuilding project at Temple has him fully prepared for the challenges ahead at Miami.

The NCAA says 12 players must pay restitution and eight will miss Monday’s season-opener at Maryland because of things they accepted from former booster Nevin Shapiro. Of the eight suspended players, five will return after a one-game absence.

Golden says he was “bewildered” when the scandal broke. He adds that the Hurricanes are going to try to move on quickly.