SPECIAL REPORT: The Story of Billy Donovan and Florida Gators Basketball

By Jay Holgate
secsportsreport.com

ATLANTA, GA--The fact that Billy Donovan is leaving college basketball is tragic for Florida Gator fans because it didn't have to happen. At first look, everybody comes to the same conclusion, Donovan went for the big money. But when you review the time line, comments by Donovan and use some basic logic skills, it is clearly obvious, this is the story of the big fish that got away.

The Time line--
April 2, 2007, as the Florida Gators are preparing for the NCAA national championship game, the Kentucky Wildcat faithful are looking at Donovan as their next coach. The head coaching basketball job at Kentucky would be the perfect fit for Billy Donovan on many levels. Meanwhile, Florida Athletic Director Jeremy Foley is working on an extension to Donovan's contract.

April 5--within days of the 2nd National Championship win, Donovan says he will stay at Florida because he is "happy and you can't buy happiness." Donovan says his family is happy at Florida.

The events that happen in May are not the actions of a Head Coach planning on leaving Florida.

May 14--A big recruit by the name of Jai Lucas signs with the Gators and another big recruit Pattrick Patterson is in communication with Donovan. Donovan promises recruits he will be staying in Florida. Meanwhile, Jeremy Foley is still working on the extension to Donovan's contract.

May 17--ESPN does a story that Billy Donovan will be the highest paid basketball coach in history with a reported deal of around 4 million a year on a seven year contract.

May 23--Billy Donovan finally gets Rob Lanier as an assistant coach after trying to lure him to Florida for many years. Lanier should be extremely helpful with recruiting.

May 23--ESPN story states Donovan wants to get extension done soon. From New York City, Donovan clearly states that he is waiting on Florida to make an offer so that he can move forward with the Gators and remove speculation about leaving. Meanwhile, Jeremy Foley is still working on contract.

May 31--Billy Donovan is named as head coach of the Orlando Magic. Apparently, Orlando brought forward a contract. When asked about Florida's contract, President Machen said that it had been agreed to for a while but no formal announcement.

June 1-- Jeremy Foley and Billy Donovan have press conference. Foley states that at Florida they do things a little differently with contracts because of their level of trust with the coaches and vise versa. Donovan stated that his decision to leave had nothing to do with Florida and that he was looking for the next challenge. When you read the words chosen, Foley is trying to cover his backside. Donovan mentions the contract but doesn't blame which is a professional way of getting a message across and not burning any bridges. It is the language of two professionals trying to move forward.

Bottom Line--All of the actions from rejecting Kentucky, recruiting promises, hiring coaches and a public request for a contract point to a head coach wanting to be the Florida Gators coach for a long time. When Billy Donovan decided he was not going to Kentucky, there should have been a contract extension on his desk the next day. The fact that Donovan has never received an official offer by Florida to date, is sloppy, assumptive and irresponsible.

The Money--Donovan would have been making 4 million a year at Florida. With some endorsements, he would have been in the same neighborhood as the 6 million offered by Orlando. Truthfully, when you are making that much money, it is not that big a difference.

Nobody Likes to Wait--When you have been waiting and waiting and waiting from a school that you just delivered two national championships back to back, it is frustrating. Donovan was waiting on a contract. Orlando walked in with a contract and an opportunity. Since the door wasn't closed at Florida, Donovan took the next step.

The Unavoidable Question--With such an affluent fan base, why does it take Florida two months to create an extension for a coach that has won two national championships in the last two years? What could possibly be more important?

Billy Donovan was a college coaching great. It's too bad, they couldn't get him a contract at Florida.


Jay Holgate is a writer for SEC Sports Report. He can be reached at editor@secsportsreport.com