Let the river run, let all the dreamers wake the nation ...

by Truzenzuzex on Mar 27, 2007 8:15 AM EDT in Media

And the dreamers are waking us all up with a bit of a shock, and as far as I know, just a dream.

Apparently, a teaser by Darrell Bird of The Cats Pause looked like a definitive claim that Donovan had been offered and accepted the head coaching position at UK. Also, this appears to be unconfirmed speculation, not a report of facts.

As best I can determine, Bird's report prompted several local media outlets to report this news as well, sourcing Darrell Bird's article. I can't vouch for accuracy, but you can get a little of what apparently happened here. (Update [2007-3-27 8:31:33 by Truzenzuzex]:Apparently, The Cats Pause moved the article I originally linked to their member only board. I have now linked an explanation by Darrell Bird that's on their free board.)

Bottom line - this appears to be nothing more than either informed speculation or another "Internet rumor" at this point. It looks like those media outlets who ran with this thing will be wiping the egg off their face this morning.

Nothing to see here. Move along.

In actual news this morning, the Louisville Courier-Journal has this article telling us that Joe Crawford plans to stay at UK, despite more Internet rumors that he might go play in Europe (I know, go figure):

Guard Joe Crawford yesterday told Scott Stricklin, UK's associate athletic director for media relations, that he will return to the Wildcats for his senior season.

Shocking, I know, that a junior at UK would actually return rather than drop out of school and plunge into the lucrative waters of the NABDL or European basketball.

John Clay at the Lexington Herald-Leader asks us these rhetorical questions:

Maybe Donovan is restless. Maybe he covets another challenge. Maybe he subscribes to the theory that if you stay too long in one place -- even if it's a warm, sunny, family-friendly, flip-flop sort of place -- what once was golden turns to rust.

He'll have all that to think about next week.

And this, too: the Ricky P. factor. If Donovan took over the Wildcats, he'd have to take the floor with his former head coach and mentor at least one day a year. The other 364, he'd be competing with Pitino for headlines, attention and, more importantly, recruits.

Is this state really big enough for the both of them?

I think the second one is way more pithy than the first. The mind fairly spins with anticipation of the battle between Pitino and Donovan for headlines if Billy D. were to pack his bags for the bluegrass. Fun thought.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal adds this log to the Billy D.-to-UK fire:

DONOVAN AND KENTUCKY: This Billy Donovan-Kentucky saga is sure to run its rampant course until he signs a contract extension with the Gators or decides to take the Wildcats job.

What is somewhat telling is that his players have not dismissed the possibility of him coaching Kentucky.

"I'm not going to judge him," Noah said Monday. "He's going to have a decision to make just like a lot of us are going to have a decision to make."

Last week, Tubby Smith left Kentucky to coach Minnesota. Donovan served as a Kentucky assistant in the 90s and has two years remaining on his seven-year contract.[Emphasis mine]

Interesting. But probably meaningless.

If we learned anything about Tubby Smith's departure here, we learned that the players are usually among the very last to learn.

John McGrath of the Tacoma (Washington) News-Tribune had this article reprinted in the Lawrence (Kansas) Journal-World, in which he asks for a moratorium on coaching changes during the NCAA tournament:

But there is a tweak I'd make to the NCAA tournament rule book: I'd put an embargo on announcements of coaching firings and hirings during the 22 days between Selection Sunday and the Tuesday morning after the champions cut the nets.

Enough, already, with revolving-door coaches. Since the end of the regular season, jobs have opened on both coasts and several states in between. The reverberations have been significant.

Why, the Florida Gators barely had a moment to change into their street clothes Sunday when rumors had coach Billy Donovan deliberating about the Kentucky job opening created when Tubby Smith was hired at Minnesota.

Not really a bad proposal - focus more on the basketball, less on job changes. Well, it will never happen in my lifetime.

Finally, Peter Kerasotis, he of the "Go, Billy. Go to Kentucky" article that drew so much attention Sunday and yesterday, has another beauty today. Apparently, some Gator fans were less than pleased with his comments, and told him so. Instead of an angry response, Peter responds with flawless logic and points out and obvious double-standard:

"Basketball is well-appreciated here," Kellogg said [of Ohio State], "but it will never be football."

Think about that last sentence, and then apply it to the University of Florida. Why? Because the statement fits in Gainesville, too. Basketball is well-appreciated there, but it also will never be football.

Not so in Kentucky.

Hey, I'm well aware of the argument against that. Many of you orange-and-blue bloods e-mailed me with the flip side of the argument. Billy Donovan has a chance to stay at UF and create history, instead of going to Kentucky, where there is so much history and tradition already.

It's a valid point, obviously.

But let me ask you this: Where was that argument when the Gators went after Urban Meyer? I don't recall any Gator fans saying that maybe Urban should stay in Utah, where he has a chance to make history. But Utah fans were saying that.

Goodness, the man went undefeated and made it to a BCS game his final year there. Had he stayed and made a career at Utah, they'd one day name a stadium after him, complete with a statue at the entrance.

No, instead of Gator fans advancing that argument, there was arrogance.

Read the whole thing.

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Rumors...

I remember when the rumor mills had Pitino buying a house in Louisville and that he was a lock to take the UL job...wait a minute, those rumors were true. Speaking of Ricky, he has taken the pre-emptive strike of taking himself out of the UK search. Something about loyalty to his players and the school...urp...excuse me, I think I'm getting ill.

Stinky Blue

by Stinky Blue on Mar 27, 2007 10:02 AM EDT 0 recs

Well, you never do know ...

because the rumor that is false today may be true tomorrow.

There is no reason to believe, at this point and given what he has said in public, that Donovan won't at least consider a UK offer. For all I know, he may have already made up his mind to come.

We are talking about one of the biggest four or five college BB jobs in the land. Even with their recent success, the Gators can't even realistically claim to be top ten, historically speaking.

by Truzenzuzex on Mar 27, 2007 10:12 AM EDT up 0 recs

Leaked

Looks to me like someone wanted to leak this story, knowing that the wildfire would burn. That could be UK folks wanting to pressure Donovan and relieve pressure on recruiting (Patterson, Lucas) or could be Florida folks hoping to sabotage what is not a "signed" deal.

That said, we could also end up with Tom Crean and a whole boatload of whining. Who knows.

All I know is I'm leaving for Dublin tomorrow for a week, so if shit goes down, consider me drunk.

The Online home of Big Blue Nation ...

by JL Blue on Mar 27, 2007 11:04 AM EDT 0 recs