BREAKING: Donovan to stay at Florida?

by JL Blue on Apr 5, 2007 12:18 PM EDT in Media Comment 21 comments

ESPN is running a breaking news story that after meeting with Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley early Thursday, Florida coach Billy Donovan will remain at the University of Florida for the upcoming season.

While I'd love to pretend that they're breaking rumors or some such, we may just have to get over our Billy Donovan love-fest and accept that it's hard to pry away a two-time defending coach from a school he basically owns, basketball-wise.

So if this is true, UK fans had better quickly get over their hurt feelings and accept the next choice. Pretending that this was Donovan's job, despite his repeated denials of having chosen anything, will only put the next coach in an untenable situation.

One thing strikes me, and it may not be applicable at all, but don't forget, UK fans, that in 1988, AD C.M. Newton's first choice was Arizona's Lute Olsen, who burned UK just to get more money from Zona. Then the second choice was P.J. "My Neck is Burning" Carlisimo. He turned UK down, too.

The third choice was Rick Pitino. We know that worked out. The point is that you cannot predict what will happen. Maybe Donovan would have flopped at UK under the pressure. Maybe third choice will come around and turn UK into a Final Four-eating monster. No one knows.

More to come as it lands.

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Looks solid

Info looks solid right now. No one will know for sure until there has been an announcement...

Admit it though, either way, we will all be relieved when this is settled one way or the other, won't we? I hope the end is in sight.

Orange & Blue Hue http://www.orangeandbluehue.com

by Gatorpilot on Apr 5, 2007 12:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Yeah ...

I mean, not to sound like sour grapes (though it is), but it's funny that before the Noah-Horford-Brewer-Green class, we were talking about how Billy was a choker.

All I mean by that is I hope that UK fans move on and get a great coach and rebuild the program to its old ways. Billy could have done that, but if this is true, he didn't want to. Fine.

Let's beat his ass (no offense, of course.)!

The Online home of Big Blue Nation ...

by JL Blue on Apr 5, 2007 12:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

So now we find out

what all the UK fans didn't want to think about, which is who is the second choice. There is nothing even close to a consensus on this. I had faith that Donovan could take us back to the Final Four in his first four years at UK, now almost no matter who UK brings in I don't see that happening for 6-7 years at least.

Donovan, with his titles and the attention, would have brought in mega-recruits immediately. Anyone else is going to take a lot longer to build and even then there's no guarantee: See UNC, Kansas, etc.

And now how will fans react after having run off Tubby if the new coach doesn't give us an immediate improvement. How long will he get to take us back to the promised land?

I'm mentally steeling myself for 5 more years of uninspiring teams, frankly.

by Logan5 on Apr 5, 2007 12:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Well, cmon

The thing about basketball is ONE player -- a Durant or Carmelo -- can elevate a team. I don't think UK has that player now, but who's to say the next coach won't bring him in?

Texas was supposed to SUCK this year after losing their top 6 scorers. They reloaded.

Tubby could NOT reload.

I wouldn't look 5 years into the future. 5 years ago, we were about to go 32-4 and come within a sprained ankle of the F4. Now Tubby is in Minnesota.

A lot can happen in 5 years.

The Online home of Big Blue Nation ...

by JL Blue on Apr 5, 2007 12:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Patterson

I wonder if Florida lands Patterson now? The timing by BD was probably good. At least now everyone knows.

Orange & Blue Hue http://www.orangeandbluehue.com

by Gatorpilot on Apr 5, 2007 1:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Maybe so

But you have to admit there is some shine off the UK program right now. Tubby's departure, Donovan's rejection. That's going to be something the new coach has to overcome and I don't believe Barnes, Crean, Few, etc have the starpower to do that right away.

by Logan5 on Apr 5, 2007 1:05 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The flirtation is over

You know how you feel when your at a party and a pretty girl comes up to you. You flirt we her, she flirts back and you think, definitely some interest? All of a sudden, in the middle of the conversation, she leaves and walks out with the good looking guy that brung her. Your kinda pissed, but realize, her loss. Thats kinda how I feel right now. I really never thought Billy D. would come to UK, but I was holding out hope. Kinda like the girl in the story, I should have never got too excited over a little footsie. I always thought we would have to go with choice B. I like Billie Gillespie from Texas A&M. I think he is a great choice, I don't know if he is much of a recruiter. Maybe we need justa couple of McDonalds all american's and some good role players and someone who can coach them up. Billie G. took a team from obscurity and had them winning by his second year; in his third he had them in the sweet 16 and this is Texas A&M were talking about! No tradition, not even on the radar. He has been an assistant at big programs before. I am not so high on Barnes from Texas. He gets great talent year in and year out, but seems to fall short. I may be alone in my feelings about this, but I think if we play footsie with Billie Gillespie, he will go home with us, unlike other coaches...that Donovan, he's such a tease.

Go Cats!

by Blueman2000 on Apr 5, 2007 1:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Barnhart's statement

Here is Mitch Barnhart's statement:

"Throughout this process, our focus has been on finding the right person to lead college basketball's most storied program. We have had productive conversations with various individuals over the last two weeks, and it's obvious there are a number of outstanding coaches who could succeed at Kentucky. With the nation's most passionate fan support and unmatched facilities, I'm confident we'll find the right man.

"I had a conversation with Billy Donovan today to gauge any interest he might have in the head coaching position at Kentucky. Billy informed me that he intends to stay in Gainesville. As a former UK assistant, we wish him the very best.

"Obviously, finding the right coach is more important than finding the next coach quickly. Patience remains a priority as we continue to identify the best individual to lead the Big Blue Nation."

Orange & Blue Hue http://www.orangeandbluehue.com

by Gatorpilot on Apr 5, 2007 1:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Fine and dandy with me ...

you can be part of the Big Blue Juggernaut, or a victim of it.

3 years from now, Billy may have cause to regret his decision. Then again maybe not.

Here's hoping he does.

by Truzenzuzex on Apr 5, 2007 1:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

6-7 years

6-7 years. What are you thinking?

Pitino was our THIRD choice when he was hired. It didnt take him 6-7 years. I am not saying whoever we bring in will be as good as Pitino but you dont understand how college athletics work these days.

We are UK. Billy D would have been a great hire but lets not delude ourselves into thinking that he was the only one who could right the ship.
We will get a good qualtiy coach and we will get dramatically better within 2-3 years. Final four national championship better within 4-5 years. Not 6 or 7. It doesnt take that long to trun a program like UK around with the resources that we have.

by davw83 on Apr 5, 2007 2:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Let's see

"We will get a good qualtiy coach and we will get dramatically better within 2-3 years. Final four national championship better within 4-5 years. Not 6 or 7. It doesnt take that long to trun a program like UK around with the resources that we have."

Tubby was a good quality coach and he couldn't do it. I just happen to think that everyone is whistling past the graveyard on this. UK doesn't recruit by itself, it depends on the coach. If that weren't true then what was the story with Tubby? Recruits don't automatically want to come to UK. Someone like Donovan would bring immediate starpower. Now people want me to believe that Rick Barnes is suddenly a master recruiter that can take advantage of UK? Kevin Durant does not a master recruiter make. That Tom Crean is someone people say "I have to play for that guy"?

I don't buy it. UK should ALWAYS be in the front-running for the top recruits but it takes the coach to seal that deal. I have yet to see a #2 choice that fans all agree can make that happen. And even then it takes at least 2-3 years for a coach to establish himself: witness Kelvin Sampson, Bill Self, et al. That's just to get established. Not the same thing as actually making it to a Final Four where you have to have a lot of things go right. Will we be better in 3-4 years? I believe so. Will we make a Final Four in that timeframe? I don't think so and no one in their right mind would guarantee that.

Whenever you change coaches your programs stumbles before it gets its feet under it again. I think a lot of people eager to get rid of Tubby were sure we'd get Donovan and were not being realistic about the competitiveness of the landscape these days.

And Pitino was the 1st choice for a lot of fans, me included. Lute may have been choice 1 for the administration but PJ was never a serious contender to my recollection.

by Logan5 on Apr 5, 2007 2:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Victim?

C'mon, Truz, I know that's just the stomach antacid talking.

You and I both know that UK wanted Donovan bad. It's normal to feel spurned when you get shot down.

But I'm starting to think this talk of the "Big Blue Juggernaut" is the sort of thing that's sending UK down the wrong fork in the road. Times have changed, man. Even Florida with back to back titles and three appearances in the national championship game in the last 7 years is not a juggernaut. Kentucky is a storied program in a very good conference, filled with great coaches and top athletes. The days of ANY program dominating are over. If you absolutely can't let go of the past, you're just setting yourself up for misery.

Baby steps, man, baby steps. First, hire a coach. Next, start competing at the top level of the conference. After that, things will take care of themselves. UK will be fine, but the landscape is different and expectations based on past results HAVE to change. That doesn't mean you're settling, it just means that you need to be more realistic. Seriously, man. You have to admit I'm making a lot of sense here.

Orange & Blue Hue http://www.orangeandbluehue.com

by Gatorpilot on Apr 5, 2007 2:22 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

What's Changed?

I am a little annoyed at this reoccuring and vague statement columnists and non-UK fans keep throwing around of "Times have changed" or "Things are different now" in regards to UK's expectation for success. What has changed? What is different now that keeps programs from fairly regularly competing at the top?

On a national level, during the last nine years, you see Final Four appearances from Florida (3 including 2 championships), Duke (3 including a championship), UCONN (2 including 2 championships), Michigan State (4 including a championship), Maryland (2 including a championship), North Carolina (2 including a championship), Kansas (2) and UCLA (2). It seems there is still a lot of dominating going on in the NCAAs.

To Gatorpilot's statement that Florida is not a juggernaut, that may be true for your history as a whole but in the last 7 years, yes, you have been a juggernaut. That is a run on par with most any 7 year span in history except for the UCLA dynasty.

Sea of Blue readers are far more reasonable that the DD extreme that all UK fans tend to be lumped in with, and I believe the majority of UK fans have reasonable expectations. The last 5 year and 10 year windows show teams can dominate as much as anytime in basketball history (John Wooden years excepted). You won't do it every year, but you can generally be highly competitive year-in year-out if your program is committed in its resources and passion for success. There is some luck involved in making the Final Four and winning championships, but over time the luck evens out.

In the Big Blue Nation, the last two years have shown UK make a steep dive off the national map. Finishing 3rd and 4th in the Eastern division (after not being out of 2nd since the 92 division split). Not making it out of the 2nd round each year. All these other "firsts" - first 6 game losing streak to a SEC school, first back-to-back sweeps by Vanderbilt, first time playing on SEC Tournament opening day. UK fans also observed the uneven recruiting and foresaw some tough times ahead in the next year or two until changes are made.

I say all of this to point out that our expectations are not unreasonable and that the college basketball landscape is not that different than before in terms of expectation of success for the programs which commit resources and passion, which Flordia has done under Jeremy Foley and Billy Donovan. There was pressure at UK, but Tubby was not forced out. He choose to leave. I did not want him to go, but I knew the program was slipping and changes were needed. Now that he is gone, we wish him well and work on improving the program.

by PapaKat on Apr 5, 2007 3:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wait just a minute now ...

I think you are conflating my coverage of the story for an overwhelming desire to see Donovan coach. That just isn't the way it is.

Let's face it - Donovan is an obvious choice that pleases everyone. Who wouldn't want him in UK's situation? It would be insane not to ask, and I certainly would be very happy if he had come.

But our program is not like Florida's program. The head coach is important, but not critical to our success. The better the coach, the more successful we will be, but there are plenty of coaches out there who can parlay our program into something far more successful over a long period of time than Florida is likely to be, even with Donovan.

Who knows? Perhaps Donovan will one day become the Rupp of Florida - but he certainly isn't there yet, and neither is the program. That's just one man's opinion, of course, and I'm heavily biased, but that's the way I see it.

What we had with Smith was essentially a great bench coach who didn't change with the times. He didn't recruit the way modern, successful programs do, and he didn't coach a style that attracted recruits like other programs enjoying recent success do. He was media shy and technology-phobic. And even with all that, we were on track to be much improved next year.

There are several coaches out there that can both recruit and play an attractive style, although they are not likely to be a better bench coach than Smith. But they can learn, and style plus recruiting combined with our current players and the resources of our program will give whoever winds up here time to improve his bench coaching skills.

But you are right about one thing - we are not a juggernaut today. I just think we will be one before others do. Our returning players are much better than most people think. With the addition of one really good post player this year, we could be a contender as early as 2008. But I must admit, we do need to catch a break or two.

by Truzenzuzex on Apr 5, 2007 6:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Lets keep it in the family.

I agree that we go teased and were left with blue basketballs, no pun intended. But I do not understand yeah we are trying to get the most notable coach out there. Some of these coaches may be at the pinnacle of their career and have no where to go but down. They have no loyalty to the program and could end up leading us further into oblivion. Why the athletic department is even looking at Crean is beyond me? He has done nothing in the past few years since Wade left, I mean he lost to North Dakota State and Providence last year.

We need to stay in the family and pick up either Ford or Pelphrey. They know the program. They have proved themselves in their current positions. By taking their teams to the top of their conferences in just two years, they show the same promise as Donovan did at Marshall. Ford's UMass squad barely lost to Xavier which should have beaten Ohio State, and Pelphrey's squad should have beaten Syracuse. We ought to stay inside the family, and give one of the young guns a shot before we lose them to another school. The other names being mentioned are not really appetizing in my opinion. Lets give the family the opportunity before we make another Tubby sized mistake.

by jshawn17 on Apr 5, 2007 2:40 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

mostly orange and blue

O & B

Your post makes sense in most cases. This is not most cases. This is still Kentucky basketball and, not to be offensive to you in any way, you just don't get it. Here lies the difference....there would have been 11,000 plus more fans to see Donovan's first practice than there will be for his biggest game in Florida and that game will be Kentucky.

OK.......I don't really like it but BD says no and we must move on. My problem is I have no #2 on my short list. A prior post mentioned Ford. I don't think he's ready but he may be the best available. I'm almost to the point of getting a pup and raise him right. I'm not sure of his ability to recruit but I have the sneaky feeling he would absolutely work his blue behind off to get the job done. I actually live in the town of his first coaching stint. He found a way to get it done here and I just have a hunch that with the facilities and budget he just might swing it. I'm remain unconvinced but am willing to roll the dice.

On another note I believe Barnhart's butt is on the line here but he has to gamble also.

by modcpa on Apr 5, 2007 3:10 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Kentucky basketball

Everyone wants to trash Kentucky right now and they would love to believe we are done. I think they should let sleeping cats lie! We will be back in the same breath as the Dukes, the North Carolinas, the UCLA's. People should watch what they say, they may be eating crow tomorrow. As far as Tom Crean goes; I remember the statement that was made, if UK does not get Billy D. there may be a mass suicide. The statement was made to show the expectation we had and the disappointment we would feel at not getting Billy D. Although I do jokingly say this, if we get Tom Crean, I will find the tallest building and do my best cannonball from the roof. That is all I need to say about that. As for our critics out there who like to poke fun at us and use us as a punchline to there jokes, I offer this theory on Kentucky basketball. This is only my opinion, but during the depression, there wasn't a whole lot to feel good about. The economy was bad and all that alot of folks had were their farms and coal camps. There was one thing though that brought us joy; that was basketball at the local level. We rooted for our sports teams and it was an escape. Our farm boys and coal sons moved onto UK and we took a great sense of pride in this. If it is true that Franklin Roosevelt got our nation through the depression, then Kentucky basketball did the same for our state. We watched as our boys won championships. We watched as our fathers and grandfathers rooted for UK. We took there love of basketball and made it our own. Someday maybe I will be fortunate enough to pass on my love of Kentucky basketball on to my kids. Maybe some folks do not understand this, but Kentucky basketball is truly in our blood. That is why, I think some will never get it, to whom basketball is just an afterthought(you listening Florida!) Next time you hear someone criticize you for being a Kentucky fan, just tell them,"I can't help it, I was born this way; Kentucky basketball runs in my blood.")

Go Cats!

by Blueman2000 on Apr 5, 2007 3:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Things just got even more interesting!

Goodman at Fox Sports says that sources say that Huggins is going to West Virginia. This makes the coaching carousel spin even faster.

This may be of interest to Kentucky fans as well, as the next UK coach may have a chance at recruiting a couple of top 100 players that only went to K-State because of Huggins and they are probably going back to the recruiting pool (M.Beasley and Dom Sutton).

by ncaahoopstoday on Apr 5, 2007 3:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

This is interesting news, indeed ...

Beasley would do wonders for our program next year, under the reigns of the right guy.

Sutton is a wing, but we could use him. I prefer Beasley, though, if I were given the choice.

Fun to think about, anyway!

by Truzenzuzex on Apr 5, 2007 6:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

i assume

that beasley will go with huggins. you dont make a light commitment to a coach if youre that calliber recruit, methinks. On that note, we could very well get deandre jordan, and dude is a beast.

by boobs on Apr 6, 2007 3:47 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs