Busting Brackets
Fansided

Nothing Left to Prove: Billy Donovan Moves On To The NBA

By Daniel Tran

facebooktwitterreddit

After accomplishing everything that could be accomplished at the college level, Florida Gators head coach Billy Donovan is headed for the NBA.

At certain points of a successful head coach’s life, they will reach a crossroad where they have to make a decision: remain a big fish in a smaller pond, or go to a bigger pond to test themselves. For basketball coaches, no pond gets bigger than the NBA, and Billy Donovan is about to take a swim in it.

After 19 seasons coaching the Florida Gators into national prominence, Billy Donovan is leaving Gainsville to take on the challenge of the NBA, reportedly agreeing to a multiyear deal to coach the Oklahoma City Thunder. Florida Gators fans survived the Orlando Magic scare of 2007, but with Donovan slated to coach superstars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, it does not seem like he will renege on this opportunity.

The decision may come as a shock for some because Donovan seemed like he was going to be a college basketball lifer after nearly 20 years building the Florida Gators from an afterthought to one of the most powerful programs in the NCAA. With all that he has accomplished at the college level, a move to the biggest stage of basketball was the only logical move to make for Donovan.

In 1996, a young Billy Donovan resembling an older Eddie Munster inherited a Florida Gator team that won 12 games the previous season. However, the program was on an upswing, reaching the NCAA Tournament five times in the previous ten years after failing to clinch a trip to the Big Dance in the 39 years before that.

After two seasons of building the Gators program, he was able to break through in 1999, reaching the Sweet Sixteen in his first NCAA Tournament trip. From then on, he and the Florida Gators were Tournament regulars, participating in college basketballs most prestigious tournament in 13 of the next 16 years. But getting to the NCAA Tournament is just the start of Donovan’s accomplishments.

Three times was named SEC Coach of the Year (2011, 2013, 2014) and four times he reached the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament. He is the last coach to win consecutive National Championships in 2006 and 2007, and has sent 16 players to the NBA since he began coaching at Florida.

One of the latest awards Billy Donovan has received is the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award in 2010, which recognizes the lifetime achievements of coaches at the college level. When lifetime achievement awards are being thrown around, that should be the first indication that you have maximized your time at a particular level.

Not only that, a shift in power has been occurring the SEC for some time now, signaling that it was time for Donovan to cash in on his success and move on. Since Kentucky hired John Calipari, Florida has once again become a forgotten team in the SEC and lost it’s perpetual grip on the SEC.

Despite making it to four straight regional finals in the NCAA Tournament and a Final Four berth last year, Florida cannot play itself out of Kentucky’s shadow in the SEC. Even though he is still able to recruit four and five-star talent to Florida, he has not been able to adapt to the one-and-done trend that has benefitted teams like Kansas, Kentucky, and Duke, forcing the Gators to the build slowly instead of sustaining top level success every year.

And even after all the success he had in the past, people don’t mention him in the same sentences as Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, or Bob Knight. Sure, they recognize the amazing job he has done, but in many minds, he is a step below that level of elite coaching, leaving him on the outside looking in despite his accomplishments.

After 19 years of coaching at the college level with that kind of success, and still be unable to crack the conversation of being one of the best college coaches ever has to be frustrating and give little incentive to stay around, especially if an opportunity at the next level presents itself.

This past season, Donovan dealt with a talented roster at Florida that was unable to mesh together to form a winning team, going 16-17 for the season and failing to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six seasons. Though he was able to get commitments from two four-star recruits, the upcoming season would not have looked promising with Kentucky, Auburn, and LSU recruiting top talent, leaving Florida as a huge question mark in a suddenly strong SEC.

Despite that, his reputation within NBA circles produced an opportunity to coach two of the best players in the world on a team that has enough talent to instantly contend for a playoff spot, and one of the loudest, most loyal fan bases in the entire league. With all that he has done at the college level and what he could accomplish at the next level with a talented team, wouldn’t you make the jump?

Next: Durand Johnson Transfers to St. John's

More from Busting Brackets

Home/Florida Gators