NCAA Basketball: Ranking the last 25 national title winning head coaches

He propelled his success at Florida into a gig in the NBA, but Billy Donovan’s run with Florida was extremely impressive. His Gators are the most recent team to win back-to-back championships (2006, 2007). He’s spent the last four seasons leading the Oklahoma City Thunder, though many believe Donovan will jump back to the NCAA when his time with the Thunder comes to an end.

Donovan played collegiately at Providence before a brief professional career as a point guard. Upon his retirement, he was hired by his college coach Rick Pitino, then the head coach at Kentucky.

Donovan spent five years working under Pitino before getting his chance to become head coach, launching his career at Marshall in 1994. Donovan went 35-20 in his two seasons with the Thundering Herd, doing enough to earn the Florida job in 1996.

Within four years, Donovan had transformed the Gators from a bottom feeder in the SEC to an appearance in the national championship game in 2000.

Donovan brought Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Corey Brewer and a talented roster to Florida, winning national championships in 2006 and 2007. The next wave brought some success for Donovan, who made another Final Four in 2014 after three straight Elite Eights.

Donovan achieved remarkable success with the Gators and parlayed that into a job with the Thunder. Donovan may return to the college game in the future and he’d bring an incredible pedigree to that program.

His back-to-back titles have still yet to be matched, while his prowess as a recruiter and coach has been lauded. The most important question for Donovan is how his Thunder will fare without Russell Westbrook next season and will this jumpstart his return to the college game?