SEC Basketball: Top 10 head coaches of the century (2000-20)

1. Billy Donovan – Florida (2000-2015)

Donovan garnered quite an impressive pedigree early, playing and serving as an assistant under Rick Pitino well before he took over Florida in 1996. He began his head coaching career with a pair of seasons at Marshall, but nothing in two those years could foretell how important he’d be for Florida.

Right at the turn of the century, he led the Gators to the national title game, but this was only the beginning. His Gators won the national titles in both 2006 and 2007, the most recent repeat champion, and an all-around impressive run through college basketball. Add in a 36-win Final Four run in 2014 and Donovan’s entire package is beyond impressive. These four Final Fours, constant NCAA success, and hanging out at or near the top of the conference standings.

Donovan departed in 2015 for and remains the head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder. If he chooses to return to college basketball, any program that lands him will do so with open arms. The work he did in nearly two decades with Florida has been outstanding and he truly made Florida one of the country’s most consistent programs. Successor Mike White still has plenty of work ahead to live up to Donovan’s legacy.

We’ve completed our run-through of the ten best SEC coaches since the turn of the century. The coaches who lead these prestigious programs have shown their talent these last few decades and we expect more of the same for the coming years.