NCAA Basketball: Should free agent coach Billy Donovan return to college?

Could Billy Donovan return to NCAA basketball in the near future?

Following a loss in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, the Oklahoma City Thunder made a bit of a surprising move with the announcement that head coach Billy Donovan would not return next season. His five-year contract had run out and the team would be parting ways, moving in a new direction with the franchise. Donovan led the Thunder to the postseason in each of his five seasons, though the Thunder were eliminated in the first round in each of the last four years.

Of course, Donovan accepted the Oklahoma City job in 2015 after a remarkable run in college basketball, leading Florida to a pair of national championships. He spent nearly two decades in Gainesville, leading the Gators to heights they had never before seen. He led Florida to four total Final Fours and made them one of the best programs in the SEC. There’s no denying that he’s a very successful coach

While his work with Oklahoma City wasn’t exactly world-altering, it’s clear that Donovan remains one of the more brilliant basketball coaching minds in the game today. There have already been reports that teams such as the Chicago Bulls and Philadelphia 76ers are interested in interviewing Donovan for their vacancies. Donovan could likely swing another great contract and make a great impact on one of these franchises.

However, there will also be a lot of buzz about Donovan potentially returning to the college game. His work at Florida was legendary and there would be a dozen power conference programs welcoming him with open arms next season. Donovan showed that he was a brilliant recruiter and was able to put those key players into the position to become champions.

Without too much speculation, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a program like Indiana or Texas make a run at him next season, especially if these programs don’t see immediate improvement under their current coaches.

If he does return to college basketball, Donovan has a unique opportunity ahead of him. If he can pull off a similar success that he had at Florida, he could potentially match his college coach Rick Pitino in winning titles as multiple schools. With a few years of elite recruiting and coaching, it’s feasible that Donovan could turn one of those power conference programs into a national contender again. If he pulled that off, Donovan would go down in history as one of the sport’s greatest head coaches, though he’s already quite revered for his work with the Gators.

On the other hand, the allure of the NBA might keep him from making a return to college hoops. In the NBA, Donovan would spend much less time working, as he wouldn’t have to recruit his players or perform other obligations for whichever university hires him.

He’d face less direct pressure to win, as one wrong move in the NCAA Tournament destroys a season while the NBA playoffs are far more forgiving. That being said, there’s also no guarantee that he would succeed at another NBA coaching job, as he inherited a Thunder team that was in great shape and didn’t exactly take them to the next level.

Donovan is a fantastic coach and will have dozens of suitors at both the college and professional level. His return to college basketball would be fantastic for the sport and for whichever college would hire him. He could be the coach to turn around an Indiana or a Texas. However, I would expect Donovan to interview for some of the open NBA jobs and would not be surprised if he accepted one of the positions.

It also wouldn’t surprise me to see Donovan take a year off before weighing his collegiate and NBA options next spring. For now, don’t expect your favorite team (no matter how much they struggled this year) to cut ties with their head coach and woo Donovan.