Billy Donovan as next Magic coach? We’ve seen this before (SN Archive — 2007) originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Nearly two decades after changing his mind about becoming the next coach of the Orlando Magic, Billy Donovan is once again considered a top candidate for the Magic’s opening. This article, ‘A Big Loss for Gainesville‘ by Mike DeCourcy, originally appeared in the April 23, 2007 issue of The Sporting News.
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Hotter-than-hot hoops coach Billy Donovan is off to Orlando. Just where does that leave the Gators?
All that’s left of Florida’s consecutive NCAA basketball championships are the matching trophies and perhaps an unswept piece of confetti here or there.
Two seniors completed their careers. Four juniors entered the NBA draft. Now, the coach who brought them all together and forged these Gators into one of college basketball’s greatest teams is leaving to cash one of those only-in-the-NBA paychecks.
Billy Donovan is gone to coach the Orlando Magic.
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Replacing him at Florida is no less attractive a prospect than becoming Jennifer Aniston’s second husband. Florida moved quickly to pursue former assistant Anthony Grant, who won 28 games as Virginia Commonwealth’s coach last season.
This is only the fourth time in the past 32 years of college basketball that someone has been asked to take over for a coach who had just completed a championship season and the first time someone has had to follow a coach who had won two.
That standard is the most daunting aspect of the Florida job. Had Donovan remained at Florida, though, no one would have expected the Gators to make it three in a row. The leading returning scorer, guard Walter Hodge, averaged just 5.7 points. But Hodge is a decent player, and center Marreese Speights is an outstanding prospect. Presuming no one will want to abandon his letter of intent, there is an excellent five-man recruiting class in place, led by McDonald’s All American guard Nick Calathes.
June 11, 2007 issue of The Sporting News
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Florida was a pioneer in building a palatial practice facility, which is no surprise given athletic director Jeremy Foley’s record of producing success across his entire department.
Foley’s extraordinary vision has included the willingness to make Donovan the highest-paid coach in college basketball — there was a $3.5 million salary offer on the table when the Magic trumped it — which is going to be attractive to his successor.
Grant impressed Foley while serving as the Gators’ top recruiter and impressed most everyone in college basketball as he led VCU to an NCAA Tournament upset of traditional power Duke. No one will have an easy time replacing Donovan.
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Grant could do well, but he does not have Donovan’s force of personality and would have to discover whether he can handle criticism and remain as balanced as his former boss always was.
(Editor’s note: After Donovan returned, Grant remained at VCU before taking the Alabama job in 2009-10. Grant is now the head coach at Dayton where he finished his 9th season.)
Expect the balance of power in the SEC to shift at least slightly back toward Kentucky and new coach Billy Gillispie over the next few years. A coach must work hard — just ask Donovan — to make a school like Florida a basketball champion. If it’s been done, though, who’s to say it can’t be done again?
