UF’s Donovan to the NBA

General NCS Basketball36

Donovan is leaving his Gator dynasty to chase the riches (and ego challenge) of the NBA. The dominoes could be very interesting. ESPN’s Pat Forde details the litany of failures that precede Billy’s quest.

In other miscellaneous news, Sid’s buddy Sheed is headed to double overtime.

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General NCS Basketball

36 Responses to UF’s Donovan to the NBA

  1. Dogbreath 06/01/2007 at 5:20 AM #

    I am surprised that there is still someone out there who watches the NBA.

  2. one00_proof 06/01/2007 at 6:22 AM #

    Well… the game was pretty dam awesome. Lebron was pretty much possessed for that last part. It was definitely entertaining, which is a lot considering its the NBA.

  3. RickJ 06/01/2007 at 6:58 AM #

    It will be interesting to see if Jeremy Foley allows the terrific 5 man recruiting class of the Gators out of their LOI’s. I’m guessing not.

    You do have to feel a little for Jai Lucas – the kid waits until the last possible minute to sign to know what coach & players were going to be where and he still gets screwed.

  4. Sw0rdf1sh 06/01/2007 at 7:26 AM #

    A….Donovan would be a fool to turn down that cash and at least give it an attempt. Not sure it’s going to work out because I think it is a little harder to motivate millionaires…..

    B…I tried like hell to make it to the end of the game but passed out in the first overtime. Wake up some time later and tried to rewind Tivo but it had been too long. Thank goodness for SportsCenter.

  5. RAWFS 06/01/2007 at 7:49 AM #

    Billy doesn’t even have to pack up his house and move his family, given the relative proximity of Orlando to Gainesville. A man with his means can certainly lease out a copter for the short daily hop and skip the I-4 traffic…

  6. Todd 06/01/2007 at 8:15 AM #

    Lucas must be absolutely pissed. Waits for the coaching carrosel to stop befor committing, and still get screwed over. Kinda funny though – he was briefly looking at State – shoulda went w that idea, kid.

  7. noah 06/01/2007 at 8:19 AM #

    I think it was Pat Forde yesterday on ESPN Radio who talked about how Dan Werner was in this situation last year “at north carolina when herb sendek left.”

    Now forgetting NC State for the moment….how do you cover college basketball and not know who the coach at UNC is?

    “UCLA? Never heard of ’em. UK? That’s in Lawrence, right?”

    As far as the NBA is concerned, if you want to cash in on the NBA…do it now. Ratings for “The Deadliest Catch” were higher than for a recent playoff game.

    That league is officially…in trouble.

  8. BoKnowsNCS71 06/01/2007 at 8:30 AM #

    So what happens in the coaching carousel? BD leaves so do they hire from within and end it there —- or does another big school coaching job open up, and then another, ad infinitum. Are we in for another round of salary spikes and extensions?

  9. primacyone 06/01/2007 at 8:32 AM #

    They only thing good about the NBA is Sid Lowe’s conections! They are awesome baby!

    I hate MLB right now too – I think it’s the Barry Bonds thing. Tried to watch several games this year and couldn’t make past a couple of pitches.

    Good for BD. He actually deserves it. Although he screwed the heck out of Jai. I’m very anxious to see how this unfolds. Is the Florida AD as nice as ours? The Kansas State AD was not.

  10. BJD95 06/01/2007 at 8:42 AM #

    For those of you who don’t remember the ACC in the late 1980s and early 1990s – last night reminded me of what Rodney Monroe and Randolph Childress could do when REALLY in the zone. Monroe in particular would go on 20-2 runs by himself (I seem to remember runs like that against UVA and GT, IIRC). The best example for Childress was the ACCT final against UNC.

    To be clear, I’m not at all saying that Monroe or Childress were nearly as good as LeBron – it was just fun to watch a guy completely put his team on his back, get ridiculously hot, and take over. It did remind me of the old days quite a bit!

    I still only paid close attention starting with the last minute of OT. The NBA is still mostly unwatchable, and in serious trouble.

  11. Texpack 06/01/2007 at 8:46 AM #

    ^BoKnows – My boss who is a Gator, said a couple of months ago that the plan at UF was for Larry Shyatt to take over if Donovan left. I found that incredible, but thought I’d mention it on the off chance it comes to pass.

  12. Rick 06/01/2007 at 9:03 AM #

    Well, at least one branch of the Pitino coaching tree is succeeding.

  13. beowolf 06/01/2007 at 9:06 AM #

    BJD, I have that GT game — Monroe scored 30+ points in the second half. I was there at the Virginia game; that comeback was unreal. The “Monroe fast break” was working like crazy in that game (get a steal, Monroe spots up for three, swish).

    If ANYONE has a copy of the Virginia game from ’91 where Monroe led a comeback from down 20 in the second half, please let me know; I’d love to burn that to DVD.

    That and the Wake Forest game in Reynolds from 1983, where the Pack scored 130 points. Those are the two games I’d love to see again.

  14. RickJ 06/01/2007 at 9:06 AM #

    Anthony Grant is a more likely choice to replace Donovan. Grant was an assistant with Donovan at Marshall & Florida and has always been considered a great recruiter. He just finished his first year at Virginia Commonwealth – did an incredible job all year and beat Duke in the NCAA’s.

  15. joe 06/01/2007 at 9:19 AM #

    Maybe the NBA could get better ratings if they let captains like Sig Hansen and Phil Harris coach. 🙂

  16. packbackr04 06/01/2007 at 9:21 AM #

    any chance billy d picks up one of his gators who will be in the draft? joakim, horford, etc…

  17. Lunatic Fringe 06/01/2007 at 10:01 AM #

    Shyatt at Florida would be my dream come true (not a big fan of Florida).

    I personally think Shyatt’s track record for taking over a well-established program from a great coach at a predominantly football school and driving it into the ground is perfect for Florida. :op

    Clemson’s Record:
    Barnes
    94-95 – 15-13
    95-96 – 18-11
    96-97 – 23-10
    97-98 – 18-14

    Shyatt
    98-99 – 20-15
    99-00 – 10-20
    00-01 – 12-19
    01-02 – 13-17
    02-03 – 15-13

  18. RAWFS 06/01/2007 at 10:10 AM #

    Just tell them to keep their grubby Gator claws off of Larry Harris.

  19. beowolf 06/01/2007 at 10:10 AM #

    Shyatt, wasn’t he at Providence with The Great One? And Rick Barnes?

  20. redfred2 06/01/2007 at 10:18 AM #

    If Florida doesn’t let those recruits out of their commitments, then the university as a whole, along the their basketball program…*THEY ARE DOOMED, DOOMED I TELL YOU!!!*

    Don’t they know that you just can’t do that, and still maintain any respect among all of the other universities on the planet.

  21. primacyone 06/01/2007 at 10:23 AM #

    I bet they go after Herb Sendeck. I hear he’s awesome.

  22. primacyone 06/01/2007 at 10:25 AM #

    What’s that you say? Herb is not good enough for Florida – come on!

  23. Lunatic Fringe 06/01/2007 at 10:28 AM #

    I assume you mean Pitino as the Great One. Pitino was at Providence 85-87 than Shyatt joined Barnes in 88.

  24. MadWolf92 06/01/2007 at 10:29 AM #

    ^ Are you by any chance holding up K-State as a paragon of respect amongst universities?

  25. noah 06/01/2007 at 10:30 AM #

    “If ANYONE has a copy of the Virginia game from ‘91 where Monroe led a comeback from down 20 in the second half, please let me know; I’d love to burn that to DVD.”

    The WRAL newscast highlights of that game can be found on YouTube. Do a search on YT for Rodney Monroe and you’ll find it.

    I’d love to see that GT game again. Sadly, I have nothing to offer in return.

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