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Does Gillispie Hot Seat Mean Kentucky Throws Bag o' Cash At Donovan?

Billy Gillispie has not done enough to keep his job in Lexington. As much as I hate Kentucky Basketball, the Cats should never suck this bad. Just like the Boston Celtics, Montreal Canadiens and New York Yankees, the coach of the Wildcats should be a competent person who wins. Gillispie has demonstrated neither.

The nearly foregone conclusion is that he hasn't passed UK's judgment with flying colors, that President Lee T. Todd Jr. and Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart will announce soon that a change is being made, that a 40-27 record and a differing interpretation of job description will cause the program to move in a different direction.

We're assuming Gillispie will follow Tyrone Willingham, Cam Cameron and Joe Girardi (trust me, that guy is overmatched too) into the sunset. If that is the case, it will take about 30 seconds for a Bluegrass booster to start throwing money in the general direction of Gainesville. Kentucky wanted Billy Donovan last time and were turned away. They owe it to their fans to at least try again. Just like Florida owed it to their fans when they looked at Bob Stoops before getting Ron Zook and Urban Meyer. Also, it seems the only people not affected by the recession are Bull Gators. I assume Kentucky people of comparable wealth still have extra cash lying around, as well. After a NIT season, Kentucky could use some of their state stimulus money to pay for a coach, too.

The thing is Donovan has already turned his back on a NBA job two hours from his family. Why would he leave Gainesville for Lexington? However, stranger things have happened. Like a guy signs a contract, has a press conference, then calls their old boss to not hire someone new because they want their old job back. We assume Donovan will stay in Gainesville, especially when his return inspired this line.

The reality, according to sources, is that Donovan isn't scared of coaching in the NBA, but he simply realized that he loves the University of Florida.

To which we wrote;

Only Florida alumni, fans, and students can truly understand what this means. The three of us who started this site all know that feeling. There is something special about Gainesville and UF that could never be accurately judged. It's why 80 year old men tailgate for the Orange and Blue Game and why Spurrier still refers to he and UF as "we". Like my brother and I, the Donovan's went from Rockville Centre, NY to Gainesville. And it looks like we'll all be here for a long time.

Donovan will have to keep proving that until the day he retires from coaching.

0 recs  |  Comment 11 comments |

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Exactly. Gainesville is supposed to be a destination...

…not a stepping stone. (Lon Kruger going to Illinois, for example.) I just don’t get it.

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by Chris Dobbertean on Mar 26, 2009 10:49 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Thought Kruger left because there were NCAA punishment issues too?

mlmintampa
UF C/O 06

by mlmintampa on Mar 27, 2009 10:44 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

It seems like I remember there being some possible recruiting violations during Kruger’s tenure.

by J-Fenn on Mar 27, 2009 1:20 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Could be...

…that was in the days before I was following UF.

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by Chris Dobbertean on Mar 27, 2009 4:47 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

good news bad news

I kind of like having coaches that are so desired that everytime there is an opening anywhere – they are mentioned. That was never a problem with Ron Zook or Don Devoe!!

by skigator93 on Mar 26, 2009 10:48 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Florida to the same standard as Kentucky?

I might be in the minority (or slightly unappreciative of our two national titles), but I was never that high on Billy Donovan. He was (notice the past tense) an incredible recruiter and turned Florida into a premier basketball program. But the premier basketball programs do not have off years like the Gators have had the last two seasons.

I think jumping back and forth from the NBA (and as a Magic fan, thank god he is not our coach) has hurt his recruiting edge and has exposed him as a poor game coach. He struggled with blue chip talent after the getting to the title game in 2000.

It might be a good thing if he goes to Kentucky.

Philip

by philrsquared on Mar 27, 2009 5:06 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

You're forgetting one huge thing

Donovan is successful with a big lineup.
2000: Miller-Bonner-Haslem
2006: Brewer-Noah-Horford (Moss, Richard off the bench)
2007: Brewer-Noah-Horford (Richard off the bench)
He doesn’t have a big lineup right now. When Lee was with UF, all he had was Adrian Moss. Also, Donovan wanted Patrick Patterson because he knew he did not have the muscle inside. Patterson chose a coach who is now fired. Next year, with Vernon Macklin, and older bigs, things should change.

And your comment about premier programs not having off years is spot on. Since North Carolina went 8-20 in 2000-01 and 19-16 in 2001-02, they’ve been a failure. I haven’t heard anything about them lately.

mlmintampa
UF C/O 06

by mlmintampa on Mar 27, 2009 5:43 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Donovan

It’s not fair to trash Donovan for having back-to-back NCAA misses after back-to-back titles. One thing that people seem to forget is that we lost all 5 starters and the best 6th man in college basketball. Has any other team lost EVERYBODY and then just reloaded the following year?

It is normal to lose your top 2 or 3 players from a championship team, but top 6? I don’t think there is a coach in the country that could recover too quickly from that.

Also, are you saying that Donovan “struggled with blue chip talent” simply because he lost the championship game? From what I recall, MSU was pretty decent that year too.

I agree with MLM that next season is a key turning point because we will finally have several big men – and with that many on the roster, someone’s got to pan out!

by skigator93 on Mar 28, 2009 2:38 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Holy cow.

I had forgot about UNC’s suckage a few years ago.

by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Mar 28, 2009 9:57 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Oh, indeed – big programs have off-years all the time. UNC has been noted, but the following programs have all missed the tournament this decade (in some cases, missing the NIT as well); UConn (two years ago), UCLA (two losing seasons), Syracuse (just off back-to-back NIT appearances), Louisville (from Final Four to NIT in a season), Memphis, Oklahoma (two different occasions, once missing even the NIT), Illinois (last year), Georgetown (this year), Maryland (last year) and – of course – Kentucky. (Texas just misses the list – their last year on the outs was ’98.)

There are exceptions, certainly, but Duke (last out ‘94/95) and Kansas (’89) are the only real immortals, I think – Arizona holds the current appearance streak, but they’ve been fortunate recently.

The upshot is that a couple of years in the wilderness is absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, even for a ‘premier program’. Basketball is volatile enough that it’s not unthinkable to go from Final Four to NIT and back in the course of a single player’s career. (And indeed, UConn was three points against George Mason from doing exactly that – they’ll have to settle for Elite Eight-NIT-Final Four.)

by peachy rex on Mar 29, 2009 2:48 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

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