Just the other day I heard on ESPN radio the baketball coach from Penn State talking about how he hopes their school one day will have a similar footing to a school like Florida that has a solid Football and Basketball program. Here's Foley talking about Donovan hire.
JF: When I first met Billy 10 years ago I saw a little something in him and obviously he's turned into something special with his work ethic and who he is and the way he lives his life as well. He's a special person who's done a tremendous job coaching here. People don't understand what he's done here. You have to be a longtime Gator to understand that this program really was not part of the national scene on a consistent basis in basketball. Sure, we had pockets of success under Norm (Sloan) and we had two years under Lon (Kruger) but beyond that Florida was never a factor on the national scene. Now we have eight straight years in the tournament and 20-plus wins eight years in a row. Whenever they start talking about the quality basketball programs in America, you find that Florida's on that list and that's all due to Billy. Our great fans, our commitment to the program and obviously the University of Florida has a lot to do with that too because there is a lot for Billy to sell when he's out there recruiting people. It's a team effort but there's no question that Billy is the leader of that team and it's been a tremendous pleasure working with him and I look forward to working with him for many, many years.