Something you should never do is blurt out things that were told to you "in confidence" by a good friend -- especially when the people you are telling this information is a live radio audience.
Dick Vitale, famous college basketball personality and talking head, made this mistake earlier today by discussing a recent conversation he had with Billy Donovan on Knoxville news radio today. In the interview with Mike Griffith and John Adams, who host the morning show on Knoxville News Sentinel radio, Vitale stated that Donovan privately said that pro scouts were making a big mistake if they take Joakim Noah over Al Horford in the NBA draft.
Now, Billy Donovan may think this is indeed fact -- heck, I think it's true -- and has every right to tell that to a friend in a confidential conversation between the two. It would not be right for him to openly say it for everyone to hear, though, and where he makes a mistake in this is that he tells someone who is famous for analyzing college basketball and with that is known for being quite the loudmouth.
This is where, if Coach Donovan really did say these things, he made a mistake.
With all of the talk surrounding this issue, Coach Donovan is denying that he said anything regarding the draft stock of his two big men to Vitale.
This situation, unfortunately, causes more media talk about a team who is trying to get back on track after losing two of three games -- especially considering how poorly Joakim Noah played in the last outing against the LSU Tigers.
It is really amazing what a little slip-up of the tongue by a guy who talks for a living can do. This was a huge mistake by Vitale, and with that turned out to be quite the mistake by Coach Donovan if the story told on live radio is true. If this is the case, then I must say, lesson learned.
Hopefully this does not turn out to be any kind of distraction for this team tomorrow night as they take on the Volunteers in Knoxville. They'll need to come in focused, a lot more focused than Saturday, and with an energy that does not allow the opposing crowd to get loud. Nothing but winning that basketball game needs to be on their minds.