clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Wait, the Heat? What?

By FLATigersFan

So it isn't enough to be under the constant bombardment of Donovan to UK rumors; Now we have to deal with talk of the current Gators' head coach possibly heading off to the Association to take on an entirely different animal altogether -- the Miami Heat.

UK's basketball program has more prestige than those three schools, but Barnhart could be up against the deep pockets of the NBA's Miami Heat- if Donovan is the coach he's going after.

(Andy) Katz believes Donovan is a possible candidate to replace Heat head coach Pat Riley.

"The reason there's a lot of talk about the Heat is (Donovan) did spend a lot of time with Pat Riley in the off season after winning the title," Katz said on ESPN Radio.


Speaking of Andy Katz, he seems pretty positive that Coach Donovan will not be in the Bluegrass State next season as the new head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats.
"Everyone I talked to, including Billy himself, numerous times, his father, his wife, his friends both in basketball and out don't see him putting himself in that kind of fishbowl when he doesn't have to," Katz said Tuesday.

"My gut feeling, based on being around his program, being around that family a lot, is that he will ultimately stay at Florida. He's obviously put this program at another level," Katz said.

I seriously doubt we see Billy D in the NBA anytime soon, but that is just my humble opinion. Donovan could be thinking about making the jump, despite seeing what happened to other successful college coaches when they threw their hats into the professional head-coaching arena; Guys like John Calipari, Tim Floyd and, of course, Billy's mentor Rick Pitino.

The Heat, though, are a much better club than the likes of the Nets (at the time), Bulls (at the time) and Celtics (they still stink -- which could be Pitino's fault somewhat...).

Also today was an interesting rumor stating that Coach Donovan had already signed a seven year, 3.5 million dollar deal to coach the 'Cats -- an announcement was going to be on its way following the end of the Gators' tournament run, based on what a Lexington area news-station website was saying. Unfortunately it looks as if the link is down due to the sheer volume of clicks it was taking.

So what do you believe here? None of us (well, maybe some) know Coach Donovan personally and do not know what he is thinking about right now other than his focus on coaching the Gators in the Final Four. I know we would all like to think we do, but we don't. On that same note we'd all like to think we know what's best for him and his family; But once again, we don't.

All in all, I just wish people would stop talking about Billy Donovan and his possible coaching gigs elsewhere until after the Final Four.  But hey, unsubstantiated rumors and knee-jerk reactions are a ton of fun!