I Think Most of Us Are on This Bandwagon

Grant was an assistant coach under Billy Donovan for 12 years -- two at Marshall and 10 at Florida -- before taking his first head coaching job last season.

All Grant, 41, did was lead Virginia Commonwealth to an upset over Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and a 28-win season. He's also the logical person next in line to become Florida's head coach.

Grant, through VCU spokesman Phil Stanton, declined an interview request Thursday evening. According to the Richmond Times Dispatch if Grant leaves for another school, that school must schedule a home-and-home series with VCU or pay $75,000.

Grant is a Miami native and was largely responsible for recruiting the key early players in Donovan's first few seasons at Florida. Among those he signed were Miami-area stars Brent Wright and Major Parker. Both became team captains and were vital parts of the 2000 team that reached the national title game for the first time in school history.

Grant also went into the Florida locker room to talk to players while at the games, sparking jokes that he was helping coach the Gators at halftime. Asked why he made the trip to St. Louis, Grant responded, "Florida will always be a very special place to me and Billy will always be a very special person in my life."