Billy Donovan

 ( 1965 Births ) 

At Marshall, Donovan installed the fast-paced offense and defensive schemes employed by Pitino. A previously scheduled early season match-up pitted Marshall against Kentucky in December 1994. Before the game, Pitino advised his young protege to "try to whip Kentucky's ass, because we'll try to do the same to you." Though he was warmly received by the Rupp Arena crowd, Donovan's team did not feel as welcome, losing 116–75. The rest of the season was more successful. Donovan's first Marshall squad doubled its win total from the previous year, earning an 18–9 record and winning the Southern Conference North Division title as Donovan was named the 1995 Southern Conference Coach of the Year. In Donovan's second season, 1995–96, the team went 17–11 and led the Southern Conference in scoring and three-point field goals. Donovan was also successful on the recruiting trail, convincing nationally sought prep star Jason Williams to decline scholarship offers from more established programs and remain in state to attend Marshall. Williams would later follow Donovan to Florida.

In all, Donovan's Marshall teams compiled a 35–20 record over two seasons.

With few talented players on the roster, Donovan's first two Florida squads had records of 13–17 and 15–16. There were some signs of improvement, however, as the 1997–98 team was invited to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), and Donovan's "relentless" recruiting during this period set the foundation for future success.

Donovan finally brought lasting success to the Florida basketball program during the 1998–99 season. The Gators went 22–9, earning 20+ wins for only the fifth time in history and starting a streak of 16 consecutive 20-win seasons. The Gators continued to play well in the 1999 postseason, as they made their third NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance and became the second squad in school history to appear in the final top 25 polls (No. 17 in the ESPN/USA Today Poll and No. 23 in the Associated Press Poll).

The 1999–2000 season saw Donovan lead the Gators to their first regular season SEC Championship and their second NCAA final Four appearance, defeating North Carolina in the national semi-finals before falling to Michigan State in the NCAA championship game.

The Gators again won the SEC regular season championship during the 2000–01 season, and on February 3, 2003, the team achieved a No. 1 ranking in the ESPN/USA Today poll for the first time in school history, returning there the following season on December 8, 2003. The 2004–05 season was highlighted by Florida defeating Kentucky 70–53 to win the SEC tournament championship, the first time that the Gators won the conference tournament.

While successful during the regular season, Donovan's Florida squads from 2001 to 2005 consistently underperformed in the NCAA tournament, losing to lower-seeded teams in the first or second round every year despite rosters stocked with highly recruited players. Still in his thirties, some commentators speculated that Donovan was an excellent recruiter who was unable to make in-game adjustments or develop talented players once they were on the UF campus.

Donovan's young Gator squad would come together in the postseason. Florida reached the SEC Tournament championship and avenged their surprising regular season defeats by beating South Carolina in the finals, earning the school's second conference tournament title. In the 2006 NCAA tournament, the 3rd-seeded Gators finally reached the Sweet 16 and beyond. They defeated Villanova (who had knocked them out the tournament the previous season) to reach the Final Four, and in the championship game, they defeated UCLA 73–57 to win the school's first NCAA basketball title.

During a post-championship celebration in the O'Connell Center, the Gators' entire starting five of (Lee Humphrey, Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Corey Brewer, and Taurean Green) announced they would return the following year and attempt to win another championship (the last back-to-back title winner was 1991 and 1992 Duke) instead of declaring early for the NBA draft. Accordingly, the Gators were named preseason favorites to repeat by many media pundits. The Gators raced out of the gates, losing just two non-conference games (versus Kansas and at Florida State). On December 20, 2006, Donovan became the winningest basketball coach in Florida history, earning his 236th win to surpass Norm Sloan's total. The 2007 Gators looked even more mature in terms of their unselfishness, passing and shooting abilities and overall team play. Although the Gators sputtered down the stretch during SEC play, losing three of four games beginning with a loss at Vanderbilt, the team rebounded with its sixth consecutive win over its archrivals, the Kentucky Wildcats, to regain momentum and claim the SEC regular season championship. The Gators then repeated as SEC Tournament champions with dominating performances that culminated in a win over the Arkansas Razorbacks in the finals.

Florida earned the number one overall seed in the 2007 NCAA tournament and defeated Jackson State, Purdue, Butler and Oregon to reach the Final Four. The semi-final was a rematch of the 2006 title game against UCLA, and Donovan's Gators prevailed 76–66. The Gators secured their repeat championship two nights later with an emphatic 84–75 victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes, coached by Thad Matta. With the Florida Gators football having won the 2007 BCS National Championship Game (also over Ohio State) three months prior, the University of Florida became the first school in NCAA history to hold both the football and basketball national championships at the same time.

Donovan's first decade in Gainesville brought a new level of success to the University of Florida's basketball program. The Gators were invited to the NCAA Tournament in every season between 1999 and 2007 (a streak of nine straight appearances), reached three national championship games, and won two NCAA titles. In contrast, Florida basketball squads had only appeared in five NCAA Tournaments in 81 years of play before Donovan's arrival and had never reached an NCAA championship game. In conference play, Florida had captured only one regular season SEC championship and had never won the conference tournament before Donovan's arrival. From 1996 until 2007, the Gators won three SEC regular season titles and three SEC tournament titles.

After announcing his return to Gainesville, Donovan signed the top-ranked 2007 recruiting class, as rated by Rivals.com.

Despite the loss of all five starters from the previous year, the Gators surprised many pundits with Donovan's tenth straight twenty-win season. Florida Gators Orlando Sentinel However, after an 18–3 start, the team struggled during the final third of the season, winning just three of its last eleven games and snapping the Gators' nine-year streak of NCAA tournament invitations. The young Gator team rebounded to reach the semifinals of the 2008 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) before falling to the UMass Minutemen.

The 2008–09 Gators started out the season ranked No. 19 and 5–0 before falling to Syracuse. A loss two weeks later to the Florida State Seminoles knocked the Gators out of the top twenty-five ranked teams. Though the team won twenty-two regular season games, it once again was not enough to earn a bid to the NCAA tournament. However, the Gators were given a number one seed in the 2009 NIT, where they lost to the Penn State Nittany Lions in the quarterfinals.

The Gators returned to the NCAA tournament during the 2009–10 season, but lost in the first round to the BYU Cougars in double overtime. During the season, Florida defeated Florida State, ending a three-game losing streak to the Seminoles. They also defeated Michigan State, a preseason favorite to win the NCAA tournament and an eventual Final Four team, en route to winning the 2009 Legends Classic tournament.

With three returning senior starters, the 2010–11 Gators posted an improved record. They won the SEC regular season title, and were the runners-up in the 2011 SEC Tournament. In the 2011 NCAA Tournament, the Gators defeated the Jimmer Fredette-led BYU Cougars, before losing in overtime to the Butler Bulldogs in the Elite Eight.

On March 8, 2011, Donovan was named the 2011 SEC Coach of the Year. Despite appearing in three national title games and winning two national titles, it was Donovan's first time winning the award. Gators forward Chandler Parsons also became the first Gator to ever win SEC Player of the Year honors.

The 2011–12 Gators were again invited to the NCAA Tournament, this time as a seventh-seed. They defeated the tenth-seeded Virginia Cavaliers and fifteenth-seeded Norfolk State (who had beaten second-seeded Missouri) to advance to the Sweet Sixteen, then defeated Marquette 68–58 to return to the Elite Eight for the second straight year. In the Elite Eight, Donovan and the Gators faced off against Louisville and Donovan's former coach Pitino. The Gators fell in a very close game, 72–68.

Donovan recorded his 400th career victory at the University of Florida on January 19, 2013, with an 83–52 win over the Missouri Tigers. The Gators won the 2013 SEC regular season championship (Donovan's fifth regular season conference championship), finished as runner-up in the 2013 SEC Tournament (losing to Ole Miss in the championship game), and advanced to a third consecutive Elite Eight (defeating Northwestern State in the second round, Minnesota in the third round, and Florida Gulf Coast in the Sweet Sixteen, before losing to Michigan in the regional final).

The SEC regular season championship was the third in four seasons for Donovan's Gators, and their conference tournament championship was their fourth in school history, all coming under Donovan. He was named the SEC's Coach of the Year for the third time, and his players won many of the conference's individual awards. Senior point guard Scottie Wilbekin was named Southeastern Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year and the SEC Tournament MVP, senior center Patric Young was named the Defensive Player and Scholar-Athlete of the Year, junior forward Dorian Finney-Smith was named Sixth Man of the Year, and senior guard Casey Prather was named to the All-SEC First Team.

The Gators earned the number one overall seed in the 2014 NCAA tournament, and their winning streak stretched to 30 games as they reached the Final Four by defeating each of their first four tournament opponents by double digit margins. However, the Gators' season ended with a national semifinal loss to the 7-seed and eventual national champion UConn Huskies, who had been the last team to beat Florida the previous December.

In 18 years at Florida, Donovan led the Gators to 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, six SEC regular season titles (four outright, two shared) and four SEC Tournament titles. By comparison, the Gators had only made three "official" NCAA Tournament appearances (not counting two under Sloan which were vacated), one regular season conference title, and no tournament titles in their entire history before Donovan's arrival.

However, in late May, the NBA's Orlando Magic offered Donovan their head coaching job to replace Brian Hill, who had been fired after two consecutive losing seasons. Donovan struggled with the decision until June 1, 2007, when he agreed to accept the Orlando Magic's contract offer, reportedly worth $27.5 million over five years. Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley contacted Anthony Grant, Donovan's former assistant who was the head coach at Virginia Commonwealth University at the time, to inquire about his interest in replacing Donovan.

Donovan held an introductory press conference in Orlando on June 1, 2007, followed by an emotional farewell press conference in Gainesville later that day. The next morning Donovan began having second thoughts about his decision, and informed Jeremy Foley and the Magic front office that he had changed his mind about leaving Florida. After failing to convince Donovan to still change teams, the Magic reached an agreement with Donovan on June 6, 2007, releasing him from his contract, thereby leaving him free to return as the head coach of the Florida Gators basketball team. As a stipulation of his release, he reportedly agreed not to coach in the NBA for the following five seasons. Donovan issued apologies to all involved parties, and the Orlando Magic soon after hired Stan Van Gundy as their head coach.