Billy Donovan is awesome!

[digitalwangsta]

Just rewatched the FL/ARK game - total domination and fun to watch. This game made me appreciate how fortunate Florida is to have Coach Donovan. This is most likely going to be Arkansas's only loss at home this year so this victory was mighty impressive. I didn't think Florida win it but they did! Go Gators!

[ITSGR82B]

BUMP! We really do take Billy for granted. He has stayed steady with his style and his demeanor through 16 seasons at UF. He recruits well, molds "teams" as opposed to letting stars dominate the ball, and seems to be well respected by his players and peers in the coaching profession. It really seems to me that the players who have transferred during Billy's time at UF just couldn't/wouldn't buy-in to the team concept. I had coached at Billy's basketball camp for 11 years and I can tell you he is as genuine a person as I have met.

Here's to you Billy, thanks for all you have done and for all the future holds.

[vulcan_alex]

While I appreciate Billy and am thankful for all that he has done, this win goes to the players who shot the ball well, made their free throws, and perhaps won this one for their assistant coach.

[Okeechobee Joe]

Billy Donovan has built more than a team, he has built a respected program. And he has done it the right way. Now when Florida is not doing well on the court people will say "that's not Florida basketball" because now Florida basketball is perceived as a winning program year in and year out.

For the combination of basketball and football programs no school in the SEC, and few in the nation, can match Florida.

[cuuf]

He is and will go down as a rarity in his profession. Besides the remarkable program that he has been able to build here, he is a straight shooter. Have you ever listened to his interviews? Its always refreshing, especially compared to the majority of crap we hear from football coaches today. He always tells it like it is, clearly explains his opinions and never loses his cool

[gatordad3]

Just think when Jeremy Foley offered Billy Donovan the job, Rick Pitino was against BD taking the job. When Kentucky came calling for BD during UF's 2nd title run, Pitino stated he would take the UF job if Donovan left. Lon Kruger has been through 4 head coaching jobs since he left UF. We should feel so lucky he had a change of heart when he decided to come back to UF after accepting the Orlando Magic HC position.

[rogdochar]

Way to go, gator players ... only way to go is "really hear" coach D.
START each game predetermined to stay out from behind the 8-ball.
Make the best Billyball choices, start to finish. That way you can
again & again feel this extended afterglow, plus feel the glow of
seeing yourselves rise in national rankings and feel yourselves
"winning"a higher seeding for the Big Dance (where we want y'all
to step on some toes). ^^^ NO BACKSEEDS FOR GATORS ^^^

**** Thanks very much, from all us who dribble differently *****

[itsgr82bag8r]

While I appreciate Billy and am thankful for all that he has done, this win goes to the players who shot the ball well, made their free throws, and perhaps won this one for their assistant coach.

+1000

[8802gator]

People have called me crazy for saying this but every year he continues to prove me right. Billy Donovan will go down as the greatest coach in Gator sports history. He has had sustained success, 2 national championships, and is loyal to the program. f he was coaching football and had this kind of success we would have a Paterno 2.0 on our hands minus the Sandusky tragedy. Donovan is the youngest active coach to get 400 wins and he did it at a football school.

[SCG8R]

Agree with OP but he can not get the votes to win for his favorite charity.

http://promo.espn.go.com/espn/contests/ ... eaderboard

Go Gators

[Sasquatch Gator]

I'm waiting for the thread on how much he sucks the next time we lose two games in a row.

[TN G8tr]

I am glad for Billy and what he means to UF.

It was also enjoyable to see the Hogs get slaughtered on their home court and to give Pelphrey a bit of some satisfaction. Pig Suey, NOT!

[nydentalg8r]

Billy D deserves a statue more than any other coach in UF history, including Norm Sloan, Lon Kruger, Steve Spurrier, and Urban Meyer. IMO, our basketball team has done even better than our football team since 1998-99.

[Slevin]

it's either be completely irrelevant and a total joke on the national stage, or be where we are now. some of these idiots think we can be duke or north carolina. that's not the case. there's really no were "up" we can go. we are at the pinacle. we compete, we win championships, and we have a legendary head coach. you don't see kansas, ucla, north carolina, even kentucky winning or getting deep in the tourney every year. it doesn't happen.

[rogdochar]

Wait Slevin, we've all seen MatthewM's quote about that door-slam
yet no mention if the knob survived ?

[alcoholica]

We've made 5 runs to the Sweet 16 or beyond under Billy in 15 years. In 31 years under Krzyzewski, Duke made the Sweet 16 or beyond 20 times. Coach K built Duke similar to Billy at UF. Coach K has won 4 National Titles with 3 different groups of kids, and Billy has won 2 with 1 group. I'm not saying Billy isn't a good coach, but he's no Coach K and it's not close right now. Not to say we aren't fortunate to have him, but let's keep the love fest in reality.

We saw an inspired UF team beat the crap out of a mediocre Arky team. I don't see this team making it past the Sweet 16 and this is a Billy Team that cannot depend on the inside game like last year. We could be a first weekend knock out if we don't play disciplined.

Not to spoil the mood, but let's keep our expectations realistic. This team could make a run with the way they can shoot, but the odds are that we won't, but I'll be rooting the whole way and probably cussing a lot too.

[Slevin]

We've made 5 runs to the Sweet 16 or beyond under Billy in 15 years. In 31 years under Krzyzewski, Duke made the Sweet 16 or beyond 20 times. Coach K built Duke similar to Billy at UF. Coach K has won 4 National Titles with 3 different groups of kids, and Billy has won 2 with 1 group. I'm not saying Billy isn't a good coach, but he's no Coach K and it's not close right now. Not to say we aren't fortunate to have him, but let's keep the love fest in reality.

We saw an inspired UF team beat the crap out of a mediocre Arky team. I don't see this team making it past the Sweet 16 and this is a Billy Team that cannot depend on the inside game like last year. We could be a first weekend knock out if we don't play disciplined.

Not to spoil the mood, but let's keep our expectations realistic. This team could make a run with the way they can shoot, but the odds are that we won't, but I'll be rooting the whole way and probably cussing a lot too.

ok lets fire donovan. who would you like to hire? coach k? roy williams? who? we have to start over again if donovan leaves. we'll hear the "fire the new coach, he can't win it like billy could" or "this guy sucks. what a goon. he can't get us anywhere!" this isn't football. enjoy what we have. it'll never get better.

[FunnGun]

We've made 5 runs to the Sweet 16 or beyond under Billy in 15 years. In 31 years under Krzyzewski, Duke made the Sweet 16 or beyond 20 times. Coach K built Duke similar to Billy at UF. Coach K has won 4 National Titles with 3 different groups of kids, and Billy has won 2 with 1 group. I'm not saying Billy isn't a good coach, but he's no Coach K and it's not close right now. Not to say we aren't fortunate to have him, but let's keep the love fest in reality.

We saw an inspired UF team beat the crap out of a mediocre Arky team. I don't see this team making it past the Sweet 16 and this is a Billy Team that cannot depend on the inside game like last year. We could be a first weekend knock out if we don't play disciplined.

Not to spoil the mood, but let's keep our expectations realistic. This team could make a run with the way they can shoot, but the odds are that we won't, but I'll be rooting the whole way and probably cussing a lot too.

Billy has the same amount of NC's(2) and NCAA appearances(11) as coach K did in his first 15 years. Coach K recruits at Duke in the ACC, Billy recruits at a football school in the SEC. Both are top 5 coaches in the NCAA.

I could go on but I think you get the point. Let's give Billy another 15 years before you start to compare him to Mike K. And let's enjoy our success under Billy for awhile longer before we start to "temper" our expectations at a football school in the SEC.

[Okeechobee Joe]

Coach Titles Years
John Wooden 10 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975
Adolph Rupp 4 1948, 1949, 1951, 1958
Mike Krzyzewski 4 1991, 1992, 2001, 2010
Bob Knight 3 1976, 1981, 1987
Jim Calhoun 3 1999, 2004, 2011
Dean Smith 2 1982, 1993
Roy Williams 2 2005, 2009
Denny Crum 2 1980, 1986
Billy Donovan 2 2006, 2007
Ed Jucker 2 1961, 1962
Henry Iba 2 1945, 1946
Phil Woolpert 2 1955, 1956
Branch McCracken 2 1940, 1953

For people who don't think Billy Donovan deserves a "love fest" let's look at some facts. Only 5 coaches have ever won 3 or more NCAA championships. What do you think the chances the still young Billy D. might someday join that elite group -- Wooden, Rupp, Coach K. , Knight, Calhoun -- pretty elite company, wouldn't you say?

[Okeechobee Joe]

2010 2011
Active and Former (20+ games) NCAA Tournament

Rank Coach, Schools (*=not active) Yrs. W-L Pct. Final
4 2 1
1 John Wooden*, UCLA 25 47-10 .825 12 10 10
2 Mike Krzyzewski, Duke 36 79-23 .775 11 8 4
3 Larry Brown*, (UCLA, Kansas) 7 19-6 .760 3 2 1
4 Roy Williams, North Carolina 23 58-19 .753 7 4 2
5 Billy Donovan, Florida 17 25-9 .735 3 3 2
6 Tom Izzo, Michigan State 16 35-13 .7292 6 2 1
7 Jim Calhoun, Connecticut 39 51-19 .7286 4 3 3
8 Rick Pitino, Louisville 25 38-15 .717 5 2 1
9 John Calipari, Memphis 19 32-13 .711 3 1 0
10 Dean Smith*, North Carolina 36 65-27 .707 11 5 2
11 Bill Self, Kansas 18 28-12 .700 1 1 1
T12 Joe B. Hall*, Kentucky 19 20-9 .690 3 2 1
T12 Al McGuire*, Marquette 20 20-9 .690 2 2 1
14 Steve Fisher, San Diego State 21 22-10 .688 3 3 1
15 Hank Iba*, Oklahoma State 19 15-7 .682 4 3 2
T16 Jerry Tarkanian*, (Long Beach St., UNLV, Fresno State) 31 38-18 .679 4 1 1
T16 Ben Howland, UCLA 16 19-9 .679 3 1 0
18 Rollie Massimino*, (Villanova, UNLV, Cleveland State) 30 20-10 .667 1 1 1
19 Tubby Smith, Minnesota 20 29-15 .659 1 1 1
20 Jim Valvano*, (Iona, North Carolina State) 19 15-8 .652 1 1 1
21 Denny Crum*, Louisville 30 42-23 .646 6 2 2
22 Gary Williams, Maryland 33 29-16 .644 2 1 1
23 Bob Knight*, (Army, Indiana, Texas Tech) 42 45-25 .643 5 3 3
24 John Thompson*, Georgetown 27 34-19 .642 3 3 1
25 Frank McGuire*, (St. John's, North Carolina, South Carolina) 30 14-8 .636 2 2 1
26 Nolan Richardson*, (Tulsa, Arkansas) 22 26-15 .634 3 2 1
T27 Jim Boeheim, Syracuse 35 45-27 .625 3 3 1
T27 Adolph Rupp*, Kentucky 41 30-18 .625 6 5 4
29 Lute Olson*, Arizona 34 46-28 .622 5 2 1
T30 Tom Davis*, (Boston College, Stanford, Iowa, Drake) 32 18-11 .621 0 0 0
T30 Rick Majerus, St. Louis 23 18-11 .621 1 1 0
T32 Eddie Sutton*, (Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma State, USF) 37 39-26 .600 3 0 0
T32 Billy Tubbs*, (Lamar, Oklahoma, TCU) 30 18-12 .600 1 1 0
T32 Terry Holland*, (Davidson, Virginia) 19 15-10 .600 2 0 0
T32 Jud Heathcote*, Michigan State 24 15-10 .600 1 1 1
T36 Guy Lewis*, Houston 30 26-18 .591 5 2 0
T36 Bob Huggins, West Virginia 29 26-18 .591 2 0 0
38 Bobby Cremins, Charlotte 26 15-11 .577 1 0 0
39 John Chaney*, Temple 34 23-17 .575 0 0 0
40 Mike Montgomery, California 29 17-14 .548 1 0 0
T41 Jim Harrick*, (UCLA, Rhode Island, Georgia) 23 18-15 .545 1 1 1
T41 Tom Penders, Houston 33 12-10 .545 0 0 0
T41 Wimp Sanderson*, (Alabama, Arkansas-Little Rock) 17 12-10 .545 0 0 0
44 Gene Bartow*, (Memphis State, UCLA, Ala.-Birmingham) 34 14-12 .538 2 1 0
45 Lefty Driesell*, (Davidson, Maryland, Georgia State) 41 16-14 .533 0 0 0
46 Don Donoher*, Dayton 25 11-10 .524 1 1 0
47 Mark Few, Gonzaga 12 13-12 .520 0 0 0
T48 Lon Kruger, UNLV 25 14-13 .519 1 0 0
T48 Don Haskins*, UTEP 38 14-13 .519 1 1 1
50 Dale Brown*, LSU 25 15-14 .517 2 0 0
51 Gene Keady*, (Western Kentucky, Purdue) 27 19-18 .514 0 0 0
52 Rick Barnes, Texas 23 20-19 .513 1 0 0
T53 Digger Phelps*, (Fordham, Notre Dame) 21 17-17 .500 1 0 0
T53 Jack Gardner*, (Kansas State, Utah) 17 12-12 .500 4 1 0
T53 Johnny Orr*, (Michigan, Iowa State) 29 10-10 .500 1 0 0
56 Lou Henson*, (New Mexico State, Illinois) 42 19-20 .487 2 0 0
57 Kelvin Sampson*, (Oklahoma, Indiana) 23 12-13 .480 1 0 0
58 Ray Meyer*, DePaul 40 14-16 .467 2 0 0
59 Lou Carnesecca*, St. John's 24 17-20 .459 1 0 0
60 Norm Stewart*, Missouri 38 12-16 .429 0 0 0

A few more facts. This is a list of the coaches, active or retired or dead, who have coached 20 or more NCAA tournament games ranked according to winning percentage. Billy Donovan ranks 5.

Billy Donovan is in mid-career. Billy Donovan is not only awesome, he is super f'n awesome. At the end of the day, all Gator fans ought to be on their knees as the sun sets over Cedar Key.