shaka smart to texas...

[mscott59]

... well he resisted the siren song from a string of good programs, but couldn't turn away austin. don't blame him... fantastic city, a top level state university with significant resources, yet still, in the shadow of football, allowing maybe some additional slack in getting the program back up to the level expected there.

i'm listening to mike greenburg on espn radio right now talk w/gregg marshall from wichita state about this wknd's final 4, and he raised the point that he thinks college hoops is better when coaches like marshall and smart and mark few at gonzaga stay at those small schools who've had success. i think he's wrong... and being pretty unfair to coaches who achieve success and should then apparently be restricted to not better, potentially, better the lives of his family, earning more $$, and professionally challenging himself in a more difficult setting. i don't belittle anyone being happy where they are... there are plenty of challenges at the mid-level programs and you can certainly earn a good living at the xaviers and butlers of the world too. but if you want more, pundits are being pretty disingenuous putting a negative spin on it... especially when they left smaller markets to work on a national radio show, for example. lol

[Deleted]

I wish him well at Texas. He'll have all of the advantages along with the tremendous pressure to produce. Smart and Strong have that in common. As it should be, Texas won't tolerate average performance very long.

[mscott59]

Apr 3, 2015 9:21:05 GMT -5 ETGator1 said:

I wish him well at Texas. He'll have all of the advantages along with the tremendous pressure to produce. Smart and Strong have that in common. As it should be, Texas won't tolerate average performance very long.

btw, et, espn was running with a story from jeff goodman saying that nba execs think donovan wants to make the jump to the pros soon. you wonder if there's any fire to that smoke.

i too think smart will do well with the horns. and i also think rick barnes may be able to re-light the pilot light in knoxville. sometimes good coaches need a change of scenery, don't you think?

[Deleted]

Apr 3, 2015 9:47:22 GMT -5 mscott59 said:

Apr 3, 2015 9:21:05 GMT -5 ETGator1 said:

I wish him well at Texas. He'll have all of the advantages along with the tremendous pressure to produce. Smart and Strong have that in common. As it should be, Texas won't tolerate average performance very long.

btw, et, espn was running with a story from jeff goodman saying that nba execs think donovan wants to make the jump to the pros soon. you wonder if there's any fire to that smoke.

i too think smart will do well with the horns. and i also think rick barnes may be able to re-light the pilot light in knoxville. sometimes good coaches need a change of scenery, don't you think?

If Billy D jumps to the NBA, I don't think it will be this year. Dorian Finney-Smith announced yesterday that he is coming back for his senior year with UF. One of his reasons cited is he's looking forward to working with Billy D another year. I don't think there is any way Billy would tell DFS that he'll be his coach through his eligibility and then leave. What the future after this year holds is anybody's guess. Billy signed a contact extension last August through 2020, but his buyout is only $500,000. JMHO, I don't see Billy and Christine Donovan leaving Gainesville. It's a family that has all they want at home. I think Billy will be a UF lifer. I also think some of the NBA rumors are being fanned by recruiting battles. Unbelievably, Rick Pitino is playing the NBA card in recruiting with a SG who is committed to UF and a frontcourt player both coaches are after.

The UTn situation comes down to AD Spanky Hart. First, he let a perfectly good coach in Cuonzo Martin get run and of town followed by making an awful hire on Donnie Tyndall. If I'm Rick Barnes, I don't know if I'd want to go to work for Spanky Hart.

[mscott59]

Apr 3, 2015 10:12:59 GMT -5 ETGator1 said:

Apr 3, 2015 9:47:22 GMT -5 mscott59 said:

btw, et, espn was running with a story from jeff goodman saying that nba execs think donovan wants to make the jump to the pros soon. you wonder if there's any fire to that smoke.

i too think smart will do well with the horns. and i also think rick barnes may be able to re-light the pilot light in knoxville. sometimes good coaches need a change of scenery, don't you think?

If Billy D jumps to the NBA, I don't think it will be this year. Dorian Finney-Smith announced yesterday that he is coming back for his senior year with UF. One of his reasons cited is he's looking forward to working with Billy D another year. I don't think there is any way Billy would tell DFS that he'll be his coach through his eligibility and then leave. What the future after this year holds is anybody's guess. Billy signed a contact extension last August through 2020, but his buyout is only $500,000. JMHO, I don't see Billy and Christine Donovan leaving Gainesville. It's a family that has all they want at home. I think Billy will be a UF lifer. I also think some of the NBA rumors are being fanned by recruiting battles. Unbelievably, Rick Pitino is playing the NBA card in recruiting with a SG who is committed to UF and a frontcourt player both coaches are after.

The UTn situation comes down to AD Spanky Hart. First, he let a perfectly good coach in Cuonzo Martin get run and of town followed by making an awful hire on Donnie Tyndall. If I'm Rick Barnes, I don't know if I'd want to go to work for Spanky Hart.

barnes first; his wife is from tennessee, is she not? 'working' for her may trump any issues working for an a.d. lol. re: donovan, certainly agree about all the positives that are possible having a big time job and still being able to enjoy life in a not-so-big college town. re: pitino, shouldn't surprise anyone that innuendo and recruiting go hand in hand, especially these days. but goodman wouldn't go with a story if he only had one nba exec as a source. that said, execs saying they think the time is right for billy to make that move, and execs who've talked to him directly, may be different things altogether.

[Deleted]

I'll believe it when I see it. My gut says Christine Donovan will put her foot down on this with a you can work for UF or retire statement. I can't see her leaving Gainesville. Heck, Shelley Meyer has made trips back to Gainesville to visit with friends. Besides, Billy will have a much better roster to work with in 15/16 and he has never shied away from a challenge. Nobody is really challenging him to go to the NBA. Jeremy Foley has made it clear that he is UF's man and he wants it to stay that way:


Hoops Scoop

Pitino: Billy D has urge to give NBA a try

Thursday, April 2, 2015 at 9:31 by Kevin Brockway



There’s been much speculation on whether Billy Donovan would consider a jump to the NBA after 21 seasons as a college coach and 19 seasons at Florida.

On Thursday morning, Donovan’s mentor, Louisville coach Rick Pitino, gave the strongest hint that the UF coach may give the pros a try in the near future.

Appearing on ESPN’s Mike and Mike radio show, Pitino was asked if a college basketball coach could be successful in the NBA. During the answer, Pitino alluded to Donovan: “I think someone like Billy Donovan, I think Billy has looked at it, I think he has an urge to coach in the NBA, a strong desire to coach in the NBA, would like to try it.”

Pitino was Donovan’s coach in college at Providence in 1987 and gave him his start in the coaching profession, hiring him as a graduate assistant at Kentucky in 1990. The two talk during the season on a semi-regular basis.

Donovan signed an extension last December to coach the Gators through the 2020 seasons, which bumped his average salary to $4.067 million. But the buyout on the contract is a relatively minimal $500,000. There’s a window from March 1 to April 1 in which Donovan could leave without paying a buyout, but that just passed.

Donovan’s name has been linked to the opening with the Orlando Magic (again) and possibly with the Oklahoma City Thunder if Scott Brooks is not retained at the end of the season. The veteran UF coach left six days for the Magic in June of 2007, but returned to UF six days later after having second thoughts.

At 16-17, Florida is coming off its worst season since 1997-98, and there are thoughts Donovan may not want to go through another rebuild at UF. After winning back-to-back titles at UF in 2006 and 2007, the Gators followed up with two NIT seasons. But from 2010-14, Donovan got the program back at a high level, guiding UF to three straight Elite Eights and its fifth Final Four appearance in school history.

Last year, when Donovan was asked whether he was a “lifer” at Florida, the veteran coach stated that the NBA still held a level of intrigue because it was 24-7 basketball.

[Deleted]

Mark, I also think you'll find this interesting as reported by Gatorzone on Dorian Finney-Smith returning for his senior season:


By Chris Harry
GatorZone.com Senior Writer


GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Forward Dorian Finney-Smith is returning for his final season with the Florida Gators.

Finney-Smith, aka “Doe-Doe,” made the decision to come back for his fifth-year senior season Tuesday after a long meeting with Coach Billy Donovan and enlisting the input of NBA scouts regarding his draft potential.

“I got all the information I needed to make a decision,” said Finney-Smith, who led the team in both scoring (13.1 points per game) and rebounding (6.2 per game) and garnered second-team All-Southeastern Conference honors during the 2014-15 season. “He didn’t pressure me into anything, but rather let me be a grown man. Coach D is a mentor to me, I trust him and I’m happy and anxious to have another year with him.”

[Deleted]

Apr 3, 2015 9:47:22 GMT -5 mscott59 said:

Apr 3, 2015 9:21:05 GMT -5 ETGator1 said:

I wish him well at Texas. He'll have all of the advantages along with the tremendous pressure to produce. Smart and Strong have that in common. As it should be, Texas won't tolerate average performance very long.

btw, et, espn was running with a story from jeff goodman saying that nba execs think donovan wants to make the jump to the pros soon. you wonder if there's any fire to that smoke.

i too think smart will do well with the horns. and i also think rick barnes may be able to re-light the pilot light in knoxville. sometimes good coaches need a change of scenery, don't you think?

Just what I thought, nothing to it more than at any other time. Pat Dooley of the Gainesville Sun nailed it down:


By Pat Dooley
Columnist


Published: Monday, April 6, 2015 at 3:02 p.m.


Well, it got really interesting last week with all of the Billy Donovan speculation and the constant crawl on ESPN. I’m not going to be critical of the way all of the talking heads took a story with little if any substance and ran with it for two days. I’ll just say this — I talked to a bunch of people over the weekend including some exchanging texts with Donovan and I can tell you that nothing has changed. If an NBA team comes to Billy and wants to talk, he’ll listen just as he always has. But all of his efforts right now are centered on getting this Florida basketball team turned around for next season. Donovan has never closed the door on the NBA and it is still open. But his interest isn’t heightened this season. And don’t think there aren’t college coaches who are speculating about it because they are recruiting against Florida. When I asked Donovan about the NBA rumors, he texted me back, “Not sure where all that stuff comes from.” The bottom line is this — Florida fans should always be concerned Donovan could leave, but no more concerned right now than a year ago or two years ago.

[mscott59]

Apr 3, 2015 10:12:59 GMT -5 ETGator1 said:

Apr 3, 2015 9:47:22 GMT -5 mscott59 said:

btw, et, espn was running with a story from jeff goodman saying that nba execs think donovan wants to make the jump to the pros soon. you wonder if there's any fire to that smoke.

i too think smart will do well with the horns. and i also think rick barnes may be able to re-light the pilot light in knoxville. sometimes good coaches need a change of scenery, don't you think?

If Billy D jumps to the NBA, I don't think it will be this year. Dorian Finney-Smith announced yesterday that he is coming back for his senior year with UF. One of his reasons cited is he's looking forward to working with Billy D another year. I don't think there is any way Billy would tell DFS that he'll be his coach through his eligibility and then leave. What the future after this year holds is anybody's guess. Billy signed a contact extension last August through 2020, but his buyout is only $500,000. JMHO, I don't see Billy and Christine Donovan leaving Gainesville. It's a family that has all they want at home. I think Billy will be a UF lifer. I also think some of the NBA rumors are being fanned by recruiting battles. Unbelievably, Rick Pitino is playing the NBA card in recruiting with a SG who is committed to UF and a frontcourt player both coaches are after.

The UTn situation comes down to AD Spanky Hart. First, he let a perfectly good coach in Cuonzo Martin get run and of town followed by making an awful hire on Donnie Tyndall. If I'm Rick Barnes, I don't know if I'd want to go to work for Spanky Hart.

hm

[Deleted]

If the OKC Thunder job doesn't open up, everything I wrote is accurate. It was well known that Billy D had a great relationship with people that mattered in the OKC organization. I don't see any other NBA job out there that Billy D would have left UF for. I find it amazing that 45-37 and missing the playoffs with your best player out with a foot injury for most of the season gets you fired in the NBA. Billy D is a rookie NBA coach stepping into mighty high expectations of performance.

I wish Billy D good luck and hope he is highly successful in the NBA.

It'll be interesting and exciting to see what UF does moving forward. Whomever is hired has big shoes to fill.