Billy Donovan is the latest college basketball coach to make the jump to the National Basketball Association (NBA) since Brad Stevens did in July, 2013. The now former Florida coach made the easy decision Thursday, deciding to head to a terrific situation in Oklahoma City with two of the top five players in the NBA.
Donovan is getting a five-year deal, according to Adrian Wojnarowski and Pat Forde of Yahoo! Sports.
This seems to me like it was an easy call for Donovan. He had done about all he could at the University of Florida, primarily a football school, for the past 19 seasons and in a conference — the SEC — in which the University of Kentucky had a stranglehold on. Still, he had posted a 467-186 (.715) record and led them to a national ranking in all but his first two seasons.
During his time in charge of the Gators, he made them relevant nationally, won two NCAA Titles (2006, 2007), won at least 20 games in 16 of his 19 seasons, and participated in the NCAA tournament 14 times.
This past year, though, was one of his worst since his first two years at the helm of Florida’s program. They went 16-17 and failed to qualify for postseason action for the first time in 18 seasons.
The Thunder, too, missed out on postseason play. They had a much better excuse, though, of playing in the loaded Western Conference and suffering through so many injuries. Most notably 2014 NBA MVP Kevin Durant.
The 2015-16 season would have been his 20th at Florida, but instead he’s opted to coach in the NBA, again.
Well, sort of.
Back in 2007 he originally agreed to move to Orlando and coach the Magic — but then he quickly changed his mind and stayed at UF.
It’s a rarity that a great job like this one opens up, where the team isn’t at the bottom and doesn’t need a complete rebuild. Like Orlando or Denver this year. Now, there was Golden State last year and first-year head coach Steve Kerr helped the Warriors take another step. With The Association’s best record, they have home-court advantage throughout the 2015 playoffs.
Thunder GM Sam Presti is one of the better General Mangers in the league, and by all accounts he’s been after Donovan for quite a while now. Throughout much of the NBA season, key Thunder players, especially Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, were asked about former Thunder coach Scott Brooks. That even led to the famous Durant spat at the media, a rare poor moment for him. The questions were very real, and Presti since moved on from Brooks after seven years and a 338-207 record.
The move undoubtedly marks the start of a new era of Thunder basketball.
Some of the things Donovan will quickly learn about the NBA:
- A head coach’s number one job is to manage his players and their egos.
- You aren’t in control of your personnel.
- More to that, the relationships. (Most begin two or three years before a player is in college during recruitment.)
- There aren’t many practices.
- Having five days between games and around 36 per season is no more. Get ready for 15 games in a month, some back-to-backs, and five-game trips.
[Brad Stevens on what he missed about coaching in college]
I can’t imagine it took too much convincing for Donovan to make the move. Their conversations, instead, surely centered on the terms of the deal (money + years), and the language of his contract.
“I am honored and humbled to be named the head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder,” Donovan said in a release announcing the hire. “I knew that it would take a unique opportunity to leave the University of Florida and that is clearly how I look at this situation.”
Donovan proved to be one of the nation’s top college coaches. Now we’ll see if he can carry that over to the big leagues, and with two superstars on his roster. How he’s able to work with them is important because Durant and Westbrook’s contracts are up in the year, and two, respectively.
It’s a tremendous move for Donovan, 49, and a high-value gig that doesn’t come available often. If he does fail — and I hope he doesn’t — you can be sure he’ll be able to go back to the college ranks and be better for it. And more appealing to recruits.
Most of all, let’s hope for better health next season for the Thunder, and the NBA alike.