Would Billy Donovan leave the Chicago Bulls for Kentucky basketball? 3 things to consider
LEXINGTON — Is the third time the charm for Mitch Barnhart should he pursue Billy Donovan?
Barnhart, Kentucky's longtime athletics director, tried to hire Donovan in 2007, shortly after the then-Florida coach captured the second of back-to-back national championships. Donovan declined UK's overture. Then, after Kentucky fired Billy Gillispie in 2009, it made another run at Donovan. He again turned down the offer.
In 2015, he finally left Gainesville, Florida. Not for Kentucky, but for the NBA, where he took over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Donovan, a former UK assistant under Rick Pitino, now is in his fourth season as the Chicago Bulls' coach.
But with Kentucky now looking for a new coach in the wake of John Calipari's departure, Donovan's name again has surfaced as a candidate.
Here are three reasons why Donovan becoming UK's next coach doesn't make sense:
Billy Donovan is about to prepare for the postseason with Chicago Bulls
Entering Tuesday night's game against the New York Knicks, the Bulls are 37-41 this season. Donovan's club already has clinched a berth in the NBA Play-In Tournament. Those play-in games don't begin until next week. If Chicago advances out of the Play-In Tournament, it will earn a bid into the eight-team Eastern Conference playoff field. First-round playoff series start April 20.
Even if the Bulls don't make it out of the first round, it means their season won't conclude until the end of April or early May.
That's simply too long for UK to wait to hire another coach.
On top of that, it's preposterous to think Donovan would leave for Kentucky while Chicago is still in the middle of a season. That's his public stance as well. Donovan told reporters Tuesday he hadn't been contacted by UK and that he's committed to the Bulls.
Billy Donovan hasn't led a college basketball program in nearly a decade
The transfer portal. Name, image and likeness (NIL) deals. Immediate eligibility after transferring.
None of these realities were present in college athletics during Donovan's last season with the Gators in 2014-15. Now, those realities dominate the landscape.
These earth-shattering changes have prompted other Hall of Fame coaches to hang up the whistle in recent years, including Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams and Jay Wright.
The college game Donovan knew no longer exists.
That's why it's hard to foresee Donovan returning to the college ranks.
Billy Donovan already is a legend at another SEC school
Aside from Adolph Rupp's illustrious, 41-season run at Kentucky, no SEC coach has experienced more success than Donovan at Florida.
He's the only SEC coach, aside from Rupp, with multiple national championship. (Rupp had four with the Wildcats.) Donovan ranks second to Rupp in wins at an SEC school; Rupp had 876 at UK, while Donovan earned 467 at Florida. Donovan's 200 wins in SEC regular-season games are third most in the league's annals, trailing Rupp (397) and Dale Brown (238 at LSU).
Donovan also collected six conference regular-season titles (2000, 2001, 2007, 2011, 2013 and 2014) and four SEC Tournament championships (2005, 2006, 2007 and 2014) to go along his quartet of Final Fours (2000, 2006, 2007, and 2014) and trio of SEC Coach of the Year awards (2011, 2013 and 2014).
And there's another connection he shares with Rupp.
After his immense success in Lexington, the building where the Wildcats now play bears his name.
While Donovan's name doesn't grace Florida's home venue (the O'Connell Center), it is on the floor. The school renamed the court in his honor in 2020.
Even given his prior ties to Kentucky, it's hard to believe Donovan would accept a position that forces him to regularly return to Gainesville to face the program he built into a national power.
Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Would Billy Donovan leave the Bulls for Kentucky basketball?
