SAN ANTONIO ― Former Florida basketball coach Billy Donovan was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday, an honor befitting his accomplishments at UF.
In 19 seasons with the Florida Gators from 1996-2015, Donovan led UF to two national championships, four Final Fours, six SEC regular season championships, four SEC Tournament titles and 467 wins.
Donovan guided the Gators to a No. 1 national ranking in five different seasons, posted sixteen straight 20-win seasons and earned 17 consecutive postseason appearances during his 19 seasons at the helm in Gainesville, including 13 NCAA Tournaments and four NITs. His 467 wins as an SEC head coach trail only Adolph Rupp, and only Rupp and Joe B. Hall have won more SEC championships.
Since departing Florida in 2015, Donovan, 59, is in his 10th season as an NBA coach, winning 400 games over five seasons leading the Oklahoma City Thunder and nearing that same number now in his fifth season with the Chicago Bulls.
“Being in this game, you are only as good as the people around you,” Donovan said. “Certainly, that’s the case in coaching. I’ve been fortunate to coach a lot of great players, guys that were committed to the game. to winning, and I was really blessed to have so many great coaches and people around me for such a long period of time.”
How Billy Donovan has helped Florida basketball coach Todd Golden
Throughout the NCAA Tournament, Donovan has served as a sounding board for current Florida head coach Todd Golden, who has UF in the Final Four for the first time since Donovan’s squad made it in 2014. Florida will play Auburn tonight in the Final Four at the Alamodome (6:09 p.m., CBS).
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Donovan called it ironic that he got inducted into the Hall on the same weekend the Gators returned to the Final Four for the first time since he departed Gainesville.
“I’m just so happy for Todd and his staff and the program and all the Gators that have come out to support him,” Donovan said. “Hopefully they’ll play well and can continue to play on to Monday night and then maybe cut down the nets at the end of the game.”
If UF does cut down the nets, Donovan will lose his title as the lone Gators coach in program history to win it all. He doesn’t mind it, though.
“I’m really happy for him, and from the time he got here, I’ve always told him that I’ll help and support any way I can,” Donovan said. “He knows his team, and he knows what they need to do going forward. I think they’re battle tested because the SEC clearly was probably the best conference in the country this year.”
This story has been updated.
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1
Noah Ram covers Gainesville-area high school sports and University of Florida athletics for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him by email at Nram@gannett.com and follow him @Noah_ram1 on X/Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Former Florida basketball coach Billy Donovan inducted into Naismith Basketball HOF
Reporting by Kevin Brockway and Noah Ram, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
